Taking my new Coker bias ply tires to Napa tomorrow to have Mike mount, clock, shave and balance them. He did the ones on my 48 Ford a while back and what a difference it made. The old sedan used to bounce all around at 60 and above. After he got through with the tires, smooth as gl***. They have been in that location for more than 50 years. His father started the business. Mike used to shave a lot of race car tires until most (all) of them went to radials. He has kept around the old machine mostly out of sentimentality but if he gets enough business he will probably keep it.
For those of you keeping score at home, that's: Joe D'Adamo Tire 2745 Jefferson St Napa, CA 94558 (707) 255-5600 Let's make sure he has a reason to keep doing this!
Hey everybody their is a guy in the Bay Area that still shaves bias ply tires. Or maybe you don't use them anymore. TRADITIONAL!
When I first read this, I thought you meant NAPA as in the parts store! Haha! Yeah it is a lost art for sure. The last place I found that does it uses a machine that spins and shaves them right on the car. Try checking around with the local BIG truck places, alot of them still do this. It works too!
Yeah, I seen an article in one of the traditional mags that went through the on the car process. Seems like it was another Cali shop.
Wish I had known this a few years back...I built a little truck that really could have used a shave on the tires...oh well tell him to keep the machine as long as coker is making bias whitewalls we'll need someone to true them !!
Too bad Coker can't make a round tire to start with. How much mileage do you loose to tire shaving????
always ran the tires for a week before having them trued&balanced did on the slicks too ;i think it helps traction
I think they last longer. Smoother ride less bounce. From what I understand bias tires are inherently out of round because when manufacturing they have to overlap the belt. Some are worse than others and some are fine.
GREAT info, thanks for sharing! Tire shaving is like arcing drum brake shoes to the drums, a vanashing skill that was once common!
I get all my Bias tires shaved and balanced, In Signal Hill Cal. by Nate Jones. I even took my wifes new car there and had him balance it. Dealer couldn't get it right. A must for bias tires.--TV
A tire can be a bit out of round as a result of the manufacturing process, and a lot of times it's not a big problem by itself. But combine it with a wheel that's also a bit out of round and it can really magnify the issue. Grinding the tire on the wheel puts everything back to true round as an ***embly. Consider that some of these guys are running some pretty old wheels of unknown history and they're wanting to run them at 65 to 75mph (and higher) when some of them probably rarely saw 50 to 60mph when they were new. I think this is why the OP mentioned having the tires "clocked" as well. If he ever has to demount one for repair, he knows exactly how to remount the tire in the correct position so it still runs true.
You might try Warholicks tire in Detroit on Magraw and Wyoming. They can shave a white wall out of a white letter radial with an old machine from way back when. They have been around since the 30's and might be able to do it.
bias ply tires will become out of round from sitting too long. also. they get flat spots on them. usually a few miles down the road. they become round again.
From my understanding, it's always been that way with bias tires. Thats why the machines are as old as bias ply technology!
Had my front runners done at a old truck repair place,common on over the road trucks.Might check one out.
Mickey's Suburban Alignment in Broomal, Pa. (Philly area) shaved the old Firestones on my roadster. It made a big difference and, in my case, was definitely worth doing. (Sometime later I switched to radials and that was an even better improvement...in driveability, but not looks.)
I wonder if you could shave them yourself on a concrete driveway? If you slowly lowered a spinning tire and 'burned' off a little rubber, why wouldn't that work? They can't be that far off. I drove cars for many years, along with a lot of you guys, before I ever had a radial tire and I never had a tire shaved. Hell, we mounted them ourself and didn't bother to have them balanced! Money was short then, Ah, I guess some things never change......
Nate Jones in Signal Hill / Long Beach is the guy. He does tires for a lot of lakes & Bonneville cars, and it definitely makes a difference on a road car too. Not cheap, though!
Yup: Nate Jones 1837 Reservoir Dr Signal Hill, CA 90755 562-597-3369 That location is very near the intersection of Redondo and PCH in Long Beach.
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