I have decided to put wide stripe (2.25 inch) whitewalls on my TD. I like
the fiftiesh look and apparently Road & Track editor in their March 1950
issue thought also with the comment, "The new TD takes well to
white-sidewall tires." Tom McCahill's test car in 1950 also had wide
whitewalls, so this was common for the times (though my Brit friends state
"Whitewalls was an American thing, not British)."
There are two brands of 165R15 whitewalls available - BF Goodrich and Coker
Classic. My concern is pressure. Both require that the tire be inflated to
35 psi. I queried Coker about this, that the tires would be installed on a
2200 lb MG with tubes inserted. Their reply was, "These tires with tubes
have to be run at 35psi, otherwise the tires may fail. That isn't terrible
uncommon, but it is what our manufacturer recommends."
The original operator's manual for the TD recommends 18 psi for biased
tires. Although I usually read that others recommend 28 psi for radials with
tubes, I generally have been using 30 or 31 psi. Has anyone either driven on
harder, i.e. 35 psi, tires and what was the effect? Or, has anyone used a
lower pressure for these whitewalls without having any detrimental effect?
Last night I inflated my current blackwall 165R15 radials (with tubes) to
35 psi (44 psi is max for the tire) and intend today to test drive the TD
with the harder tires to see how it handles and what degree of comfort I
might lose. However, I would be interested in anyone's experience with 35
psi inflated tires.
Stu Keen
1951 MG TD Mark II
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