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TC Tire Recommendations

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TC Tire Recommendations
#1
Bald Eagle Avatar
Bald Eagle Mike Tooke
Santa Paula, CA, USA   USA
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1947 MG TC "Eleanor"
1947 MG TC
1967 MG MGB
2008 Scion xB "The Silver Brick"
I’m finally ready to put new tires on my TC only to discover that the 450 x 19 Dunlops (which Universal bills as the OEM size at 29.00” x 4.00”) are no longer available. I don’t want to exceed an outside diameter of 29.00” so it looks like that leaves me with two options: 450 x 19 Ensigns from Universal (28.90” x 4.00”) at $210 or 475/500 x 19 Excelsiors from Coker (29.00” x 3.50”) at $146. I was a bit surprised that the larger Excelsior tire had a 29” diameter, but Excelsior tires seem to run small. Their 450 x 19 tire has only a 27.75” OD. I know nothing about either brand. The cheaper price for the Excelsiors is appealing, but their narrower tread width isn’t. Who’s the better source for tires, Universal or Coker? (Found nothing at Lucas) Comments? Suggestions?

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#2
LaVerne Avatar
LaVerne LaVerne Downey
Fruita, CO, USA   USA
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1954 MG TF "Green Hornet"
1969 MG MGB "The Beater"
1979 Triumph TR8 "Turd 8"
These came from Coker. Pretty quick. I wasn't very happy that they were several years old when they showed up, but they were all I could find at the time. We placed an order with Universal Tire for some Blockley's but after 4 weeks I called and they said they didn't have any idea when they would be getting a shippment, so I cancled the order and got these. You call Abingdon Spares as I understand they are stocking tires now. I can't say if these turned out good or bad as I didn't drive on them that much. The car had some 500's on it when it got here and they rubbed on the front fenders.


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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#3
Bald Eagle Avatar
Bald Eagle Mike Tooke
Santa Paula, CA, USA   USA
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1947 MG TC "Eleanor"
1947 MG TC
1967 MG MGB
2008 Scion xB "The Silver Brick"
Thanks for the tip on Coker selling older tires. That's another one of my concerns.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#4
plus4moggie Tom Lange
Bar Harbor, ME, USA   USA
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Call Ed, Martin or Matt at Abingdon Spares - I got a beautiful and correct set of Blockleys a while ago, and they ride and fit just fine. They also have wheel bands and the correct tubes to fit.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#5
Steve S Avatar
Steve S
Abingdon, So Cal, USA   USA
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1925 Ford Model T
1937 MG SA Saloon
1939 Ford V8
1946 Other Not Listed    & more
Dunlop stopped making the B-5 reproductions. Ensign bought the molds and continues to make the tire but without the Dunlop markings. Shame you weren't at the TCMG meeting last week, as there were four different tires on cars there and one set I believe was Ensigns!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-05-02 03:06 PM by Steve S.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#6
EricV Avatar
EricV Eric Van Note
Round rock, TX, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB
I bought my TD tires from Coker. I know they probably move a lot more 15" tires than 19" tires. Mine were only a month old. No problems.

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  iplanm thanked EricV for this post
Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#7
LaVerne Avatar
LaVerne LaVerne Downey
Fruita, CO, USA   USA
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1954 MG TF "Green Hornet"
1969 MG MGB "The Beater"
1979 Triumph TR8 "Turd 8"
I guess this would explain the set we got smoking smiley


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about 5 years and 3 months later...
Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#8
tom4mgs Tom P
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1947 MG TC
1967 MG MGB GT
1974 MG MGB
1996 MG MGF
A buddy of mine and I are in the throws of restoring a '47 MGTC. So far we have a rolling chassis but have not yet fired up our rebuilt engine. We will be doing that very soon. Our thoughts are right now turning to tires for the car. I have researched many sites and so far Longstone in England looks like a possible choice, even with shipping they are fairly priced. My off the wall question is does anyone out there have any experience with using motorcycle tires on the TC? Weight should not be a problem, nor should the contact patch. Both types of tire are crowned and could make for good traction. Wear might be a bit accelerated as bike tires tend to be fairly soft, but are generally cheaper to balance out. Any thoughts? Thanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-08-11 11:46 PM by tom4mgs.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#9
Franz1234 Avatar
Franz1234 Franz R
Vienna, Austria   AUT
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1948 MG TC
1948 MG TC
I have Blockley and saw on a lot of other MG’s and Bugatti this tires. I think a very good quality, they have the correct rim bands and tubes too.


Franz


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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#10
LewPalmer Avatar
LewPalmer Lew Palmer
St. Mary's Point, MN, USA   USA
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1934 MG P-Type Midget
1935 MG N-Type Magnette
I just put Blockleys on my 1935 MG NA. i was surprised to find that I could order them directly from Blockley in the UK for a lower price than any of the US dealers including shipping. And with the Pound Sterling at the current rate, it was even cheaper. Ordered on a Friday and they arrived the following Thursday. I won't use anything other than Blockleys on any of my wire wheeled (mostly pre-war) MGs. And they are freshly dated, besides.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-08-12 12:30 PM by LewPalmer.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#11
TD4834 Avatar
TD4834 Bill Chasser
Sacramento, CA, USA   USA
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1950 MG TD
1951 MG TD
1951 MG TD MkII
1952 MG TD MkII    & more
Motorcycle tires are not appropriate for an automobile. They lack sufficient contact surface area for a car and will have poor handling characteristics


Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#12
LewPalmer Avatar
LewPalmer Lew Palmer
St. Mary's Point, MN, USA   USA
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1934 MG P-Type Midget
1935 MG N-Type Magnette
That's true, Bill, but who said anything about motorcycle tires?

I will say that I once witnessed an MG M-type running motorcycle tires flip on its side. When cornering hard, the tread on the sidewall gripped and flipped the car.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#13
hueyhoolihan Huey Hoolihan
Antioch, CA, USA   USA
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In reply to # 4545187 by LewPalmer That's true, Bill, but who said anything about motorcycle tires?

see post #8...

this is an old thread and someone recently resurrected it and asked questions WRT TCs and motorcycle tires.

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#14
TD4834 Avatar
TD4834 Bill Chasser
Sacramento, CA, USA   USA
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1950 MG TD
1951 MG TD
1951 MG TD MkII
1952 MG TD MkII    & more
Lew. Post # 8 asked about using them.


Bill Chasser
TD-4834
TD-5779
TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
TD-19408
TD-24060

TF-8200

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Re: TC Tire Recommendations
#15
MGMack Mark Mack
Cols, OH, USA   USA
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I went with Model A Ford tires (4.75/5.00 x 19) that I had bought on sale several years ago and they seem fine. The rear wheels are a bit tight to get under the drip strip in the inside front rear fender but no real issue, and once they're completely on, there is plenty of clearance.

Probably a good idea to measure them, mine are closer to 4.75 wide so that helps.

Anyway, just a lower priced option (maybe, I see the Lucas model A tires are now $119, not sure how it compares).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-08-13 02:24 PM by MGMack.

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