Buy Decent Quality Used Tires From Local Junkyards

I’m in the process of looking for a set of good used tires to fit my new rims…  The size I’m looking for are 295-50-15’s and so far Tire Rack has a decent price on new Kumho at $95/tire, Firestone Firehawks, BF Goodrich at $117/tire and GoodYear Eagles at $125/tire plus an aditional $50 in shipping from Delaware since they are not in stock at a regional warehouse.

So you need new tires but you are running a little low on cash. Lets take a look at your options.

1. Keep riding on your bare tires and hope to make it till your next paycheck.
2. Take the money you do have and ensure you stay off your tires by buying a bus pass and taking the buss where you need to go.
3. Look into buying used tires.

Used tires are a great option if you are on a tight budget and know how the system works. The best tip I can give you is to go to local junkyards for your tire needs.

Junkyards take off the nearly new tires from hundreds of vehicles before the smash them down. You will have your choice of great tires from prices of a couple of bucks up to twenty bucks.

To get started you will want to go and find auto wrecking places near you. Check the phone book and make a call to the yards in the bigger areas and make sure they save their tires.

Now you need to know your exact tire size and clear the morning to go hunting for your bargain tire. When you arrive tell the person in front what you want and they will direct you to the place in the yard where they store the tires. Often times they will send out an employee with you, which is okay, as long as you don’t buy the tire just because they suggest it.

Once you get to the tires please consider the follwoing things:

1. Tire Structurally Sound – Look for bulges, punctures or cuts.
2. Tire’s Wear and Tread – Look for the bands in the tire that show the wear. Obviously, the more tread the better.
3. Tire Construction – radial tires or conventional tires. Go for radial but only if you can get radial tires on all 4 wheels.

I’m Still Trying To Clean The Rims

These are tougher than I expected… Any other tips or suggestions? So far I’ve only taken a pressure washer to them and I’m not having a whole lot of luck. Perhaps I’m looking for the magic solution, but if you’ve got any suggestions for cleaning aluminum, I’d love to hear them.

Here’ssomething I found from Edelbrock.com regarding cleaning and aluminum intake manifold.

While networking with consumers at shows and events, we learn a lot about our customer and what they want from Edelbrock. The old adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” is very true in most cases. This leads us to the question that has incited us to write this Edelbrock Tech Tip feature, “How do you recommend I clean my Edelbrock intake manifold”?

Edelbrock intake manifolds are manufactured from a sand cast process utilizing 808 aluminum alloy and have an as-cast wheel-a-brated finish. As-cast is defined as a raw aluminum finish without any protective coating. As-cast aluminum is porous and can absorb under-hood chemicals such as dirt, grease and fuel, resulting in discoloration, rust, or staining. All Edelbrock intake manifolds are as-cast unless offered in our high-luster EnduraShine™ or PermaStar® coated finishes.

Once a porous aluminum finish is stained, it can be very difficult to find an environmentally safe cleaner that will actually extract the blemish from the pores of the aluminum. In our research in finding a safe and effective alternative, Edelbrock has found an aluminum cleaner option that can work effectively, OxiSolv Aluminum Cleaner. It is important to follow OxiSolv’s instructions to prevent damage to other parts on your engine.

Manufactured by Daubert Cromwell, a manufacturer of industrial and commercial cleaning products, Evapo-Rust is effective for use in cleaning our as-cast aluminum intake manifolds, cylinder heads, and water-pumps when used as directed. Edelbrock does not sell Evapo-Rust, however you can call for assistance at 800-535-3535 or send an email to info@daubertcromwell.com.

Cleaning Those Aluminum Wheels and Tires

If I can get my pressure washer started tomorrow I plan on picking up some Aluminum Trailer Brite to clean these up after a good pressure washing of the trike frame and wheels. One of the shocks on the old frame is leaking oil on my garage floor. My wife is almost done picking up all of her teacher supplies from the garage floor and the Chiffarobe that I’ve been working on is nearly ready for stain so I can finally dedicate some space and time to this project.

From past experience, the acid wash with the Trailer Brite should make these wheels look really nice. After that I’m going to hit them with a Mother’s wheel ball and Mother’s Mag and Aluminum polish. The last I bought this stuff I found it at Wal-Mart, but any auto parts store should have it or a decent truck stop. There are different brands of the aluminum trailer wash and most work… it’s used mainly on tractor trailers.

It’s been 15 years since I’ve used this technique or had the time to even try it so wish me luck… Before and after pics coming tomorrow.

For those of you that want to try it the hard way, start out using 80 grit sandpaper/emery cloth and work your way to 2000 grit. It’s a tough way to get rid of the pits, but about the only way.. and a lot of work. I’ve used dishwasher soap, oil, polish, and about everything else you can think of to keep the emery cloth free from clogging up when I do this type of job… but I’ve yet to find a great alternative to water. So, I’d do it on a nice day since you’re going to get wet.

Just keep on sanding until the pits are gone, and then start with a level playing surface to progressively go finer and finer in grit. You can get a mirror finish on these if you’ve got nothing else to do for a while.

The next question is: How can I keep them that way?

That’s almost tougher. Aluminum “rusts” and forms a little oxide layer that dulls the surface. It’s almost an impossible task. You could have them powder coated or chromed… better yet, polish and sell them and buy set of stainless-steel rims.

If you’ve got the budget go ahead… but if you’re anything like me “free” is almost too expensive.

I hear the product Nev’r Dull from Eagle ONe is also a great product and a coat of NuFinish to hopefully keeping the aluminum from oxidizing. If you have high polished aluminum wheels DO NOT EVER USE ANY TYPE OF SPRAY ON WHEEL CLEANER as this has acid in it and it will damage the metal.

Trike Upholstery Suggestions

I was just getting ready to e-mail my mentor Type 1 Bud to find out who he uses for upholstery for his trike seats. In doing a search for Trike Upholstery I came across Vicki’s site at http://www.freewebs.com/trikerlady  and low and behold see Bud’s trike in her gallery.  Both Bud and I live in the 815 area code so this helps out a bunch.  Vicki is the owner of Sittin’ in Style and does Custom Trike Upholstery (auto & motorcycle seats) with many colors to choose from.   You can get in contact with Vicki at 815-792-8571 or bubswe2@sbcglobal.net.

I Found Rims – Now, What Size Tires?

I found a set of rims locally that are in good shape but need to be seriously cleaned up. They are a 15″ rim that is approximately 10″ wide… so now the question… what size tires?

My mentor Type 1 Bud has Goodyear Eagle 295-50-15.  So what do all of these numbers mean?  I thought this information might be as helpful to you as it was to me.

TIRE SIZES

Tire sizing is misunderstood by many. Some think that a “50 series” tire is a wide tire. Not necessarily. Modern radial tires will have a reading of something like this : 225/60-15. Broken down, here’s what they mean : 225 is the section width in millimeters, meaning the maximum width of the tire (which may or may NOT be at the road surface – depending on manufacture). 60 is the aspect ratio – meaning the sidewall (in this case) is 60% of the section width (in this example, 60% of 225mm, or 135mm). 15 is the wheel diameter in inches.
It is possible (and common) to have a 60 series tire that is wider than a 50 series tire. A 225/60-15 is wider than a 195/50-15 by more than an inch! Considerations must also be made as for the width of the wheel that a tire goes on to. A rule of thumb is that the wheel should be about 80-85% of the section width of the tire. So a 225 section tire (8.8″) should be mounted on a 7 or 7.5″ wheel.

PLUS SIZING

Plus sizing refers to wheel diameters larger than what the factory installs on the car, while keeping the rolling diameter the same as stock. The advantage of this is that there is less tire sidewall, and therefore less sidewall flex, which gives more accurate feel and improved traction because there is more tread surface contacting the road. The key to plus sizing is changing the ASPECT RATIO to keep the diameter the same as stock. For example, if you’re factory tire size is 185/70-13, and you want to run 14″ wheels (”plus one”), you need to run a 185/65-14. This gives you a shorter sidewall, and changes the diameter about 1%. You can go as many “plus” sizes as you dare – as long as the math works out. You can even run wider tires AND bigger wheels. In the example above, you can go to a 205/50-15 (”Plus two”), and have less than 1% change, and pick up nearly and inch wider tire. The downside to “plus sizing” is increased ride harshness (remember a tire’s sidewall flex is a factor in effective “spring rate”, as far as ride quality is concerned). A general rule of thumb is to drop 5% aspect ratio for each inch of increase in wheel diameter – assuming tread width remains the same.

Below are the tradeoff’s of plus sizing :

Advantages:
* Improved steering response
* Increased stability in corners
* Ability to run larger diameter brakes due to larger wheel Disadvantages
* Increased ride harshness
* Added cost of larger tire
* Car may “hunt” more in ruts

SPEED RATINGS

Speed ratings on a tire specify the ability of a tire to withstand heat buildup during high sustained speeds. It also generally refers to how sticky a tire is just due to the better design & materials that must be used to give a tire a higher speed rating, but keep in mind this is a general rule – a BFG V-rated tire will generally be stickier than a BFG H-rated, but not necessarily a Yokohama H-rated, so keep with the same brand when making the assumptions of “sticky”. Here is the breakdown of the various speed ratings :
S : Up to 113MPH
H : Up to 130MPH
V : Over 130MPH
Z :