Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
About two weeks ago, whilst driving my RMB home from work at my usual 75 mph clip, I began to feel a slight vibration. So I cut the speed down to something I felt would be more "safe" and prepared myself for the worst. Luckily the worst never came and I was able to drive the remaining 20 miles or so with my butt clenched. Eventually I made it off the freeway and by time I exited, you could see the steering wheel wobble back/forth about an inch in each direction.
I thought, "oh great, I'm gonna have to climb under this thing and find the bad tire." Well I can say at least I didn't have to put much effort into that, for it was fairly obvious once I saw the steel belts hanging out of the tread.
I knew these tires were pretty old when I bought the car... Guessing from the 90s at best. I figured it was time to knuckle down and buy a new set. But I didn't want to go through that hassle and mount them on the 6 or 6.5" rims that came with the car. I shopped around for some 7" or 8" rims without much luck. The price of new steel wagon wheels (that will accept a wheel cover) is NUTS... Something like $85+ each.
With the WPC swap coming up, I let the RMB sit in the driveway like a wounded buffalo for a lil over a week. (That dead tire held air for an amazingly long amount of time.) The only thing I found at the swap was this $200 mis-matched set (2)6.5" & (2)7" painted lime green. No tires. Looks like somebody bought them, mounted two tires to hide the difference, and it trying to flip them for $300.
15 Mopar Steelies Stock OEM Wheels with BFG Tires
But I digress... While I was measuring a different set, a guy walked up to me and asked if I wanted to buy some rims outside the swap. Like a drug deal, but with rims instead I guess. $50 later, or $12.50 each, and I had a set of genuine Mopar po-po rims! For another $357.00 I had a set of Made-in-USA "mastercraft" (Cooper) 235/75 whitewalls.
Shout out to Gratiot Wheel and Tire! These are my go-to guys for tire needs. They'll mount/balance whatever I bring them for $40, but in this case they had a far better price than I could have even gotten online.
I had gotten the idea that Kumho (Korea) was the only game in town for whitewalls. Was very happy to find these Made-in-Ohio tires at a great price ($317 before the mounting). Now I'm sorta thinking that I might like to stock up before they become "old-tymey-only" and cost $317 each from Coker. Put them in plastic bags and bury them in the yard or something.
Anybody ever think about doing a group buy? I'm wondering what we could get the price down to with some volume? I can't really comment on their performance yet, but I've had Coopers in the past with zero complaints.
I thought, "oh great, I'm gonna have to climb under this thing and find the bad tire." Well I can say at least I didn't have to put much effort into that, for it was fairly obvious once I saw the steel belts hanging out of the tread.
I knew these tires were pretty old when I bought the car... Guessing from the 90s at best. I figured it was time to knuckle down and buy a new set. But I didn't want to go through that hassle and mount them on the 6 or 6.5" rims that came with the car. I shopped around for some 7" or 8" rims without much luck. The price of new steel wagon wheels (that will accept a wheel cover) is NUTS... Something like $85+ each.
With the WPC swap coming up, I let the RMB sit in the driveway like a wounded buffalo for a lil over a week. (That dead tire held air for an amazingly long amount of time.) The only thing I found at the swap was this $200 mis-matched set (2)6.5" & (2)7" painted lime green. No tires. Looks like somebody bought them, mounted two tires to hide the difference, and it trying to flip them for $300.
15 Mopar Steelies Stock OEM Wheels with BFG Tires
But I digress... While I was measuring a different set, a guy walked up to me and asked if I wanted to buy some rims outside the swap. Like a drug deal, but with rims instead I guess. $50 later, or $12.50 each, and I had a set of genuine Mopar po-po rims! For another $357.00 I had a set of Made-in-USA "mastercraft" (Cooper) 235/75 whitewalls.
Shout out to Gratiot Wheel and Tire! These are my go-to guys for tire needs. They'll mount/balance whatever I bring them for $40, but in this case they had a far better price than I could have even gotten online.
I had gotten the idea that Kumho (Korea) was the only game in town for whitewalls. Was very happy to find these Made-in-Ohio tires at a great price ($317 before the mounting). Now I'm sorta thinking that I might like to stock up before they become "old-tymey-only" and cost $317 each from Coker. Put them in plastic bags and bury them in the yard or something.
Anybody ever think about doing a group buy? I'm wondering what we could get the price down to with some volume? I can't really comment on their performance yet, but I've had Coopers in the past with zero complaints.
