Black wall tires on a '51 Land Cruiser?

[jclary]

I have a '51 Land Cruiser with aging whitewall tires. These tires have been on the car for about 18 years and need to be replaced. If I buy tires from either Coker or Diamond Brand it will cost me nearly a thousand bucks by the time I have them shipped, mounted and balanced. I have a good friend who is a fleet manager and says he can get me a good set of black walls at a very reasonable price. Any body here on the forum have one of these cars with black wall tires? Your opinions welcomed
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John Clary
Greer, SC

Life... is what happens as you are making plans.
SDC member since 1975

[whacker]

I have never done it myself, but I have heard that Coker will deal. Make them an offer about half of list and work from there. It's worth a try.

[rockne10]

My '51 Commander Starlight State originally had black walls.

I imagine white walls on the Land Cruiser were more a standard than on option. Black walls were certainly available and would not be inappropriate. IMO white walls look more appropriate on that model.

You'll be living with them for at least the next decade. Is your personal happy happy joy joy worth the difference in price divided over ten or more years? It's like ice cream. You don't need it but, you still buy it when you can.

Brad Johnson
Pine Grove Mills, Pa.
'33 Rockne 10, '51 Commander Starlight, '53 Commander Starlight

[BRUCESTUDE]

I like the black wall look- I think more Studes had blackwalls, rather than the extra cost whitewalls, back in the day, especially the early 50's....[8D]

Here's mine with chrome non-stock wheels:

[HarryStude]

Or if it is a big issue you can buy the porta-walls they are just a white wall that you put on a black wall tire to make it appear as a white wall.

PROUDLY MADE IN AMERICA

[StudeRich]

quote:Originally posted by HarryStude

Or if it is a big issue you can buy the porta-walls they are just a white wall that you put on a black wall tire to make it appear as a white wall.

Those worked back in the day, but you need tubes to keep the air in. Since you can't buy tube type tires, barely can find tubes and Porta Walls are no longer sold, I think you need to just find a better deal, on whitewalls, maybe at Diamondback.

The blackwalls look OK on Chrome Rims, but not so on painted stock ones or on a Land Cruiser.

StudeRich

[Metman]

My opinion(for what it's worth..) is for whitewalls on your car. Have you tried shopping around the different vendors? I found a significant difference between some of them when I purchased the American Classic radials for my Hawk. Universal had the best price at the time. Something else you can try is to call them and ask if they have any "blems" in what you are looking for. I did this with some Firestone wide whites for my Met awhile back. Could not see anything wrong with them and saved some $$..!
Regards- Matt

1963 GT Hawk
1960 Metropolitan Convertible
1972 AMC Javelin/ AMX
1958 Cushman Eagle

[50Champ]

When I bought my '50 last year it had a set of radials on it with the narrow white walls. The tires are in good shape and I like the look so I'm just going to leave them on it, so there's another option for you....





1950 Champion 2 Dr. Sedan

[lstude]

During the Korean War, no whitewalls could be produced, so Studebaker had blackwalls in the ads and brochures, but later in the year they could have whitewalls.




Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[Chris Pile]

quote:

That's a darn nice looking Studebaker.
Love the wheels, by the way!

Chris Pile
Editor: The Studebaker Special

http://midwaystudebakers.tripod.com/

[reichsrundfunk]

Wow, you're gonna get a real range of replies here. I know that Coker can be a real budget beuter, but for my two cents worth, A Land Cruiser deserves whitewalls. You could go with contemporary (thin) whitewalls, like I did, but in my eyes there oughta be something there more than just black. Bu there's no wrong opinion here, just diverse viewpoints.
-George-
-63 GT Hawk
-63 Champ
-56J
-51 Commander Land Cruiser

[60Lark]

My 2 cents worth is - blackwall tires look better than any whitewall tire, but that's just me. [8]


Studebaker Fever
60 Lark
56 Power Hawk
Phil Hendrickson
Arnold, Missouri

[Blue 15G]

Back in "the day", blackwall tires were far more common than most people today realize. A lot of people (younger ones, especially) think that all '50s cars had full wheel covers and wide whites, but that's not the way it was!

As for your '51, my humble opinion is that you can't go wrong either way.

Dave Bonn
'54 Champion Starliner

[Swifster]

I agree that you can't go wrong either way. I think the wide whites were probably few and far bewteen. I'd almost bet your build sheet would show black walls.

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Tom - Mulberry, FL

1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $2125.60)

1964 Studebaker Commander 170-1V, 3-speed w/OD (Cost to Date: $623.67)

[HarryStude]

Actually you can get them again they are big on the rat rod circuit. The new ones are attached to the tire itself not pinched in the rim. Check some of the farm and ranch supply places that sell tires you can buy tube type tires still.

Those worked back in the day, but you need tubes to keep the air in. Since you can't buy tube type tires, barely can find tubes and Porta Walls are no longer sold, I think you need to just find a better deal, on whitewalls, maybe at Diamondback.

The blackwalls look OK on Chrome Rims, but not so on painted stock ones or on a Land Cruiser.

StudeRich
[/quote]

PROUDLY MADE IN AMERICA