Red Tire Pressure Decal - 25PSI vs 26PSI

[benz55]

Does anyone know when the Red Tire Pressure Decal was Changed from 25psi to 26psi ?
  I have a 1966 230SL and was wondering which is the correct Decal.

[KevinC]

Here's one from a November 1966 car with "25" for front tires. On Brian Peters site www.motoringinvestments.com , he shows a red 1968 280SL that he sold a couple of years back and the label reads "26". This might lead one to believe that the change tool place somewhere in those two years.

I bet others will chime in to assist here, as well.

If you are considering having some red labels printed and available on your site, put me down for two; one with 25 and the other with 26! ...another item of interest might be the tire tag that hangs in the trunk.

Kevin

[66andBlue]

Hi George,
my 1966 230SL also has the front25/rear31 numbers while my early 280SL has the front26/rear32 numbers.
Interestingly the DB Teil-Nr (DB-part-number) is the same for both: 000 584 6839
The weight (empty) for the 230SL is 1,295 kg but for the 250SL/280SL it increased to 1,360 kg.  Thus the change may have happened with the 250SL introduction.
JohnL, what does yours show?
 
If you plan to reproduce those make sure you include the DB part number. Many reproduction labels are missing the number.

[49er]

 Here is my sticker (same as Alfreds 230SL)

John

[benz55]

Thanks for all the great replies!

Seems like the change was around 67-68 or around the start of 250SL production.

George

[KevinC]

Thanks for all the great replies!

Seems like the change was around 67-68 or around the start of 250SL production.

George

It would have to be later than '67 as John's car was produced in 1968 and shows "25". Thinking mid-year 1968 if you follow both John's label and Alfred's from his 280SL.

It would be interesting to note during what month was each of these 1968's produced?  

[49er]

If I am reading the production dates listed in our technical manual correctly, my '69 was built in July 1968. I do find it interesting that Alfred's '68 has a different sticker?

John

[KevinC]

John...have we already discussed this...? My 280SL 113044 10 003896 is titled as a 1968!  Must be the August vs September registration date (?).

 Alas, the tire sticker is missing which is partially why I am following this thread so closely!

[49er]

Kevin, I wonder since your car was an overseas delivery and perhaps shipped shipped independently, it made it over to California a few weeks earlier than my boat even though it was built a few days later. Fun to play detective with these cars:-)

John

[KevinC]

Kevin, I wonder since your car was an overseas delivery and perhaps shipped shipped independently, it made it over to California a few weeks earlier than my boat even though it was built a few days later. Fun to play detective with these cars:-)

John

It makes sense John...your car would have gone through the dealer network and probably had to pass customs with 100's of others where it seems this car circumvented the dealer portion altogether.

[49er]

 I posted this before but when my car left Antwerp, the dealer gave me the ship's name and approximately when the car would be delivered to the LA port at San Pedro. The LA times published daily ship's arrival info so when my ship came in several weeks later, I drove down to the port, found the ship (it looked like a converted "Liberty" ship), and there was my car along with two or three other SLs (there was only one white one so I knew it was mine:-). There were perhaps about 30-40 other MBs there as well. No guards back then so I was able to go over to my car, open the unlocked door and sit inside for the 1st time. A few days later I got to drive it home from the dealer:-) As Archie would say, "Those were the days"

John

[66andBlue]

It would be interesting to note during what month was each of these 1968's produced?  

Kevin,
my 280SL (113 ... 5600) was produced in September 1968 and sold in Florida on Dec. 5, 1968 to the first owner.
However, I am not sure whether the decal is the one that was originally on the trunk lid since the second owner in Colorado changed the original color from green to "Colorado beige", among other strange modifications, e.g. seats from a Pontiac!

[KevinC]

I posted this before but when my car left Antwerp, the dealer gave me the ship's name and approximately when the car would be delivered to the LA port at San Pedro. The LA times published daily ship's arrival info so when my ship came in several weeks later, I drove down to the port, found the ship (it looked like a converted "Liberty" ship), and there was my car along with two or three other SLs (there was only one white one so I knew it was mine:-). There were perhaps about 30-40 other MBs there as well. No guards back then so I was able to go over to my car, open the unlocked door and sit inside for the 1st time. A few days later I got to drive it home from the dealer:-) As Archie would say, "Those were the days"

John

Great story!

[KevinC]

Kevin,
my 280SL (113 ... 5600) was produced in September 1968 and sold in Florida on Dec. 5, 1968 to the first owner.
However, I am not sure whether the decal is the one that was originally on the trunk lid since the second owner in Colorado changed the original color from green to "Colorado beige", among other strange modifications, e.g. seats from a Pontiac!

Seats from a Pontiac?...maybe he wanted that "Wide Track" (used to be their catch phrase) feel!

It could certainly be though that the "25" to "26" reading took place between July and September 1968...Maybe during the August break!   

[66andBlue]

Hi Kevin,
well, I just talked to Dave Gallon and the issue became more complex.
His 1968 280SL - that he bought in 1974 - has VIN .. 001155,  and guess what? The 26/32 red decal!  
Now what  
Since the car weight is not the defining reason for the change the only other explanation that came to mind was that the tires (Phoenix or Continental, or ??) might have determined the label. But he considered that highly unlikely.
Because both labels have the same part number another possibility is that the 26/32 label was also used in another car and when the 25/31 ran out the 26/32 was installed. Thus there could have been a time overlap. But that is all hypothetical!

[69280sl]

Perhaps to help narrow this down a bit, my 1968, car #1084 has the 26/32 sticker.

Gus

[66andBlue]

Interesting! Now we have #1084 and #1155 with the 26/32 sticker and all (?) 230SL plus John's  #3820 with the 25/31 sticker.

Where was the sticker installed, at the factory or at the Mercedes prep facility in the USA?
If it was in the USA then I guess both decals were installed until they ran out of stock on the earlier one.

Added 11/11: #1847 has the red 26/32 label.

[Norm]

Just to keep this thread confusing I checked my 1966 230 #018378 built in late September 1966 and delivered October 10th in Hannover, Germany.

My red tire pressure label reads 1.8 / 2.2 which, converted to PSI, would be 26/32.

"The plot thickens"

Norm

[66andBlue]

Hi Norm,
we can make the plot even thicker.
Your red label indicates that tire pressure is measured in 'atü'.
Depending on whether you rounded up or down, or used the conversion value for the 'technical' or the 'standard' atmosphere, you get slightly different values (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_atmosphere).
1.8 'technical' atmospheres (at) = 25.60 psi
1.8 'standard' atmospheres (atm) = 26.54 psi
One should use the first value because 1.8 'atü means 1.8 at (not atm) above normal atmospheric pressure at sea level.

Late 280SL cars had a purple sticker that combined the metric pressure values (now in kp/cm^2) and 'psi' values in one label.
This label is still available from Mercedes: p/n 113 584 0039.

I have read some posts claiming that Merceds also used a black label for W113 cars where both units were combined but I am not sure whether this is correct.  I have, however, seen a reproduction label in black in Germany once in a Pagoda.  But that label is really remarkable since the metric pressure unit is stated as kp/cm^3 - force per volume  I doubt that Mercedes would make such a blunder!

[Jonny B]

In my 1970 280 SL, VIN ending 12730, the tire pressure decal inside the trunk lid reads 26/32.

[KevinC]

OUTSTANDING JOB on the reproduction sticker(s) George, especially picking up that the "26" PSI sticker states "for radial tires"....

http://www.authenticclassics.com/TIRE-PRESSURE-DECAL-LABEL-RED-230SL-EARLY-250SL-p/auth-004820.htm

You should now post these in the commercial section. These have the type detail we appreciate!

Kevin