Whitewall Tires

[Jordan]

I am looking for new 185/80R14 whitewall tires for my 230sl (or equivalent).  Diamond Back classic radials has these tires in their catalog on line, page 13.  They are manufatured by Federal.  Has anyone else used these tires?  If so how did they ride and were you happy with them?  If anyone can stear me to a set of tires it would be much appreciated.  I am in Canada but would go to the states if necessary to get them.  Thanks.
Marcus

[Jonny B]

Use the search function, there is a great deal of information about tires, and whitewalls. I used Coker for mine, and they delivered them (185HR14) in the US.

[Mike Hughes]

Diamondback in South Carolina is a company that will ADD a whitewall to almost any tire. So if you want to add whitewalls to a Michelin tire they can do it for you.  I do not know the particulars of their process, but I can tell you that one of my customers has installed Diamondback whitewalls on both of the new cars I sold him  last year and he is pleased with the results.

[hauser]

Mike, I looked into having a ww applied to a Michelin and they said it would be no problem.  I asked about the process and they basically shave the entire side of the tire to add the ww.  I didn't want to loose the tire sidewall info and asked if they could just do it to the are receiving the ww and they won't do it.

[IXLR8]

Many years ago, it was common practice that tires were made with white panels embedded in the side walls. If you wanted white walls, the manufacturer would shave off the black covering and expose the white wall underneath.

Today?? I don't know about the particulars on Diamond Back shaving the tires to provide a whitewall. Nor do I know if the white panels are routinely embedded in the wall on tires manufactured these days.


Joe

[w113dude]

About a year ago I bought a set of tire inserts, as I got tired of looking for something good and reasonable, at first I was hesitant but later as I put them I was convinced it's the way to go, biggest advantage is that you can use any tier with these inserts and they look cool, the ones I got 14"x 2" width, in my opinion it looks the best for our sl's any wider looks too much. the only negatives thing about these inserts is that they have these not so attractive raised prints on them that I not crazy about. 

If I get a chance next week I'll put up an image of the white wall tire on the forum.
you can check it out on eBay from the seller that I got mine, auction # 270472217861

cheers
Shaun

[Jordan]

Thanks for your comments.  I checked out the inserts on e-bay.  I assume they tell you how to secure these to the tire.  My car is papyrus white (717) with a blue top.  I would be interested in any good pictures of white or light coloured cars with wide whitewalls.  My search of previous discussions shows lots of pictures but most of the cars are dark.  If you have a light coloured car with whitewalls can you post a picture.  Thanks
Marcus

[w113dude]

Marcus,

You and I have the same color cars! mine is also a 717 though not finished yet.
This video clip shows the car with the white walls.
These inserts fit between the tire and the rim without any gluing so it can be taken off anytime. (works great)
In my opinion white walls look much better on lighter color cars specially white.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuo82fubVA

Shaun

[Jordan]

Thanks Shaun.  Excellent video.  It shows the car with black walls, thin white walls and wide whitewalls.  Both the thin and wide look good.  Its interesting to see the chrome inner ring on the steering wheel is a complete circle, rather than the partial circle most sl's now have.  I don't know if I would have the courage to drive my car the way its gets put through the paces on the video.
Cheers
Marcus

[rmmchl]

i use bridgestone   "IGSIGNIA" tires with whitewalls-they are a good radial and smooth riding also.

[Jordan]

Are your Bridgestone Insignia tires 185 80R14 or are they a different size?
Thanks

[Alf]

Its interesting to see the chrome inner ring on the steering wheel is a complete circle, rather than the partial circle most sl's now have. 

230 SL had round horn rings. Changed to flattened design for saftey reasons half way through the production run of the 250SL

[66andBlue]

Sorry Alf,
only the very early 230SL had a round horn ring, the flattened one was introduced on Feb. 02, 1964, starting with chassis number 2035.
You can read up on it in the technical manual (http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Interior/SteeringWheel). 

[Alf]

Ooops! You're quite right I stand corrected  I thought it came in with the big slew of safety mods during the 250 series. I'll check next time rather than rely on my failing memory