Whitewall Tires Styles

[dkgrossman]

I am having my 1970 280 SL restored from the ground up.  It's been just over a year in the works, and we're coming into the home stretch.  I've been looking at 113 examples online and trying to decide on tires.  Most have either blackwall tires, or the typical 1" whitewall tires.  I've seen a few with somewhat wider whitewalls on the tires, maybe ~3" in width, and I think they look nice.  I'm wondering if these were ever offered as an original option, or if anyone has thoughts (or pictures of) on the use of these tires on the 113? I've tried to attach an example or two that I found online.

[Tomnistuff]

I too found the upper one on line and it's my screen background.  I bought the tires like you see on it.  The tires still have the light blue coating on the whitewalls, which will wash off with just plain water when I finish my restoration.  It keeps the whitewalls protected until I'm finished.
I bought the wide whitewalls at Diamondback tires. their nearest outlet to me is about two miles down the road from Gernold Nesius in Maine.  They are actually Toyo tires but Diamond back buys them and then puts them back through a tire molding machine where they put their own whitewall compound on the tires.  I've attached a scan of the sticker that I took off one of the tires and a photo of my car on the hoist as well.
Tom Kizer

[dkgrossman]

Very helpful.  Thanks, Tom.
Keith Grossman

[Garry]

I also went with the wider WW’s. There are is some early MB Advertsing material with them on. Mine are 2 1/2”  Coker.

I like them, I guess its a personal thing.

Garry

[dkgrossman]

Thanks!  I'm doing to car in Silver, so I'm just trying to decide if the wider whitewalls (or any whitewalls) will look good with a lighter color paint.

[franjo_66]

And I 'm part of the WW club as well
Same style as Garry's

I realise that it's all very subjective, but I personally think that WWs complement our cars, in any colour

[ohoraherecaptain]

Have you seen these?
JOH.

[mdsalemi]

Porta-Walls. They are pretty inexpensive, about $60 a set of four...

http://www.lucasclassictires.com/14x2-Portawall-set-142port.htm

I've not known anyone to use them, but I'd be very interested in trying these with the Sprint Classics...

[114015]

Trés chic, Franjo.

Looks great !


Best,
Achim

[Garry]

I have a set of the portable WW (called here flappers) and tried to fit them to my VW.  They did not fit well and also come with some balance problems so I discarded them. Still sitting in the shed.  I could say you can have them but the postage to the UK is probably more than the cost of buying a set there.

Garry

[ohoraherecaptain]

Cheers Garry.
Not sure if there for every tier?
John.

[ohoraherecaptain]

Anybody used these tier wall's? If so, how do you find the fit?
I read from one member that they did not fit well [on his VW], so he had to discard them!  The ones I pictured are from German: http://www.ebay.de/itm/4x-Weiswandringe-14-Zoll-TUV-Mercedes-Weiswandreifen-8-W114-W115-W116-W-116/191403741429?_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D8abfbadf257c44feaa0c9f3396e81c75%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D191403741429&_trkparms=pageci%253A9a768af4-3582-11e7-a081-74dbd1807af9%257Cparentrq%253Af27f274515b0a8605702d0fcffff96e2%257Ciid%253A1
JOH. 

[ohoraherecaptain]

By the way Garry, this is the ebay site I saw them on: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191403741429?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
They do look impressive?
JOH.

[ohoraherecaptain]

Thanks. Got in touch with these guys who tell me that their made by 'Atlas' and  they shift about 1000 sets a year! Of course, there not exclusively referring to PAGODA's. See: http://www.lucasclassictires.com/14x2-Portawall-set-142port.htm  for more references, or get back to me!
JOH.

[Tomnistuff]

In 1961, when I was 16 years old, my father bought me a 1940 Chevrolet pickup truck for $600.  It was like new and had 26,000 miles.  I saved about $10 and bought a set of Portawalls and installed them.  They didn't last long driving on the farm, but they sure looked good to a 16 year old farm boy.  Especially on Saturday nights parked at the A & W Root Beer Stand where the cute car hops served foot long hot dogs and root beer on a tray hooked on the window sill.  Life was good then, and still is, only slower.  That was about 100 miles north of Memphis and across the Mississippi River in Missouri.
Tom Kizer

[Norm]

Just a "heads up". I researched porta-walls awhile back and learned that while they work well on bias ply tires, it was reported that they are not so good with radial tires.

I didn't purchase so I have no personal experience. 

I'm a convert to WSW tires on my Pagoda but since it is your car, your the best person to decide.

Good luck with whatever you decide....

Norm

[Pagodarestorer23]

Personally im not a fan of WW, but we had a customer specify white walls for a 190SL. The Michelin ZX are not available as WW, so not wanting to ruin the way the car rides and whatnot we found a company in germany (im sure it was germany) who could manufacture a WW onto the tyre, without damaging it and making it look like it was supposed to be there...
It was crazy, crazy expensive but they may be able to do something similar with the Michelin MXV-P/ vredestein equivalent?

Ellis

[ohoraherecaptain]

Cheers Ellis.
So what do you make of the one's I mentioned: http://www.ebay.de/itm/4x-Weiswandringe-14-Zoll-TUV-Mercedes-Weiswandreifen-8-W114-W115-W116-W-116/191403741429?_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D8abfbadf257c44feaa0c9f3396e81c75%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D191403741429&_trkparms=pageci%253A9a768af4-3582-11e7-a081-74dbd1807af9%257Cparentrq%253Af27f274515b0a8605702d0fcffff96e2%257Ciid%253A1
JOH

[Benz Dr.]

Thanks!  I'm doing to car in Silver, so I'm just trying to decide if the wider whitewalls (or any whitewalls) will look good with a lighter color paint.

I find white walls to be very color dependent and silver isn't one of those colors.

[mdsalemi]

Just a "heads up". I researched porta-walls awhile back and learned that while they work well on bias ply tires, it was reported that they are not so good with radial tires.

In a bit more detail, on the Lucas Classic website, it says that:

Portawalls, also known as, "white wall inserts", slap-ons, Mickies, fake white walls, etc.., are currently available in a variety of wheel sizes and widths. Portawalls were originally designed to work on bias ply tires some 50 years ago, not today's radials. Bias tires have a flat rigid sidewall, and a much higher profile (aspect ratio) than radial tires.

The lower the profile of a radial, the less likely you will be pleased with the results. Larger radials with a 75 profile work well, but we do not recommend trying them on many of today's popular 65 profiles and smaller. For radials, we suggest the narrower widths, so they won't extend beyond the radius of the sidewall. A set consists of (4) pieces. For best results, follow all steps of included instructions.

Below is a link to an installation video or copy and paste to your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWL2ReLnnsE

[ohoraherecaptain]

Cheers.
The danger with clips like this is that all these items look their best when new! How they ware and preform, is much more important. The design may be clever, but it leans more to aesthetic considerations than functionality.
Got this report in from the "Hansen Styling Parts Team" in Germany, who say that "Port-O-Wall System's" are not allowed in Germany, while their's are 'street legal'.
http://www.ravus.de/templates/22/de/media/pdf/ravus-mm.pdf
JOH.

[Jowe]

I have fake WW. Don't know the brand. It's very hard to recognize them if you are not looking very close. They are stuck in place by the chrome ring.

[Pagodarestorer23]

JOH

Personally im not a fan of them, we call them flapper because they do exactly that... Flap!

As Benz Dr said silver is not the colour for white walls for sure.

In my opinion, the correct set of Michelin MXV-P's is the best to use -
A- They look correct and fill the arches much better than any other tyre, you would be much happier with these on a silver car than white walls. Without the large rubbing strip around the tyre they never look right...
B- The car will drive beautifully on them compared to cheaper brands.

[ohoraherecaptain]

FYI - 'Hansen Styling Parts Team' assure me that their WW-rim - when fitted- are tight to the tire.
The flapping issue seems to be with the Porto Walls?
Cheers.
JOH.

[Brenco]

I have a similar type of fake wws to Jowe's which have been on the car for over 3 years. No issues with them at all. They area  two part insert system with an inner insert to protect the wall of the tyre. No flapping and they have never come loose. They were on sale at the Techno Classica. They were made by a German company if remember correctly. I'll try and root out the name.