Tires that are "known" not to have ..

[daves87rs]

..stiffer sidewalls?

A buddy of mine is getting some uniroyal tiger paw AWPs at a pretty good price. But he had a question that I did not have an answer for: What brands/tires have real soft sidewalls?

What brought this on you say? He noticed what he thought were a couple of flat tires on my wife's Cavalier, which are running Kelly Navigator Golds. They're a great all season tire so far, and are wearing quite well. But as he pointed out, I swear they always look flat/low on air. Sadly, I didn't know that certain Kelly/Goodyears are known for having softer sidewalls, something I did not find out until after I joined here.

I figured I'd try to give him a bit of help to see if the TPs should be fine or not. I don't see this problems with harmonies or Touring TAs, so I'm thinking the TPs should stay that way too.

To be honest, I can't think of many tires that I have seen to that. But it does not hurt to ask...

 

[tightwad]

Yes, some tires have a "thicker" sidewall than others. But I don't think this is indicative of the quality or safety of the tire. The tire doesn't actually support the weight of the car. The air in the tire does that. The sidewall just holds the air in. And the whole point of the radial tire is that the flexible sidewall improves handling and fuel economy. The amount of bulge in the loaded sidewall is affected by inflation, wheel width and vehicle weight. I may not be explaining this well, but the point is that a tire with a stiff sidewall and a tire with a soft sidewall will bulge out about the same if weight, inflation and wheel size are the same. A tire is not a balloon.

 

[Need4racin]

uniroyal tiger paw are one of the [censored] tires you can buy. They have been out forever, seems like every junkyard has them for sale used with no buyers.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Wheel size is a major contribution to the "bulging" look. Example: 225/60-16 should be installed on the 16x7" wheel and it will look okay, if it is installed on the 16x6" wheel then it will look bulging and under inflated.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Need4racin
uniroyal tiger paw are one of the [censored] tires you can buy. They have been out forever, seems like every junkyard has them for sale used with no buyers.


If you're thinking of the 1980s ones with the tread pattern inspired by a waffle iron I'd tend to agree. In fact I saw some new ones used in a playground: treadwear 150, traction B, temp B.

I think half their tire line has "tiger paw" somewhere in the name now.

My TP Touring have been pretty nice.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
But as he pointed out, I swear they always look flat/low on air. Sadly, I didn't know that certain Kelly/Goodyears are known for having softer sidewalls, something I did not find out until after I joined here.


It depends more on the particular tire than the brand. For example, some Michelins have fairly soft sidewalls. The Michelin X Radials on our Town & Country always looked "saggy" in the sidewalls, regardless of air pressure. The Michelin Cross Terrain SUVs on our MDX also look "saggy". I keep them at the recommended 32 psi, and they're actually wearing more in the center than on the shoulder, so the saggy look doesn't seem to be affecting wear. Conversely, the Michelin Latitude Tours on our CR-V look fully inflated no matter the pressure. I keep them at the recommended 30 psi, but they look like they have 40 in them.

 

[rjundi]

For the market segment Continental put thems in(ultra-high performance) the Extreme Contact DWS have softer sidewalls.

 

[CourierDriver]

Here is a test that the Goodyear tire salesman would do in a store I worked at once. He would take a Goodyear tire radial and stand on the sidewall and it would barely budge. He would take a Uniroyal tire radial and stand on the sidewall and it collapsed to the other side, don't know if that is true anymore.

The more plys you can get in those sidewalls, the safer you are because your sidewall can take a big hit and usually wont blow out, but the ride can be stiffer.

 

[bourne]

Eagle ls2 and comforted touring from GY have some of the softest sidewalls. Even when I run 3 psi over stock my tires look low.

 

[HerrStig]

Michelin owns Uniryoal now. Do THEY make "bleep"?

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Michelin owns Uniryoal now. Do THEY make "bleep"?
They've owned Uniroyal for a while now (8-10 years)-Uniroyal is NOWHERE near the quality of Michelin, or even BFGoodrich, IMHO.

 

[Carbon]

Originally Posted By: tightwad
The tire doesn't actually support the weight of the car. The air in the tire does that. The sidewall just holds the air in.


Capriracer points out that the air inside the tire is pushing down on the axle as much as it is pushing up. It's the sidewall that is holding the axle up.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
For the market segment Continental put thems in(ultra-high performance) the Extreme Contact DWS have softer sidewalls.


They indeed do. They're soft enough that they easily roll over onto them without pressure near the maximum listed on the sidewall. The 205/50-16 DWS's on the Fit have managed that feat, despite the tire having a miniscule sidewall. IIRC the pressure in the tire had slipped down into the mid-30's from its usual 40-44 PSI. They get kept at that high pressure to avoid rolling, and keep a piece of debris from popping the sidewall mid-corner.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
The more plys you can get in those sidewalls, the safer you are because your sidewall can take a big hit and usually wont blow out, but the ride can be stiffer.
In a passenger car tire you'll have one or two ply sidewalls. A Load Range E truck tire will probably have three ply sidewalls. There is much more to tire stability than the ply count.

 

[mrsilv04]

The dealer put a set of Uniroyal Laredos (a version which isn't sold anymore) on my Silverado pickup truck.

The tires felt as if they were filled with mashed potatoes, no matter what air pressure that I had in them.

Because of the tires, it handled like a '73 Buick Electra 225 that my Dad used to own. Hitching a 26 foot travel trailer to the truck with any sort of a crosswind turned it into a white knuckle affair.

I replaced them with Michelin LTX's. Problem solved instantly.

I would suspect that the newer "Laredo Cross Country", that is sold today, is a better tire.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Michelin owns Uniryoal now. Do THEY make "bleep"?
They've owned Uniroyal for a while now (8-10 years)-Uniroyal is NOWHERE near the quality of Michelin, or even BFGoodrich, IMHO.


Michelin has established Uniroyal as the 'economy' line, BFGoodrich as the 'middle' line, and Michelin is the 'premium' line.

It's good marketing, and Michelin is doing it well.

 

[daves87rs]

Sad to know Uniroyal is *beep*...