Original tires reproduced for Thing

[Captain Spalding]

This is a great board.

[thinghunter]

[amishman]

[lukesky]

Here's the spare in my '74. I always thought it was original, and I hope I never have a flat that I have to use it for. It looks like it's never been used. I'd love to have a set of 4. I never heard of Euzkadi before this post.

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You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.
-Gabi

[doublecanister]

Here is a photo of the spare that came with my THING, it's old and pretty much worn down to the wear bars.
I somehow remember this being a popular tire back in the 80's, on Vw's.
anyway, anyone ever seen this type before?
Tire sidewall says made in brazil.
They probably were a "stock" aftermarket replacement.

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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[Big Luni]

These photos of old spares remind me of "A Christmas Story," where the kid describes his father's spare tires: "They were round and had once been made of rubber."

Mine's no better -- I have new rims and tires on my car, but a fossilized antique in my trunk, which would probably be dangerous to use if I had a flat. I'll have to take a look and see if it's an interesting specimen...
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I'm All About My Fetti!

[thinghunter]

Just thought I would add this about the STA SuperTraxion tires since I have been looking at them again.

Comparing the two on the website the E78X14 is load range D, has deeper tread, is almost an inch wider and over an inch taller so as klokard mentioned do not fit under the hood, and weighs 28 pounds. While the P185/75D14 is load range B, still has the same look but not as deep tread, is narrower and shorter so it will fit where the spare goes and shouldn't have any rubbing issues, and weighs only 18 pounds so the shipping may be cheaper and it will be easier to handle.

Also on a side note, the swing out tire carrier has a reputation for cracking the sheetmetal, perhaps this is because most oversize/replacement tires people are using are way too heavy for what it was engineered for.

[Captain Spalding]

[caseydenise]

[thinghunter]

What I was saying is that while close the bigger ones are just that, bigger and therefore there are still problems with using them. As far as the smaller ones being too small, that is pretty much the size they were originally so no they are just right, the other ones are too big. This only applies if you are looking for a stock size tire, if you don't buy these I eventually will and will take pictures of them so everyone can see them on a Thing and see if they like them.

I vote get the smaller ones

If you can't tell I've been obsessed with Thing tires for 7 years and these are the most promising ones I have come across.

[caseydenise]

OK, I think I will order the larger ones for rolling (I like the look), and a postal size for a spare. This way they will all look the same and only be 1inch ride hight difference if I get a flat. I just hope that it will fit under the hood.
I'm going to place my order Monday morning with universal vintage tire

http://www.universaltire.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=25342&category_id=343
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Central Jersey Volkswagen Society - President

[thinghunter]

caseydenise sent me a PM letting me know the STA SuperTraxion P185/75D14 has been discontinued

Will this ever end

I'm going to call around and see if anyone has these in stock as they told me one guy usually keeps some of the tires in stock.

[caseydenise]

Just got the four tires in the driveway today. Can't wait to get them on my rims. I'll get a shot of the tires. They are sick!
If you find any postal size I need one for a spare.
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Central Jersey Volkswagen Society - President

[SilverThing]

[dagimp]

[caseydenise]

I did get the tires mounted. I really like these tires. They are big and loud, real aggressive looking. Non-VW people ask me if it's a 4X4. the speedo is 5mph off because of the difference from 185 to 205. No rubbing. I would say they slow the thing down a tad on take off. I love them regardless. I just did a 160 miles round trip with the car and it was fine. I would still like to find old new stock of the postal size for a spare. I got them for just under $500 shipped from PA to NJ.

my rides

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Central Jersey Volkswagen Society - President

[Towel Rail]

Vredestein still makes a couple of passenger-car 185R14s... nothing sexy or offroad-y, but they're out there. In fact, I have three lightly-used ones that I might get rid of.

- Scott
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1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[dagimp]

[HUGO bOSS]

Hello.

Now I'm finishing the restoration of my 1978 ex-NATO thing, I'm looking for a set of 4 original look tires...

The spare one is a Dunlop 185 SR14... with a NATO reference 2610 - 12 - 155 - 9009. Searching the net and nothing... Any ideas?
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=538182

[Captain Spalding]