Autobahn(R) 560R15 Blackwall Tire

[lardawge]

[johnshenry]

[[email protected]]

[TheRealOld59]

Mine, on my 58.

_________________
- Euro OG Paint '58
- Westfalia EarlyBay '69

[johnshenry]

I know that this thread is about the blackwall tires, but......

I ordered a set of the 3" whitewalls and have them on my oval now. They came with a thin blue paint/coating of some kind on the white walls. WTF??? Lacquer thinner or Carb cleaner barely gets this stuff off! Soapy water, Windex or Mineral Spirits won't touch it. And it takes tons of work to just get one area white with the solvent, never mind using a toothbrush to get it off all around the lettering. And solvents can't be good for the rubber. Anyone experience this and/or find a way to clean the coating off??
_________________
John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[BulliBill]

[BulliBill]

At some point, can someone post the tire size for the blackwalls for the Beetle, and if possible, could someone who has one on their spare tire/rim, or can easily jack a corner up in the air and take a tape measure and run it snuggly all the way around the center of the inflated tire tread and give us a measurement? Thanks!

I'm debating getting a set of five for an Oval Kabriolett I'm working on, can't decide whether I want whitewalls or blackwalls... I also wish they weren't quite so expensive plus the cost to ship 'em.

Bill
_________________
I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[johnshenry]

[johnshenry]

They replied already:

"Hi John,
I would not use paint thinner to remove the blue. Paint thinner will damage the tires. The blue coating is soap. Usually just spraying water with a hose and a mild scrubbing pad or rag will do.

Thanks,"

I'll try it with my pressure washer and report back.
_________________
John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[[email protected]]

[[email protected]]

[[email protected]]

I've emailed the folks who make and sell those Autobahn tires and asked for different sizes in the past ..do to the fact I wanted a smaller size 4.50x15 tires to be exact for a lowered vws .i wanted the same stock look as the autobahn stock tires but in a smaller size so that the car has all the same tire brand ...I was told that they would be interested in making them but first they are gonna see how these stock autobahn tires sell and if they go well on the market they would look in to any size demand but they liked the idea of the 4.50x15 size for lowered vws since everyone/ everybody has or is lowering there vws....

[johnshenry]

Well FYI, water does NOT remove this blue "soap". Not even water from a 2300 PSI pressure washer after leaving the tires wet for over an hour. NOT happy about this, those tires cost stupid money. I have e-mailed Performance Plus and asked what they can do about this.
_________________
John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[[email protected]]

[johnshenry]

[[email protected]]

[johnshenry]

Garage Vintage in Japan has been responsive, asked for pics and details via e-mail. Messaged both them and Performance Plus Tire today, asking for a new set of WHITE wall tires and that they pay for unmounting the blue ones, in installing the new et. Will see where this goes. As long as they are responding, I will defer writing any reviews at this point.

Disappointing.

The pic below shows an area around the "5.60" numbering that I hit with a 2300PSI pressure washer about an inch away from the rubber. It did get most of it off, but I would be concerned that it would damage the rubber. The sprayer will carve wood at this proximity. I scrubbed the whole area with a tire detail stiff brush and warm soapy water prior to that for several minutes. You can see how the coating is all down in the fine lettering.

_________________
John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[BulliBill]

That's not good! I sure hope that Garage Vintage stands up to the issue, as I'm considering a set of five of their tires for my '57 Kabriolett project. It will be interesting to see how the company resolves this issue. It sounds like the protective blue coating is WAY too protective and will not release or remove? Not good for the tire purchaser... I assume that they do not spray this blue protective stuff on their blackwall tires, only on the whitewall tires...

I'll be watching with great interest! I would not be interested in expensive "bluewall" tires.

Bill B
_________________
I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[[email protected]]

I was just wondering maybe if you were to drive your beetle and warm up the tires and than wash them it would help ...maybe the warmer tire would help release the coating ....but than again who knows if that would work ...ether new tires or like I said before scub them with s.o.s pads ..s.o.s pads do scuff up the white wall tires a little bit ..but that's how alot of folks clean them .....well that's how folks that I know been cleaning theirs for years ....

[Erik G]

I'd never use a pressure washer to scrub off the blue, but it shouldnt take that much effort.

I use the blue no scratch scotch-brite

_________________
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!