Tire Choices for Our Roadmasters

[bocoogto]

As all of you who own '91-'96 Roadmasters know, it's getting more difficult to find an appropriate sized tire. On my '93 wagon, I've run 225-75R15 and 235-70R15's. I've seen in our local Fleet Farm stores a Kinda brand tire that's 235-70R15 blackwall. Whitewalls are pretty much out of the question, as these are really scarce. Does anyone have info on this or other brands?

Experience has shown me that the speedometer is nearly dead-on with 235 tires and 4% off with 225's.

['97ventureowner]

Have you looked at Tirerack.com's offerings? They have quite a bit of a selection. I agree that it is harder to find whitewall tires. I believe they have gone out of style with most consumers in favor of lettering or just a plain blackwall. All of the tires Tirerack offers come in 3 ways, blackwall, raised white letters or white outlined lettering. plus with the demographic of owners of these vehicles getting younger, the favorability of whitewalls is even less as they tend to like "sportier" versions.
Just a side note, according to Tirerack's site, the RM came with 2 sizes of tires as OEM from the factory, 235-70-15 and 225-70-15, and they recommend you check which tires your vehicle has. (That's all fine and dandy if you still have the original tires or the former owner hadn't changed the size.) I wonder if the sticker on the car with the air pressure recommendations specifies which sizes came on which vehicles.)

[sonofavet]

I'm a proud owner of a 92 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. I purchased a set of tires for my RM back in 2001. BFGoodrich Revelations P/225/75R15 with whitewalls. This same size is found on the door sticker. I like the tires. They seem to have strong sidewalls which helps with the wide wheelbase and the cars sway.
'97ventureowner you are correct in saying the tire size is located on the inside drivers door along with the tire pressure.

[52mercury]

Roadmaster Whitewall Tires Availability

Coker Tires, Cattanooga, Tenn has whitewall tires for the Buick Roadmaster. Check their website.

Last year I purchased two Firestone FR380 ww tires for my wagon, but have found out that Firestone has discontinued producing this tire. You may still find them in stock at some obscure tire dealer in the U.S. A search on the Internet may work. I did see some ww tires offered on Ebay recently. Hope this info helps.

jb

['97ventureowner]

Thank you for mentioning that option for white walls.When you mentioned "obscure tire dealers " and eBay made me think of a warning the government put out last year concerning the purchase of older tires.
Tires have a definite lifespan, even sitting on a dealer's shelf waiting to be sold. Heat and oxygen can cause a tire to break down,( called thermo-oxidative degradation.) It is recommended that you replace your tires every 7 years and take careful note of the age of tires you are interested in purchasing. There is a code that the DOT puts on each tire located near the bead , and the last 4 digits of this code indicate the date the tire was made. For instance a code of "1109" indicates the tire was made the 11th week of 2009.
I hope that by passing this info on to members it can help them make an informed decision when purchasing tires for their vehicle.

[52mercury]

I am in full agreement with investigating age of tires before purchase as they do degrade over time. Car batteries also have production date codes. So "buyer beware".

[ilgoldstein]

A local independent shop was able to order a set of Yokohama Avid whitewalls for me last year. Took a couple of days. Not bad tires.

[bocoogto]

I was able to get a pair of Kuhmo 225-75R15's for my '93. Not as good as the discontinued Dean Aques, but the best I could find.