Clean Mounting of Wide Whitewalls

[David B.]

Just received four new 2-3/4" whitewall Diamond Back radials for my '58. On DB's Web site, in their printed catalog, and on the tire packaging itself, they go to extreme lengths to explain how NOT to handle these whitewalls and the consequences of mishandling them. Now I'm half-scared to let a tire place mount, balance, and handle them.

How have you guys dealt with your tire guys? Do you ask them nicely to be careful? Do you hang around and look for potential mishandling? I love these new tires, but I don't want to see them get messed up, PLUS I don't want to get kicked out of the tire shop for being an overbearing jerk.

Is there a special tire mounting machine adapter or protector that they use for wide whites? Have any of you had a bad experience getting your wide whites mounted?

Dave

[Joe M.]

Re: Clean Mounting of Wide Whitewalls

I took my overpriced Coker tires to Discount Tire and they mounted them with no problem, no scratches, gouges; maybe a couple of dirty fingerprints, but I had to wash off the blue soap coating anyway. I believe they use a plastic insert on the mounting machine that prevents the paint from chipping on the rim, but no special care appeared to be necessary to protect the wide whitewalls. After I washed them with water, they were clean and bright white.