Well like it says, The Nitto tires, arent out there. Whether it be a shortage as a result of the bottle necks occurring at ports along the west coast ( where as many as 56 super-freighters sit anchored, waiting to get off loaded) or some other Covid-related supply chain BS, I’ve decided to go the path of “ I know this’ll work”, and chosen to buy some of the Toyo Proxes, despite the fact that they will not be that great if I get caught out in the rain.
Ill apply the 95/05 rule to justify that.
The likelihood that I’ll be out in the rain with this car is about 5%.
As it sits right now, If it even “ looks” like it’s gonna rain, the car will sit sidelined. Lets face it, it’s almost a freakin show car in my head ( minus a whole bunch of chrome, perfect paint, and a buttload of polished non-essential bling), and show cars don’t get driven in the rain.
(Whether it actually rates as one is irrelevant….I treat it like it’s one with regard to whether or not I’m gonna drive it.)
All this to say that around town when I wanna go to a cruise-in that’s an easy decision. Now when it comes to making this 600 mile round trip in a couple of weeks…entirely different.
The MH race masters were too tall. I didn’t like the way they looked. They also had a really large center contact patch ( about 5” wide) totally devoid of any tread grooves. Although they completely solved the lack-o-traction issues, They absolutely were treacherous to drive on even the dampest of roads. I had them on the last time I went to Panama City to the Emerald Coast cruise-in, and got caught in a light rain about 30 miles from home. I slowed to about 60 mph, but could still tell the rear would come unglued at any instant without any warning.
They had to go.
The Nitto brand had a decent looking DR ( NT555 RII) that had more tread grooves across the entire tread surface but wouldn’t be available until November. The NT 555 G2’s until sometime in late October, but there were too many guys telling me like
@bird_dog0347 , that that tire will be a weak compromise.
( I already have too many weak compromises laying around in the garage )
So,…..fish, or cut bait.
I chose to fish. I bought the Toyo Proxes TQ.
The Proxes are drag radials. They are the same size as the street tires, w/regard to height and width. They have tread grooves across the entire tread surface.. They’ll still be treacherous if I get caught in the rain….MOF, i may just have to stop and pull over.
5% of the time.
I also bought a line lock solenoid, and a manual brake lock valve. The reason for the Line lock is obvious,
but It’ll serve its primary purpose as a hill hold in the event I end up at some hilly intersection ( hills in florida……that’s funny). The manual brake lock valve will get routed to the rear brakes and serve as a park brake. I have a fairly steep driveway, and if I stop the car on the driveway and shut it off in gear. I can watch it ever so slowly creep down the hill. ( what you’d expect with only 8.5:1 cr)
So brake work on thursday…And praying for no rain in early October in Gulfport MS.