# 40 Year Old "Red Silicones" Best Tire Ever?



## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Okay, I hope not, but so far that's been true for me, for tires that run on stock wheels. Can someone shed some light on the following?

My brothers and I bought red silicone tires for our T-Jets in the early seventies. We were kids, and just called them "silicones"... I don't remember any more purchase details. They are extremely well made, with detail ribbing like a stock tire, no trace of mold marks, no concave side as both sides fill out completely, and the compound is not too hard, not too soft. And, after 40 years, they still work better than any new tires I've found. They don't fall off. They still look new.

What gives? What were these super tires? Why does nobody make a tire like this now? Is anything new as good?

BTW, I have versions in stock T-Jet size and a pair for Indy rims.


Thanks in advance!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

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## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Hi Hornet,

I didn't see anything like them on that page. By "ribbed" I mean they had lines coming radially from the center of the tire - just on one side, though. They are a medium red in color. The Indy tires, which I'm guessing we bought from the same store and are from the same maker, actually have a groove molded on one side of the inner circumfrence so it will fit super snug on the hub. Real quality. 

I was talking about them with Phil at RRR's, and he said he thought they might be "Bloods".


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## tabcomary (Jun 2, 2010)

*Old Tires*

I have a set of Tyco "White Boots" that came with a car I bought in 1974. They still run great! The silicone compounds don't deteriorate like many of the other materials used at the time. I have a set that is sized for a 4-gear chassis too, but I have no idea where they came from.
When I dusted off my cars last year, the first thing I had to do was to replace all of my A/FX rear sponges, then all of the A/FX fronts started to crack and fall off. I wasted a few dollars on silicone fronts until I read (probably in this forum) about using o-rings.
I replaced all of my t-jet rear tires too, but I have found that many of the new tires won't stay on the old rims, so I either glue them in place with a little dab of silicone seal, or I make my own tires with a slightly smaller ID (0.166" instead of 0.1875")


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

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## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Tab... your experience is what I mean. These great old ones don't need gluing on. They stay on all the old wheels. They are much nicer than anything I, anyway, could make.

Hornet, I'd like to give the Supertires a go - what do they mean about buying in bulk? I'd not want to buy a bunch of tires I don't like.


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## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Hornet, it seems no min. order is now required. I saw two different things on his site. 

Do his tires stay on without glue? I think a tire that falls off is probably too soft, also, giving weird cornering as it folds under. Certainly it will rub on a stock T-Jet pickup shoe, if it's in the front. I've stayed with stock tires there for this reason, where their narrowness and stiffness are assets.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

shogun said:


> My brothers and I bought red silicone tires for our T-Jets in the early seventies. We were kids, and just called them "silicones"... I don't remember any more purchase details. They are extremely well made, with detail ribbing like a stock tire, no trace of mold marks, no concave side as both sides fill out completely, and the compound is not too hard, not too soft. And, after 40 years, they still work better than any new tires I've found. They don't fall off. They still look new.


 I have a couple pairs of those red silicones as well from back in the 70s. I don't know where they came from as I think I got mine from a friend. But they are still soft.

Joe


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## T-jetjim (Sep 12, 2005)

I pretty sure they are AJ's. I have the same red tires in both red T-jet and White T-jet. Plus I have red and black for the hot rod hub. The groove on one side is great for seating into the hub. They are perfect for slimline grand prix cars.

Jim


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## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Grand, have you seen anything modern that is as good? That stays on a stock rim, holds the road? Thanks.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

shogun said:


> Grand, have you seen anything modern that is as good? That stays on a stock rim, holds the road? Thanks.


 I only run the cars in my basement, so I don't need tires often. In fact, I have two pairs which I swap onto whatever car I am running at the moment. I noticed they have worn down quite a bit, and I don't run a lot of laps. But I am no expert and others can point you to good tires. I only remember buying one large lot from Weird Jack years ago.

Now, it seems I have two different black silicones for T-jets. One type is too big and falls off the rim real easily. The other stays on pretty well. I don't know which one I got from WJ, but I assume it's the one that stays on well because I have never heard anything negative about his tires. I still have a couple pairs of black silicones on the blister card from back in the 1970s, but I don't know the manufacturer.

Joe


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

shogun said:


> Grand, have you seen anything modern that is as good? That stays on a stock rim, holds the road? Thanks.


If you use the search feature you will find more info on tires than you'll want to know.  

Not all applications or expectations are the same; nor can one brand of tire meet them. 

Compromises will have to be made no matter what brand you choose.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Penn Valley tires work very well. the most important thing with slip on silicone tires is to use a pair that have to stretch a bit to fit on the wheel and take them off the wheels when not using them. they will keep their size much longer that way.


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## shogun (May 8, 2010)

Guys - Thanks for the recommendations. 

I'm amazed these tires are so unknown. Since they were all that were available to us in the old days, I assumed they were common. It's amazing that such a fantastic tire, wonderfully molded with a great compound, dissappeared.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

The red AJ's tires were called Red Devils. The black versions were called Black Cats. These were replacements for the AFX tires. They also had a white version but I can't find a name listed for them in my old catalogs.

-Paul


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## tjetjunkman (Oct 13, 2005)

Didn't the Falcon's have the ribbing on them. Also there were black , red and gold ones. Don't know if available or not now.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

tjetjunkman said:


> Didn't the Falcon's have the ribbing on them. Also there were black , red and gold ones. Don't know if available or not now.


Yes, those were the skinny T-jet tire replacement. Indy Slicks or Indy Fats were the Hot Rod/Indy Car tire replacements from AJ's.

-Paul


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