The Ford Barn

Dick Carne · 01-05-2023, 10:11 PM

On our latest Cabriolet restoration, we added dual well fenders and then added both the polished tire cover as well as the metal side covers. Because I used both metal covers, I decided to use some used Firestones (that still had decent tread, rather than spend another $500 +/- for two more tires) for spares, but the larger sized tires coupled with both tire covers only exacerbated the problem. Of course I let the air out of the tires before wrestling with the tire covers, but I still spent a couple of hours on each of the two tires before being able to complete that portion of the task. Then to mount these into the two fenders with both tire bands, I wound up having to remove not only the two tire support arms, but also loosening the fenders from both the splash apron as well as the running board(s). Suffice it to say that these have been reduced to "good looks" only, as their use as actual spares is no longer feasible. I'm not sure if some of the narrower replacement tires (other than Firestone) would have made this process any easier. But with that said though, I have instead taken to carrying an extra tube, and plan to carry an extra spare in our Mullins trailer whenever we might take it along on longer trips. In response to your initial question, the polished tire covers that cover the tread will work, but it may be necessary to carry an air pump, and obviously their viability as true spares may be brought into question. Again, just my two cents, but nonetheless. Good luck going forward.

01-05-2023, 10:11 PM	#21
Dick Carne Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Fayetteville, Georgia Posts: 467	Re: How to get chrome spare tire cover onto the tire On our latest Cabriolet restoration, we added dual well fenders and then added both the polished tire cover as well as the metal side covers. Because I used both metal covers, I decided to use some used Firestones (that still had decent tread, rather than spend another $500 +/- for two more tires) for spares, but the larger sized tires coupled with both tire covers only exacerbated the problem. Of course I let the air out of the tires before wrestling with the tire covers, but I still spent a couple of hours on each of the two tires before being able to complete that portion of the task. Then to mount these into the two fenders with both tire bands, I wound up having to remove not only the two tire support arms, but also loosening the fenders from both the splash apron as well as the running board(s). Suffice it to say that these have been reduced to "good looks" only, as their use as actual spares is no longer feasible. I'm not sure if some of the narrower replacement tires (other than Firestone) would have made this process any easier. But with that said though, I have instead taken to carrying an extra tube, and plan to carry an extra spare in our Mullins trailer whenever we might take it along on longer trips. In response to your initial question, the polished tire covers that cover the tread will work, but it may be necessary to carry an air pump, and obviously their viability as true spares may be brought into question. Again, just my two cents, but nonetheless. Good luck going forward.