Whitewall tires

**NewHopeMan** · 03-08-10 12:24 PM

Anyone have a source for white wall tires for 2006 DTS with 17" wheels? Other than Vogues, that is.

**Southern** · 03-08-10 01:14 PM

Good question. I believe that Goodyear Comfort Treads USED to come either BSW or thin WSW.
I know that I had to go to a different size....I am running 225/60-17 Michelin MX4s with the WSW. That's a difference of 1.7%. So when my Speedo says 60, I am actually going 61.0 Most people try to keep within 3%.

**TulsaVic** · 03-08-10 01:35 PM

According to their website:

Tire Rack offers whitewall or whitestripe tires in the following models.

Bridgestone Turanza EL400
Continental ContiProContact
Dunlop SP 60
Goodyear Assurance ComforTred
Goodyear Eagle LS
Goodyear Integrity
Goodyear Radial LS
Kumho Solus KR21
Michelin Energy LX4
Michelin Symmetry
Yokohama Aegis LS4

I don't believe there's that much available. But you might contact them.

**NewHopeMan** · 03-08-10 05:16 PM

Can you change the size tire you use? I see a plain(er) whitewall on funeral vehicles and I like that simple narrow stripe rather than the white/gold on the Vogues. Also I've heard not-so-good things about them. Maybe I should just sneak around some funeral homes and check out their tires.

**Southern** · 03-08-10 06:26 PM

Sure you can change tire sizes. Within Reason. I thought I said that in my post.
Go to http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
Put your stock tire size in 235 55 17 (The 235 is the Width in mm, the 55 is the ratio for the sidewall height (55% 0f 235mm will give you a sidewall height of 5.1 inches) and 17 is the diameter of the wheel)
And then put in the size you are wondering about in New Tire.
You CANNOT change the "17" with out changing wheels.
As I said, keep it within about 3% and you will be good to go....except for clearance.
Everybody might have a different idea, but I wouldn't go wider than 255mm. You don't want the new tire to rub on the fender or fender well....
And I wouldn't go with a ratio of less than 50.... 40% or less would be a harsh ride.

There would be nothing wrong with checking out the tires on a hearse. Ask first!

**HartfordGuy** · 03-08-10 06:53 PM

Here ya go; http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Goodyear Eagle LS P235/60R17

I am thinking of going to this narrow stripe whitewall when it's time to replace my tires.

**NewHopeMan** · 03-08-10 09:43 PM

Great, that's what I was looking for. Thank you!

**Southern** · 03-08-10 11:45 PM

I would still be more likely to buy a set of Goodyear Assurance ComforTreads. They ARE still avail in Narrow White Stripe and they are avail in the DTS size and they cost about the same as the Eagle LS.
Why? Because it is a better and quieter tire.
And while the Eagle LS is rated #24 out of 28, The ComforTread is rated #6 out of 24.
7 out of 10 ComforTread owners would buy it again while only 3.8 out of 10 Eagle LS owners would....

Take a look at
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....nce+ComforTred

And note on the left side of the page "Other Sidewall Styles" Narrow White Stripe 0.5

But you pays your money and you takes your choice.

**HartfordGuy** · 03-09-10 07:13 AM

The Goodyear Assurance Comfortreds are a nice tire. But unfortunately the narrow white stripe is only available on the P225/60R16 tire. See link to Goodyear site: http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodyea...area=Passenger

That's because they were the OE tire (whitewall) for the Crownvic, Grand Marquis, Towncar series.

The 17" Goodyear Eagle LS is the OE whitewall tire supplied to the Funeral car industry.

I would tend to believe the info posted at the Goodyear tire site rather than the tirerack site.

**HartfordGuy** · 03-09-10 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by Southern

Why? Because it is a better and quieter tire.

But you pays your money and you takes your choice.

The Comfortreds are passenger car tires. The Eagle LS are listed at Goodyear as a "SUV-minivan" tire. There is a whitewall version of it because they were spec'd out for Limousine and Hearse use. The commercial duty requirements dictated a XL load rating. Perhaps that is why they are louder to run?

As you said, it comes down to choice. If you want the quietest and smoothest the Comfortreds may be the one. But if you want a narrow white stripe, you are limited to the Eagle LS in the 17 inch size.

**Southern** · 03-09-10 10:56 AM

Right you are. Seems odd that they would make the stripe only avail on certain sizes, but that's the way it is.
I checked my tires and they are LX4s. They are "OK". Maybe rated a bit higher than the LS but not a lot.
I will give up the stripe when it comes time to replace them and I will go with whatever is the quietest tire since the biggest noise problem with the DTS is road noise, IMO.
The DTS is noisier than my Mercedes SUV!

**HartfordGuy** · 03-09-10 12:27 PM

Southern; Can you post a photo of your Gold Mist DTS with the whitewalls?

**Southern** · 03-09-10 03:41 PM

Well, I'll try. Have been having problems uploading pix. Funny, I can upload to Photobucket, but not to forums.........

Hey! Waddayaknow! It worked!

What strange problem. If I try to upload directly from my desktop to this site, it says that it is not a proper Imagetype (It's a jpg).
But photobucket takes it just fine and then DLs it here just fine.
And it is not this site's problem.
I have two other sites that are also not accepting my photos......
And ALL of these sites previously had no problem........ Hmmmmn.......and I am a retired Computer guy! (Big stuff tho, not these little PCs and Macs....)