TheSamba.com :: View topic - Tires, with portawalls

Mon Sep 30, 2013 5:37 pm

I've just get installed my new tires (Vredestein Classic) with my Portawalls on each wheels. I've read all the instructions, but I'm not happy because the white wall dosen't sit on the tire as the instructions said.

Does anyone have experienced the same problem? If yes, how do you handle with it? Epoxy glue? Silicone (Goop)? 3M double sided tape?

Thanks!

Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:07 pm

If they are not laying flat against the tire sidewalls then go back to the tire co and get them fitted right.

When I have fitted them I had to show the tire co how to do it right. Beat the portawall into the wheel rim with a non marking rubber mallet, it re-seats the portawall as inflation forces it out of the bead area.

FYI - Portawalls will destroy the tire side wall in time if you do much mileage. I gave up after ruining 4 sets of tires.

Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:07 pm

If they are not laying flat against the tire sidewalls then go back to the tire co and get them fitted right.

When I have fitted them I had to show the tire co how to do it right. Beat the portawall into the wheel rim with a non marking rubber mallet, it re-seats the portawall as inflation forces it out of the bead area.

FYI - Portawalls will destroy the tire side wall in time if you do much mileage. I gave up after ruining 4 sets of tires.

Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:56 pm

branston wrote: FYI - Portawalls will destroy the tire side wall in time if you do much mileage. I gave up after ruining 4 sets of tires.

X2

Do yourself and other drivers on the road a favor and take those POS off!!

Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:01 am

AlteWagen wrote: branston wrote: FYI - Portawalls will destroy the tire side wall in time if you do much mileage. I gave up after ruining 4 sets of tires.

X2

Do yourself and other drivers on the road a favor and take those POS off!!

I had a similar experience and ended up removing them.

Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:59 am

I've had them fitted for over ten years and they don't seem to damage any of the crossply tires I've used. I was once told not to use them on radials as that can cause damage, and I've certainly seen broken inserts still half attached to radials. If they were dangerous I can't see how they would have been so popular for so long.

Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:41 am

PFN wrote: I've had them fitted for over ten years and they don't seem to damage any of the crossply tires I've used. I was once told not to use them on radials as that can cause damage, and I've certainly seen broken inserts still half attached to radials. If they were dangerous I can't see how they would have been so popular for so long.

My experience with portawalls was with radial tires. Yes, portawalls have been around a long time. There are so many variables involved and thus as many opinions.
1). Bias ply tires vs radial tires? Using them with radials is more of an issue.

2). Driving habits - Is the car driven a hundred miles a month on short trips or a thousand miles a month on longer trips? Year round or just summer driving?
If just short trips, you might be OK.

3). Variation in quality of tires and portawalls?? Variation in the skill level of the installer?

Personally, I would not install them again. If you want white walls, pay the bucks and be done with it.

As a side note, I found the portawalls yellowed fairly quickly. I had never had that happen with a real whitewall that was maintained properly.

Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:13 am

wayne1230cars wrote: My experience with portawalls was with radial tires. Yes, portawalls have been around a long time. There are so many variables involved and thus as many opinions.
1). Bias ply tires vs radial tires? Using them with radials is more of an issue.

2). Driving habits - Is the car driven a hundred miles a month on short trips or a thousand miles a month on longer trips? Year round or just summer driving?
If just short trips, you might be OK.

3). Variation in quality of tires and portawalls?? Variation in the skill level of the installer?

Personally, I would not install them again. If you want white walls, pay the bucks and be done with it.

As a side note, I found the portawalls yellowed fairly quickly. I had never had that happen with a real whitewall that was maintained properly.

I drove with them daily for about five years, but certainly didn't do a huge number of miles on them. Didn't have the yellowing issue, they just seem to eventually become powdery and begin to flake at the edges.

The original owner of my '62 had them fitted and that's the only reason I keep them on. In Australia real whitewalls were hard to come by and rather expensive for the average Beetle driver.

The first thing I did to the Karmann Ghia that I bought recently was get rid of the flaps (installed on radials and beginning to split) and replace them with proper whitewalls. So if you're not being a nut for regional originality, I agree, pay and be done with it.

Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:48 pm

im new to the vw scene...

why portawalls instead of regular white walls?

Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:57 am

Because they are they are cheap compared to whitewalls. Check it out

I destroyed so many tires whitewall would have been be cheaper in the long run.

Sun Feb 02, 2014 9:14 am

kaotik63 wrote: im new to the vw scene...

why portawalls instead of regular white walls?

On the issue of destroying tyres, they do that to radials. They do not do that to crossply tyres. This is from my own experience with them and observation of other vehicles using them on radials. I have run whitewall inserts on crossplys for well over ten years with no problems whatsoever. Only a slight white residue which can run onto the tyre. And I've run insets from brand new to worn out over that time. I have gone through two tyres while using the same insert on both. That seems to be the lifetime, two tyres to one insert.

Why inserts instead of whitewalls? The only reason that I run inserts on my '62 1/2 Beetle is that whitewalls were beyond the budget of most VW owners in Australia and I was told by the second owner of the car that when he bought it from the original owner it had inserts installed. I drove for a while on the original Dunlop Supercushion G8 tyres from 1962 and they had rather ratty inserts. I've kept that up for originality's sake.

If you're an American with a Beetle I'd buy proper whitewalls. I was so glad to put them on my Ghia. But I do feel a need, from experience, to stick up for inserts. For me, they last twice as long as the crossply they're fitted to.

Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:30 am

I also had problems with them on radials. The back set was fine but the 2 front tires was a completely different story. the edges of the portawalls frayed and dug into the sidewall of the tires, and they turned brown after just 4 months. I know the cheaper price is tempting, but I highly recommend buying real whitewalls. In fact the portawalls cost me more money. I believe I spent about $50 for the portawalls, about $70 to have them mounted and balance the tires, and they also ruined my front tires, so do the math. It would have been cheaper to buy real whitewalls right from the start. What is the old saying..."you never have time(or money) to do it right, but you always have time(or money) to do it over."

Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:54 am

came across this when I lived in the UK cool stuff.
http://www.mrwhitewalls.com/

Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:15 pm

Real quick and this has been covered a lot on here. Did them "right" ground off the raised lettering, cleaned everything really well, beat them down really well when installing. Even ran the air pressure a little higher than normal (radials) - Did not hold up on the rear at all. Bit the bullet and bought whitewalls.

Agree that on bias plys, they are probably good.

Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:04 pm

Aren't there some tires that Porta walls just don't fit well on?

Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:15 pm

shortride wrote: Aren't there some tires that Porta walls just don't fit well on?

Yes, radials. Go to the porto wall site & it says - for bias ply, not radial. You can read up on lucas tires porta walls site.
http://portawalls.com/

Mon Feb 03, 2014 6:02 am

and anything with a low profile makes it worse. Theres quite a few folks that do use them with small radials, but I suspect they have the tires way over inflated and the cars arent driven much. Hell, the VW that gets the least driving of ours still gets 1500-2000 miles a year on it.

Tue Aug 05, 2014 2:41 pm

branston wrote: came across this when I lived in the UK cool stuff.
http://www.mrwhitewalls.com/

I'd buy some of that if they could ship it to the US. Oh well! I guess white spray paint will have to do. No one makes 155 R15 whitewalls.

Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:43 pm

Check with Diamondback - http://www.dbtires.com/store/shoptire.cfm?size=15.00

They have a whitwall on a BFG TA tire.

Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:59 pm

andk5591 wrote: Check with Diamondback - http://www.dbtires.com/store/shoptire.cfm?size=15.00

They have a whitwall on a BFG TA tire.

Nice. But again they only have 135, 145 and 165 whitewalls. No 155's. I guess that means I'm picky. :?