Buying Traction Tires

Red Bucket,

It's been my experience that the MTH Traction Tires are better. The tires fit down into the groove properly. The thickness is the most noticeable difference. The MTH tires ride ever so slightly above the wheel surface.

IMHO  They seem to wear longer as well.

I use MTH tires for a couple of reasons.  First, they're thinner than many tires and seem to hold up better.  Second, I get a good price on them.

Thanks for the advice.

I looked at the WBB web site for parts and the scale Hudson tires are sold out.

How do I get the MTH tires, and which ones do I order?

Measure the diameter of the wheel not including the flange, and also measure the width of the groove.  Refer to the attached traction tire chart and pick the most suitable tire.  Note that the tire diameter is smaller than the wheel diameter for a proper fit.

grj,

Thanks for the chart; I have saved it off in my Lionel library.

But.... it's an MTH chart!  What's it doing in the Lionel library?

I don't do MTH - not that there is anything wrong with that.

I thought I saw in a similar thread that you could use MTH tires on Lionel's.

You can Rick, I guess you missed the at the end.  I was just being a wiseguy, I promise to try to reform.

Absolutely not reform; humor is good for the website!!

GRJ, thanks for the reply, advice and information.

The WBB parts web site lists the traction tire for the Scale Hudson as 24mm by 4mm, and the MTH chart lists a 24.4mm by 3.5mm tire.  I will get two in order to have matching tires.

Where is the best place to order the tires?  Direct from MTH or from somewhere else?

Thanks again.

Send me an email and I can fix you up.

Does anybody have a traction tire chart like the MTH one attached above, but listing Lionel traction tires?

Here's one I grabbed some time back.