Goodyear Custom Super Cushion Classic Radials

[riversidevw]

I giving some thought to a set of these wide WW radials for my '56 Golden Hawk, would use 215/75R15's on six inch rims purchased a few years ago from Bob Helm. I know they are available with 3" sidewall, apparently also listed with the "proper" 2.75".

I have been satisfied with American Classic radials on a couple of other cars, though nothing wider than 1.6" sidewall... wider becomes really $$$. The AC tires seem to require very little maintenance or cleaning to keep like-new appearance.

The Goodyears are actually manufactured by Goodyear in their Fayetteville N.C. facility. Not sure if this is good or bad. 20 years ago, a new set of Eagle premium radials (on a '66 T-Bird) was impossible to clean, seemed to have a lot of "bleeding" of the black sidewall into the wide white stripe.

Given that radials are considered iffy after just a decade or so, any thousand dollar set of tires is a big deal. Wouldn't mind the 1.6" ww American Classics, but that sidewall width available only in 225/75 or larger...think that's pushing my luck!

Any experience with these Goodyears? Thanks.

Addendum: Total delivered price quote just in: four Goodyear Classic Radials (from Lucas) would be $1133.95 Think I'll walk out to the garage and clean the Yokohamas while I think about it.

[Pat Dilling]

If you are looking for alternatives, check these guys out. A couple options for quite a bit less, including Michelin. I have had excellent service from from my Diamondbacks and recommend them

http://www.dbtires.com/tires.html

Pat

[riversidevw]

Well, I bought those new shoes for the 56J. So far so good. The 3" whitewall is a bit wide for '56, the 2.75" inch width only comes on the 205/75 or 215/70 sizes.

Compared with Lucas (in Long Beach), overall price would have been slightly less shipped to CA from the distributor (Kelsey Tire) in Camdenton, MO. (Thank the CA sales tax for that.) Surprisingly, best price was ordering through a good local retailer (Bud's Tire Pros). A big regional Goodyear chain (Scher Tire Inc.) wouldn't answer calls or emails about the line of Goodyear collector tires.

The sidewall is nicely detailed, something I miss on Diamondbacks. THe height (overall diameter) of the 215/75 seems better for this car than the 205/75's they replaced.

I finally updated the wheel lug nuts to match the Ford rims I acquired from Bob Helm a few years ago. Bought both left and right threaded versions with 60 degree angled base from Rock Auto for less than a dollar each. For the part numbers I pretended they were for a '68 Dodge Charger... Chrysler also used left handed threads up until '71 or '72.

Gil