Tires: Going Retro

[BILT4ME]

They are currently 6.70 X 15 - original tires for a 60SW4 would have been either 5.90 or 6.00s.

Are they a Coker tire or ??? Surely you're not driving on 50 year old tires........

I guess I'm asking for specifics. Brand, size, type, manufacturer.........maybe even price paid so I know if I'm getting a decent deal.

[riversidevw]

More information (from a far better source than I) on the American Classic bias-look radial series: I contacted John Kelsey, who oversees and solely distributes the entire Goodyear collector car line of tires. John is as knowledgeable as they come, also an extremely nice guy with whom I attended a small midwest high school an eternity ago.

Like the rest of the American Classic line, these bias-look radial tires are indeed products of Specialty Tires of America, successor to McCreary. S.T.A. has adapted for modern radial construction the molds from a long-ago line of bias tires produced by Armstrong at their old plant in Des Moines and supplied back then to Sears. The selection of these bias-look tires (sizes, prices and BSW/WSW offerings) vary somewhat depending upon the distributor. These are doubtless the tires described by bezhawk, not actually made by Coker but distributed by Coker and the others.

Sometime in the 80s, Armstrong Tire was acquired and absorbed by Pirelli. Remember the old "Grip the Road" slogan? Reputable old company, and these modern technology radial updates from Specialty Tires are quite unique.

[62champ]

Are they a Coker tire or ??? Surely you're not driving on 50 year old tires........

I guess I'm asking for specifics. Brand, size, type, manufacturer.........maybe even price paid so I know if I'm getting a decent deal.

They are far from original, but they were put on the car in 2004. They are still in great shape with little indications of aging.

They were bought from a classic car tire dealer out of the dallas/ft worth area. BF Goodrich is the brand name on the tire.

[riversidevw]

Perhaps stuff for a new thread, but wondering if there are product lines of collector tires with a track record of worse than average issues of quality and reliability. I may regret mentioning it, as the rare problem is retold forever, while thousands of happy customers are usually complacent and quiet.

Back in the late sixties and into the early eighties, wide whites were mostly variants of then-current 78-series production, no better or worse than the rest. For older vintage machines, there were the replica tires from people like Tom Lester. I understand that Tom was a good guy, but some batches were better than others. I recall a '32 Packard roadster equipped with pretty Lester tires leading a caravan of Packards International members up north, rolling along at about 55 to 60. Just behind, my wife and I witnessed three tire blowouts in rapid succession. By then, the roadster had used up the dual side mounts and finished on a flatbed. A good friend and favorite 56J vendor experienced for many months severe steering wheel shake at speeds over 50 in his '55 President, despite rebalancing tires and professional scrutiny of the front end. Final verdict was a manufacturing defect in one of the new Coker BFG-branded radials. Assuming it might have happened in any tire, modern or replica, from any source. Another friend has long had similar Cokers on an early Corvette, quite happy.

Guess we can never take things for granted.

[Skip Lackie]

Perhaps stuff for a new thread, but wondering if there are product lines of collector tires with a track record of worse than average issues of quality and reliability. I may regret mentioning it, as the rare problem is retold forever, while thousands of happy customers are usually complacent and quiet.

Back in the late sixties and into the early eighties, wide whites were mostly variants of then-current 78-series production, no better or worse than the rest. For older vintage machines, there were the replica tires from people like Tom Lester. I understand that Tom was a good guy, but some batches were better than others. I recall a '32 Packard roadster equipped with pretty Lester tires leading a caravan of Packards International members up north, rolling along at about 55 to 60. Just behind, my wife and I witnessed three tire blowouts in rapid succession. By then, the roadster had used up the dual side mounts and finished on a flatbed. A good friend and favorite 56J vendor experienced for many months severe steering wheel shake at speeds over 50 in his '55 President, despite rebalancing tires and professional scrutiny of the front end. Final verdict was a manufacturing defect in one of the new Coker BFG-branded radials. Assuming it might have happened in any tire, modern or replica, from any source. Another friend has long had similar Cokers on an early Corvette, quite happy.

Guess we can never take things for granted.

Interesting subject, worthy of debate. I also remember when Lesters were THE premium tire for collector cars. I put a set of 7.50 x 14 Lesters on a 62 Chevy and had several of them fail within a few years and almost no miles. By contrast, the 6.00 x 16 Cokers on my Stude truck are now 40 years old and still holding air. They will finally be replaced when the restoration of the truck is complete.