Wheels / Tires: New Tires 57 SilverHawk

[Ray Stewart]

I am ready for 5 new tires for the Hawk. Existing is 710 x 15. Can I use a radial tire on the factory rims? Is a 205/75R15 a good fit? I would like to keep the factory rims and just get new tires. Bias ply or Radials? I have read that radials are better if the front-end has not been completely rebuilt. White wall or not...was that a choice when the car was ordered?

Thanks for the help!!

[Tom Bredehoft]

My experience, with Coker Tires, they don't make road tires, they make show tires. The 710-15's I had on my '53 coupe looked great with their 2 1/2 inch white walls, but on the road they were constantly wanting to go somewhere besides down the road. I switched to 215.75r tires, went from 17 to 22 mpg and with far better ride and handling. I'm running on Studebaker wheels, but they are 5 inches wide, not 4 1/2.

[Bud]

Some people will disagree with me , but I think that a 205/75/R15 will work fine on your Hawk. I just put 205/75/R15 Hankook tires on my 62 Hawk and I'm really happy with them. A 195/75/ R15 might be a better choice, but I don't believe they are available any longer. The one thing that may be an issue is that the wide white walls are not available except from the specialty suppliers at a considerably higher price. Bud

[RadioRoy]

I use P215-75R-15 radial tires on my V-8 cars. They are the same outer diameter as the 710-15 bias ply tires that came on the cars originally. I use the 5"wheels from 51-57 on my V-8 cars, not the skinny wheels from 59 and up.

Radial tires are way better than bias ply for driving.

Interesting comments on Coker tires.

There is a company called Diamond back that takes modern tires and vulcanizes wide whitewalls on them. The down side is that the tire name is sometimes obliterated.

The upside, and I should think it's a big one, is that the tires are from regular stock, mass produced tires.

[acolds]

I have a set of Diamond back 225x75-15 by Cooper on my Clipper with stock 5.5 wheels they handle much better than the 7.10 repro my brother has on his 56 president classic the same basic car as my Clipper radials make the car much better tracking on the highway. Price only about $100 more for radials which also do not get flat spots when car sits for a while .

[SN-60]

To: TomB,---- I have those exact 7.10-15's on my '55 Speedster, and completely agree with your evaluation of them.....Great for the shows---Lousy for the road. Too bad really! A Friend installed a set of BF Goodrich W/W Radials
on His Speedster, (which I drove from Boston, Mass. to Sebago, Maine... about two hundred miles) last summer--What a difference, that '55 drove beautifully!

[rockinhawk]

I use 670-15 BF Goodrich on 5'' stock wheels on my 57 SH. The ones in my sig, pic were put on in 1994. I just replaced them yesterday with the same bought from Coker.We use 205-75 radials on the GT With the 4.5 wheels. The radials work well with power steering, but in the Silverhawk I like the way the bias plys feel. And they don't seperate and come apart at the belt.