Wide Whites, who's happy with theirs?

I built my 36 and have leftover o/t wheels on it. It looks too modern and I want to replace them with chrome reverse wheels and wide whites.

I would appreciate some feedback with your experiences with the wide whites on your rides. The car will be driven, so driveability is a top priority.

You photo shop guys, do you think you can put some whites and chrome wheels on my baby? Thanks

 

If your going to buy radial wide whites from Coker spend the extra money and buy the silvertown bfgs... I have not have much luck with the coker classics it seems nearly impossible to get a truely round set.....

 

I got mine from Diamondback and couldn't be happier with them. Great service and high quality tires.

 

There's been several threads on the pros and cons of Coker and Diamondback...do a search...the drama about either can get ugly and a waste of bandwidth when it's been beat to death already...

R-

 

Agree! And the service was top notch!

 

X2 Diamondback is great when I ordered mine they ended up being out of the ones I had ordered, but instead of making me wait or forcing me to buy something else they just gave me the next series up with no change in price or anything. Top notch customer service I highly recommend them.

 

"There's been several threads on the pros and cons of Coker and Diamondback...do a search...the drama about either can get ugly and a waste of bandwidth when it's been beat to death already..."


I did a search on wide whites. Nothing like that popped up. I am not looking for a discussion on different brands, I understand drama, believe me, 6 sisters, a daughter and the wife. I'm looking for honest replies on guys tires, I certainly don't want this thread to bash any company. Not my style, I want my money well spent.

 

"assume you aren't wanting to go half way and put radial wide whites on that thing - correct?" Ryan

Bias plys work, it would certainly fit the HAMB style.

 

I agree ^^.. Bias plys look traditional because they are traditional.....

 

Radial whites are just OK. I too have run Firestone Bias plys for two years. This car is used to travel out of state. Its my long distant runner.
I will buy these again. I could not tell the difference in ride or handling from Radials.

 

I have them Firestone WW on my 39 and they ride nice. 5.60 x 15 up front and 8.20x15 on the rear.

 

I'm running a set of DB radial wide whites, very happy with them.

 

I even have Firstone black walls on my Model A and again they ride nice they are 4.75x16 fronts and 7.50x16 on the rear

 

Another vote for DB radial white whites. Look fine on a full fendered car and drive well.

 

It sounds like part of your concern is how the white part holds up over time, if the car is used a lot. It depends on how you maintain them. Coker will caution you when you buy them to NOT use any bleach type products as they tend to dry out and crack the whitewall. I think that might be valid.

I have run only whitewalls on all my cars (even my daily driver) for years, and I was a big fan of Wesleys TIre White. It is quick and effective. But I did start noticing some checking of the whitewalls after some time, and have now switched to using a soft bristled brush and a mild cleanser, like Bon Ami . If they start turning yellow I do hit them occasionally with some Wesleys or Comet cleanser, but not on a steady diet.

One thing to keep in mind when buying whitewalls is that if you are running smaller tires on the front than the back, do not buy the same width whitewall for both. If you put, let's say, a 2 1/2 inch whitewall on a small tire the whitewall will appear much larger than on a bigger tire. I always like to use something like a 2 3/4 on the back and 2 inch on the front. Just thought I would mention that in case someone hadn't considered it.

Here are the ones I am running on my 27.



Don

Oh, and Coker has been my choice and good to me for over 25 years.

 

For what it's worth, 1.6 inch white wall American classic radials (from Coker) I was shooting for a very early 60s look on chromies. Drives smooth as silk and they need to as I have no spinal control. bias plys looked better but shook me around like a rag doll. My truck is fully fendered so I figured the comfort/looks trade-off was minimal. Hope this helps.
Good luck whatever you decide.
Paul

edit; forgot to add the American classics come in a 2 1/4 inch white wall too, and the white wall goes right to the wheel. I have a set of these on painted steels which she wears with hubcaps if I'm feeling 50s.

 

They are good for doing burnouts and looking cool. Mine ride good enuff but are no good for hooking up

 

I had DiamondBack's sawtooth bias-alike radials on my '33 coupe and run them on my Willys. Best of both worlds. Sadly they are no longer available. I have their Michelins on a 4000 lb car which run beautifully and Denise runs the same on Big Olds and swears by them - as do I....

 

My '60 F100 was my daily driver and the only vehicle I owned. I drove it for 4 years on B.F. Goodrich Silvertown wide-white bias-plies. (2 sets) No complaints, they were great tires.

 

I've got the Coker Classic radials, my only complaint would be the drying out of the white wall. I have never used anythink harsh on mine, and the still cracked. But they ride nice, and seem to wear well.

 

On my second set of Diamond backs on the PU.

Only comment is the rear ones do not last too long or hook too well.

White wall stays 'white' with minimal cleaning, I use a scrubbing brush and non bio washing powder if they get a bit dirty.

P.

 

This might be a after the fact suggestion, but once you get them keep this in mind. When I work on my 26, I will cover the WW with blankets, because you never fail to drag your dirty hand across the whites. Now my rig is no where near a street rod, it is bare bones hot rod, but those whites are a pain to clean after you get greasy hand prints on them. I have the Cokers and run the truck at the track too, TR

 

To be fair, DiamondBack apply the whitewalls to a variety of different manufacturer's tires. This is why I chose to use their Michelin based tires on a heavy car. So the wear. noise and harshness issues are the manufacturer's - not DiamondBack's.

Coker on the other hand make many of their own tires even under a different manufacturer's name since they buy redundant or discontinued molds from the original manufacturer,

 

I run Coker Clasic wide whites radial on my 54-55 fords. I have had to replace three sets of 205/75-14's on the 54. The tires keep bubbling around the rim area. Coker can't explain why this keep happening. plus these tire are out of round Some of the tires have needed alot of wheel weight to balance. Now I only buy BF Goodrich. No problems with them.

 

I am running diamondback on my 60 cdv and they rock. I know alot of people have already posted praise but here's another $937 to my door for the 225/75/r15 on a maxxis tire with a 3" WWW

 

X2 Here.

 

I just got my first set of DB Fury's. I haven't run them yet but they sure look good on my Rally American chrome wheels.

 

I went to a swap meet a few weeks ago and seen a set of firestome 16x6.5 www. The guy was asking $250 for the set. Only one tire had been mounted, the other 3 still had not breen expanded yet from beng aired up. The white walls are a little yellow, but i cant find these tires cheaper than $160 each and thats not including shipping and tubes. So i asked the guy if he would trade anything for them and he asked what do i have. I mentioned i have a rebuilt vortec 350 with an early intake and a quadrajet carb. Zero miles and still on the engine stand. After the swap meet he delivered the tires and picked up the engine.

I need to get my rims powdercoated and buy some tubes then head over to discount tire to get them mounted up. I am thankful for this post because i have never owned a set before so i had not as much knowledge on keeping them clean. Just hoping the yellow brightens up a bit or its blackwalls out.

 

I vote for the firestone widest white pie crusts.. I am horrible with the classification of tires, still havent figured it out.

Those would look killer on your car.