Coker Tires - Is it just me??

As I said, thus is a quality control issue. $193 each, and they're this far off. This is not a minor issue. You dont shave 5/8 off a tire. Having said that, lets hope Corky or someone who works there sees this thread and steps up the production quality. We need these.

 

^^^did you send them back, there's no way I would keep them at 5/8 difference.

 

Thanks to Gary T. for alerting us to this thread.

There seems to be some confusion and varying degrees of misinformation circulating and I would like to reassure our customers and potential customers of the quality of our products. We are in the hobby just like you and we care about the people and the quality of the products that we sell.

Our bias ply Firestone and B.F. Goodrich tires are all built in either the original molds or in new molds built from drawings of the original tire. These tires are built with modern materials and techniques, which means that not only are they authentic, but they perform better than the “original” tires. Most all our tires (excluding some of the vintage Indy and Dirt Track tires) are DOT tested and approved.

In regards to tires being out-of-round, part of the manufacturing quality control (QC) process is that the tires are tested on a Tire Uniformity Optimizer (TUO) machine before they leave the factory. The TUO machine tests the tires for run-out and force variation. Tires that are not within specifications are rejected.

While I’m not a tire engineer, my experience with tires and tire manufacturing for the last 14 years tells me that even with all the QC processes in place, it is still possible for a tire that is not in specifications to make it to a customer. I have seen this happen with ALL tire manufacturers.

I’m not going to get into the complicated matter of trying to solve a vibration issue here in this thread; but, as it was mentioned previously, there are many causes of a vibration including an out of round tire, bent wheel, worn brake or suspension components, incorrectly aligned front ends and even poorly welded frames.

If you have one of our products and you think your vibration is caused by your tire, I recommended you call us. We are very customer and solution oriented.

When you call us we are going to ask you questions, such as: Have you road tested the tire? Is your installer using a tire/rim matching balancer? Are your wheels within specifications? Do you have the tire runout measurements?

We ask these questions because we are interested in solving your problem. Believe it or not we have received tires that a customer told us was out of round, only to find that the tire was well within the specification for runout and/or force variance.

We have the absolute best customer service of any tire company around. If you feel that you don’t get the best service you call me direct. We know that the most important aspect of any sale is the service after the sale, and we are always willing to go that extra mile to help a customer that has had a problem, if given the opportunity.

Thanks,

Jess Hoodenpyle
Coker Tire
VP Sales and Customer Service
1-800-251-6336
www.Cokertire.com

 

I tried Dyna Beads after my second balance. I think Dyna Beads are a good product and I used them, having discoved it searching for a cure my violent Coker tire hop. However, the Dyna Beads did not stop the violent hopping. The shaving and on the car balance stopped the hopping. From my experience, I dont think Dyna Beads will compensate for a tire that is considerably out of round.

From my experience, if you have 5:60 15 Coker Firestone WW, plan on shaving and on the car balancing and Dyna Beads. Big trucks and big RV alignment shops are a good place to look to find this equipment. There is nothing you can do to prevent the WW from popping out pieces of white rubber and the white sidewall from cracking. It looks like weather checking after about 7 years of being parked outside.

I will reiterate for the late readers on this thread I drove many years on bias plys and recapped bias plys and I never had any problem like this. I have no problem with the normal characteristics of bias ply tires, and never did.

 

Chances are, if complaints on this series of tires becomes a problem for Coker..they will probably discontinue the size rather than solve the problem..

No longer making the tires that have the issue , would be an easy problem solver for the company

will it be what we want them to do? nope..but it will be what they decide to do if theres not enough money in it for them to correct it.

easy economics..seen it happen too many times to count

Trust me..if they have been getting a lot of compaints about them, they have already thought about this.

careful what you wish for

 

Thankyou for the reply Jess, good on you for taking the time to.

 

If roundness, on an established true wheel is not an issue, then why does shaving fix it?

 

Sounds like a lot of trouble to me. Vibration really isn't the correct terminology for the problem. It sort of minimizes the issue. Violent bouncing is more accurate. I can assure you there is no poor welding on my frame and e rims weren't out of round.

Why should a special tire rim balancer be required? Where do I find the wheel specifications I should be checking my tires to? What methods do you accept for measuring tire run out? I've never had to do anything like the for any other tires I've purchased! Sounds like this is going to take a lot of work, several phone calls, and it sounds like these guys are pretty good at defending this issue. Hmmmm...........maybe I'll think twice about buying more of these. I like tires I can mount and balance and drive on without too much additional effort.

 

I think you should stop complaining now and give him a call. That is simple. You might even send him a letter. I again think you should read posts 156 and 157. Just kidding.
He gave you a solution to your problem so there should be no need to complain. He said if the problem is the tires, he will fix the problem.

 

X 2

 

As others have said there are at least 3 possible sources of "vibration" on a car with suspension in good condition.
- Unbalance
- force variation
- mounted on the car tire runout, which is really the combined tire and wheel and mounting runout.

Relying on the wheel bolt/studs to center a wheel/tire is something maybe only
Honda dared try for a while in modern days ( late 70s?) An off center wheel/tire is out of balance even if it was balanced nicely on a well made arbor, AND has run out that causes a mechanical hopping motion as well.
In the 70s Chrysler used to say police car wheel >>and tire<< runout had to be
less than 0.09 inch for high speed smoothness.
Some modern balance machines measure and record the assembly runout.
As usual measuring is a good thing, because it's real chancy relying on a tech's eye-ball estimate and level of concentration, experience, and interest, especially when he's trying to finish your tires quick so he can wait on the young lady in the red coupe next in line.

If there are vibration problems I check it right on the car, and a few times have re-indexed the tire on the wheel to improve it. (call it "selective fitting" or even "blue[printing")


If the tires were balanced on a machine using accurate tooling , off the car, the brake drums/rotors sometimes have significant unbalance that is not compensated for, and changes in centering, especially with lug-centric wheels can't sneak in. Hence the home runs sometimes hit by on-the-car balancers.

Chrysler used to say police car wheel >>and tire<< runout had to be
less than 0.09 inch for high speed smoothness.

Look at the mold lines on your tires. Are there several running across the tread into the
sidewall? Then they may have been made in segmented molds, and there was a time when only premium European tires were made with segmented molds. It;s easier to keep the belts and stuff centered with a segmented mold. Less expensive tires are made in a
clamshell mold, and had a single mold line right down the middle of
the tread, which is probably worn off by now. the story in the 70s was operator skill (or luck) determined how uniform a clam shell molded tire would be. Even today Some manufacturers put fake segmented mold lines in their clamshell molds.

 

I have American Classics on my '56. Total waste of money! My car shakes, rattles and shimmies all over the place! Two of the tires have the whitewall overlapping onto the bead where the rim meets the tire...causing the tire to wobble. Had that replaced by a new AC tire, only to have it grow bubbles on the sidewall!
I'm lining up for Diamondbacks in springtime!

 

No the solution to the problem is don't send out any more messed up tires. If it is the molds, maybe they are worn out. The molds the cast ductile iron pipe in wear out. maybe these have too. I spent nine months on my set and I changed up the tires and have good tires now. I mounted and balanced the new different type of tires that Coker also sells and haven't had a problem since. I think it's good people have spoken up. Maybe it will save a few other folks some trouble.

 

That is out of line. Period. These men are seeking legitimate answers to a problem they have with a product they purchased and or may purchase in the future.

 

Tudor,

Contrary to your comment, I&#8217;m trying to solve your problem. If I wasn&#8217;t I would have never bothered to respond to this thread, but that&#8217;s not how we do business. Whether you want to let me try or not is your prerogative, but I&#8217;m still offering.

No special tire balancer is needed, but the modern mounting and balancing equipment pretty amazing. They will measure the high/low spot on the assembly and match them for the best balance and ride. They can also tell you the lateral and radial runout on the tires and wheels. We use Hunter brand equipment.

If you&#8217;d rather you can call me direct at 1-800-251-6336 extension 263 and I will be glad to answer your specific questions.

Also I see you are in GA, are you close enough to consider driving up to Chattanooga? We have a service bay and modern installation equipment on site. We can help with the diagnosis/replacement no charge.

Thanks,

Jess

Jess Hoodenpyle
Coker Tire
VP Sales and Customer Service
1-800-251-6336
www.Cokertire.com

 

Have you inspected and watched every set of tires you ever owned be installed?

 

Jess, Thanks for the response. If I ever try out another set of those 45016 bias tires ill have you guys involved.
I'd like to hear you guys have worked something out with the manufacturer to ensure better tires. Thanks.

 

Absolutely, I'd love the opportunity, but regardless, if you are ever coming through Chattanooga, please stop by Coker and I'll give you a tour.

Jess

 

Jess, we need you to state your numbers here. It's necessary for us to have your specs to determine 1: If your tolerances are acceptable for use in our application, and 2: So we can find out if your product is reaching the user at your spec, and get that info back to you.

There are more qualified engineers, both degreed and real world experienced available here than any other group you could be speaking to. They can write up and post tech procedures that can be easily understood by the amateur on how to determine if a tire is out of acceptable tolerance for our application. But, first we simply need to know if your specs will run for us, or if we should consider your product for static display only.

It seems to me that your policy of, trust us but give us a call AFTER you find a tire won't roll, is the root of the problem you see here. I'm thinking that maybe your company should trust us a bit, to help with developing preventative measures to take before problems occur.

 

I do not pretend to know everything. When I ordered my tires I tell the person what I am planning and ask him what he thinks. Those guys seem to know their business and they have had a lot of patience with me. The guys at Speedway motors also are a big help and if they do not know the answer they will call you back. My friend use to own a parts store. He sold the know it all's exactly what they asked for and 50% of the time they would want a refund and a different part. I would say 90% of the problems at the part stores are created by the customer. Sometimes people let their ego get in the way.

 

I have had 3 sets of coker tires, I have ran them on custom cars, in other words big 50's cars, what I did was called them, told them what kind of car I had, told them I wanted a modern radial tire in a wide white and they told me what sixe in a radial tire was the factory size and that is wht I bought, all 3 times the cars have been fantastic! At any speed at any time they have rode and drove like a new car...trust the tire guy..and run radials....use the bias for shows, there is a reason you dont see bias tires on new cars at the car lots...they suck! Jim

 

Hitchhiker, you just don't get Smalltown , USA in the 50's and 60's do you ? Instead of a tirade I'll just simply say, "Yes, I saw every set of bias ply ties I bought mounted and chances are that I helped !"

 

WTF does small town USA have to do with tires? I'm sure your memory is 100% and you've watched every wrenched turned on it too

 

Keep on topic Hitchhiker.

 

do big truck tire places shave tires? or is it a specialty market? what shoud i expect to pay per tire?


were i live there are dirt track/asphalt circle track racing, i hear those asphalt fellas talk about shaving there tires all the time,would the same guy who does there tires be able to shave my bias plies?

 

Big trucks (I presume you mean 18 wheelers) use radials and do not require shaving.


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ahh, yes, i meant big riggs,,, thanks, that will save me a trip to the truck stop then.

 

Might still be worth a try. Bias plus are still used for trailers and such (dump trucks?)

 

You might see bias ply tires on farm trucks, we're cheap,but I run the best radials availabale on my dump truck! I live in a farming area and don't know of any tire shaving places,might be hard to find. Chris

 

With bias plys and pie crusts on my '61 riding basically at stock height--I felt no wobble in my '61 Chevy up to at least 70mph on the highway...