Coker tire: Wtf? Fine print!

I think the problem is that Coker uses "Warranty" and "Guarantee" in the same paragraph like they are synonomous. In the old days they were not. A Guarantee was a Guarantee and you paid nothing for a replacement. A Warranty implied they would adjust the replacement cost based on your wear, etc. and they would use the current price for that adjustment. In Slick Willy's case and based on the wording, I say it does not matter how old they are, if there is not tread wear, they should be free "Guaranteed". But how many of these kids that are working the phones know the difference between a Warranty and a Guarantee. And like I said, the wording sucks. But I would hang my hat on the Guarantee word. Hope everything works out. When I buy my redlines, I will be looking Diamondback. As I understand it, you can basically pick out your tire, and they vulcanize a new sidewall on it.

My 2 cents,
Dan

 

Cokers "line" is 30 lbs.
Mine tested
53lbs
48lbs
25lbs
22lbs

 

And, from a recent thread here on the dates on Coker tires, the new ones you get may turn out to be from the same batch as your old ones!

 

welllllllllllll, maybe- just maybe, if you had them checked when you had bought them and found them out of round at that time they "might" have covered them.. But you did kinda wait awhile and since rubber costs have increased...just sayin, warranty covered purchase price, which seems reasonable to me- fair, maybe not so much- good customer service, deff. not- but reasonable

 

I've had the same problem a lot of times and no longer buy Coker personally. The best thing to do is just shave your own whitewalls out of skinnys or white letters and be done with it. That, or buy truck/trailer bias plies that are much better quality and just run porta walls. Diamondback is a good alternative too because they use quality tires like Michelins and kumhos.

 

There is another aspect to this. I'm not questioning you or Coker. But here is what I have found after using 4 sets of Coker tires. Blackwall and Whitewall.

The first set I mounted had a terrible shake. WTF was my response as well. After numerous balancing tries without re-beading the tire or letting the air out of the tube still shimmy and a ton of weights.

I was so pissed off I was ready to throw the tires away. Let all the air out of them and went to dismount them myself because I was tired of throwing money away.


On the first tire I noticed the rim and the tire were not concentric. The bead was up higher on one side than the other and the valve stem was not centered on the dot? Well a tire which is beaded wrong will never balance as it's always out of round.

So I cooled off and realized when the tires were aired up by myself I hadn't paid attention to the bead seat. Totally my fault. I re-set all the tires and Viola no more shimmy. A shitload less weight for balance as well.


The next three sets I practiced this method-

When the tires come to you they are taped flat for shipping, this needs to be relaxed prior to mounting. Set the tires in the sun with the tubes in them. Air the tubes up to 20# and let them sit over night after warming in the sun. This makes them bead easier and are alot easier to mount. When you mount them make sure the tire and the bead are even all the way around. This is really improtant on the Bias plys we love. It might take a couple tries but make this happen. You will be suprised at how big a difference this makes. The tire is alot happier when it travels in the same circle as the rim. I have been happy with my Cokers since being alot more careful with the installation procedure.



Buy some tire irons and an old bead breaker and do this yourself. Modern Tire guys just don't care, or know about this. The machine is trained to do all the thinking in these shops. You will be happier in the long run, and your new rims won't get scratched either. Also Dyna Beads really do work miracles.

One last thing to check is your rims for runout. Alot of the rims we buy today at swap meets, junkyards, and from buddies are off a car for a reason. Make a rim tester out of an old spindle and drum. A piece or wire is all you need to see if it runs true. This is the start of alot of our problems, and it isn't the tire after all.


All the best,

Tim

 

Been buying tires for 36 years. Regardless the brand ,or bias/radial, I have had issues at times. I seem to remember only the tires I had trouble with than the ones that were trouble-free. I thinks it's cool they helped you after 3 yrs even though the 120 bucks hurts..... peace

 

The only thing that has any relevance to this case is this:
limits its liability to the purchase price of the item
They are replacing the tires for the purchase price just like their warranty states. The purchase price went up because he waited 3 years to try the tires. Is that their fault? It's not like their warranty is a 20 page document that you have to read through it is one paragraph and none of it is what I would call "fine print".

You may not like their warranty but that is a different issue.

 

K13, point taken and that is probably where this all boils down to but ...
"We want you to be pleased with your purchase, so we guarantee our tires to be free from defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the tread."
The tread life is still near 100% and they agreed with that.

 

I'm sure that has more to do with 'tire came apart, car rolled, major damage' situations. They will cover the cost of the tire, you pay for the body shop.

 

I agree that in good faith and to end up with a satisfied customer they really should have eaten the $120 and just sent out the new tires. They have probably lost $120 worth of business because they didn't and you posted here but I don't think it is fair for guys to say they are not living up to their warranty because in fact they are.

 

I won't buy coker tires because of the negative posts on this and other sites, one pissed off customer can cost a company more than ten new ones...

 

well I am sending mine back ....brand new in wrapper Heard enough ////

 

So, if you buy tires and wait 3 years to find they are defective, you can still get them replaced, but will be billed for the price change. Seems fair to me.

If a person wanted a full refund, would you expect the new higher price or the original price when purchased? I'm just trying to throw out a scenario as stupid as the first complaint.

Yea. It always sucks, when I don't get what I want.

 

I run cokers w.w.w. Radils on 2 cars in the past i had a belt go bad on my chevy and they replace it and i had a blow out on a ford that i got with thier tires on it the tire splip on the side wall and they replace it funny yust tonight they belt on one on my chevy went bad so i,ll see how thwey take care of it but they always treated me fair

 

For what it's worth, and these days seems like thats about $1000 for a set of 4 with shipping;
We just went through a pile of about a dozen 16" 40' ford wheels trying to find a set that didn't have major run out. We found 2. I'm guessing that a bunch of our wheels are out of round, bent or otherwise shitty, and no one bothered to check. Wires are probably even worse. Just a thought to stir the pot.

 

I true all the wheels that come through my shop. Trust me, it's the tires.

 

TIRE WARRANTY

"We want you to be pleased with your purchase, so we guarantee our tires to be free from defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the tread. Adjustment is made on a prorated basis (you pay for tread wear used). We are not responsible for tire and tube failure due to improper mounting, mechanical failure or improper alignment of the vehicle, so keep that in mind before you make a claim. All tires and tubes should be installed by properly trained individuals to keep this warranty valid. Coker Tire does not offer any guarantee of fitment for any particular purpose and limits its liability to the purchase price of the item. Dimensions for tires listed are not scientifically measured and may vary depending on rim widths and inflation. Warranty returns also require an RMA number."

Am I the only one that has a vision of Corky twirling the ends of his mustache as he reads this?? LOL

 

I have purchased three sets of bias ply Firestones off Cokers over the past 5 years. All have been out of round to varying degrees. Two 650-16 tires from my latest purchase have proven to be the worst.
These were mounted as fronts" and when I got to 62 mph the wheel hop thing would start and if you have experienced it, its not much fun.

Because I live in New Zealand the reality of returning them is nil so I went looking for answers else where to solve my issues.
I was unable to find anybody to shave them and was considering taking them into work, mounting them in one of the large lathes and doing it myself.
By chance I called into a local tire shop to get a flat fixed on my daily driver and started chatting to the old guy in there. He reminded me that when bias ply's were made they were mounted on cars that spent the majority of there life going no more than 55 mph. He also told me to swap the left wheel onto the right and vise versa. I left thinking what a crazy old fool he was.
My intrigue got the better of me so I tried it, We'll I don't no why or how but after doing that the wheel hop stayed away until 75mph.
The biggest discovery I have made (AND DONT FLAME ME) I put 5oz of Dyna beads in each wheel. I was a disbeliever from the get go on this product but I have to eat my words. Its a completely different car, silky smooth ride no vibrations should have done it 5 years ago.

 

I run 7:00-16 Firestone Deluxe tires on the rear of my coupe. When the tire guy mounted them and couldn't get them to balance up properly his old boss came out and took over the job. First thing he did was to air them down and re-bead them onto the wheels. Seating the bead onto the rim properly is a major part of the job and worth the extra time and effort to get right. Made a huge difference and a lot less weights needed to balance. Still all that won't fix a really crook tire though. The skinny fronts were a breeze to mount in comparison though.

 

Tires should have some mileage on them so they will have heat soaked a few times and taken a more permanent shape before truing.

 

Ok,so you spend a lot of money on old tech tires for a traditional look. Then many have to spend even more money and time to make the tires round......Something is wrong here.....

 

I had a set of Coker radials on my truck and it was scary. Felt like the rearend was unbolted. I didn't like to go over 65 on them, response was horrible. Busted a belt in one. I had Sears guardsman thin lines on before them, drove 85 or so MPH with no problems. I have heard from many others with the same problems, even some professional shops.

I run Diamondbacks exclusively on all my builds. I have used 7 sets with absolutely NO problems. Call Bill and tell him Russ from Charlotte sent you....you WILL NOT be sorry.

I had a front tire blowout on the autocross course at Goodguys (made it in the magazine!) on Friday. Ended up the sidewall flexed ( 75 series tire....NOT meant for autocrossing) enough to contact the sway bar mounting bolt that I had meant to cut off...not their fault. Called Bill as soon as I got off the course. He had a new tire at my house on Teusday for $70.....cost of replacement and shipping.

 

Just in the market for tires, this has been helpful. Will look at Diamondback, Thanks !!

 

Guys, please read the entire thread...this is getting astray from my point.

If you are building a car, use the size you want but don't buy new tires until the car is ready to hit the road!

Have the tires and wheels "road force" tested before you use them (additional cost to you)

Don't expect to get a perfect or even good product even though they are brand new and expensive!

If they suck don't expect to get your money back or a fair exchange...

Coker is standing behind their warranty!

It was the crooked way of telling me at the end of the conversation that I owed them money to get my warrantied tires to me...that's all.

 

I had a set of Coker wide white walls on my 48 Ford Coupe. Never could get them balanced right. Finally after selling the car I found an old school shop that could have shaved the tires. Didn't know about that until it was too late. My next set was from Diamondback and I had no problems with them at all.

 

I'm with Truckedup..... what is wrong with thinking that any product you purchase is defect free? I know shit happens but when it does the solution to the problem is how a company's reputation is made. In reading this thread, it seems as if Coker has had various manufacturing issues for years and the postings are coming from individuals as well as professional shops. So where is the QC before their tires leave the factory?

 

It's in your pocket...and QC means Quick Cash...not quality control.....I dealing with Fedex now...why do you pay for 3 day shipping and get it maybe the 4th day.......it's the people that work for these companies than don't give a hoot...it's a job and thats all...their looking for Friday and a paycheck....remember when people took pride in doing a good job and helping people........it's not always the guy that owns the company...BUT HE SHOULD STOP PLAYING GOLF AND START BACK RUNNING HIS COMPANY........It's in all businesses...John Doe starts out doing good work because HE is doing all of it....then he gets busy and next thing you know he's got 20 people doing all the work in the shop and he's sitting in the office talking to customers...next thing he hires someone to sit in the office and talk to the customers and he starts playing all day instead of running his business....it just trickles down from there......NO PRIDE IN AMERICA ANYMORE......But it's still the Best place in the world to live and I try to make it better everyday for my Grandkids to have something to look forward too.

 

coker ...shifty fast talker