Technical Diamondback Auburn radials

Very pleased with Diamondback Tires...seem to be wearing just fine...I did buy a extra set for the rear but it looks like they will set all wrapped up for a couple years

 

I too am very happy with the Diamondback radials with the bias ply look. I have big and littles on my 32 roadster. No troubles with mounting. Ride and handling is great.

 

I’m glad you got them mounted, but personally, I would have installed radial inner tubes in the tires and mounted them. Problem solved.


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I saw these on a friends '33 coupe today....they look fantastic, and by all reports drive very nicely. Well done Diamondback, well worth the wait.

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Luvin my Auburn radials Rich

 

Just got mine 2 weeks ago!

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I have 8,000 miles on my wide whites, I am a happy customer.

 

I see he mounted them with (what I consider to be) the back side out. I like the big lettering on that side but I would likely sand and polish the small billboard print off. I put a pair upfront on the 34 and installed the other side out mainly because I like the "beauty bar" on that side. They ride so good!

 

Those look great! I've even been considering the "smooth blackwalls". Totally different look.
I'm definitely going to use the Diamondbacks. I like the wide whites on black stock wheels with no hubcaps and I like the smooth blackwalls on black stock wheels with hubcaps. Decisions....decisions

 

Thanks for posting those @DeLuxe 32 and @Bandit Billy , ive been pretty interested in running blackwall auburn deluxe radials on my '37, but have a had a hell of a time trying to find pictures of them. I really like the look of them!

 

More Pics & reviews of Diamondback Blackwalls,5.50,6.50,7.50,8.20’s?
These seem to be positive alternative to “the other” options.
Just don’t feel good about going 80mph on a out-of-round, or no safety beads, no tubes?
& at today’s costs, my expectations are: tires should be pretty fresh dates & round.

 

Ordered a set of DB 750x16 and 550x16 , they said lead time could be 4 to 5 weeks ,ok no drama. Dang they arrived within the week.

 

Nine years ago I bought a set of Diamond Backs, wide whites, which are actually B.F.Goodrich that Diamond Back grinds off the lettering off the white wall side. Thought they were great until, in April this year, 100 miles from home, at 70 mph, the front p***enger side blew out and could have killed me. 7,000 miles on the tires. I blame B.F.Goodrich. Planned failure and I'll never believe otherwise.

 

Key fact. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that radials have a limited life span time wise before they are prone to de laminating etc. Nothing to do with miles. At 9 years you were well into the danger zone. Tires themselves may have been even older.

 

I agree it was the age. I replaced a set of tires on an off topic car last year because they were 6 years old. The tires had a lot of tread left but rather not chance it. The new set set me back $1800 not cheap but definitely cheaper than a crash

 

I fully realize that the tires were 9 years old and that everybody should expect their tires to blow apart at that age. But that's the point this is 2021 not 1946. When I made that point to the guy at diamondback tires that this day and age I'll never be convinced that tires can't be made that don't fail in 6 to 9 years he laughed and agreed and he said you know what if I came up with a compound and materials to make tires last until the tread is completely gone the big boys would come in and buy me out for 10 million and then throw my design in the trash can. BF Goodrich makes tires for 747s. You think those blow out before they're worn out? Of course if they made better tires they wouldn't sell as many so there you go........

I wonder how many people have died because of the industry's refusal to make better tires?

 

You got no facts ,just a tire conspiracy...

 

I'm not going to argue about anything but, if tires were made to last triple what they do now, I'll bet they would be more expensive. They would be more expensive to make - possibly a lot more - and bean counters would also want to make up for lost turnover.

And people moan about the cost of them now. Everyone wants gold, until they have to open their wallets.

 

Reviving this old thread, but has anyone tried to get these mounted at a discount tire? I’m going to try and find an old school tire shop but can’t wait to get these diamond backs mounted.

 

Hey Auggie, I have a slightly funny, slightly sad, slightly stupid, slightly maddening story for ya. I took my brand new Diamondbacks plus my old Diamondbacks mounted on steel rims to my local Discount Tire that I've used for years to get mounted. Of course I had to ask my married but beautiful neighbor for a ride to the store. Got them switched out and balanced, went back home. She dropped me off and I proceeded to put the rear tires back on my 49 Ford Coupe.. was just about finished mounting the first one when I touched one of the balancing weights and it moved. WTF? They were all loose. I had to call The lady neighbor again for another trip to the store. This is hard to believe but the manager explained that the new guy mistakenly put weights for aluminum wheels on my steel wheels. That ain't right.... So they rebalanced with the correct weights.

 

That’s not too bad! So all in all it sounds like they won’t mess up the tires?

 

Messing them up should be of no concern.

 

Surely any tyre store could mount them.
If you have nice steel rims ask them to put the plastic caps on the claws of their machine so as to not damage the paint.

 

X2

 

I just got a set of the Auburn radials for my Model A. I bought new rims and tires so it was a bit of a financial investment and I was very excited. I spent the last two weeks getting the wheels painted and cleared. Today I finally brought them to my shop to mount and I had a terrible time.

I have had the cellophane wrap off the tires for over a week and the temps have been in the 90’s so I’d have ***umed they’d be quite pliable. The beads were still practically touching on the 6 X 16’s.

The tires slipped over the wheel fine but we could not get the beads to seat. It was very frustrating. We work at a professional shop and are even a Tire Rack authorized installer so it’s safe to say we are familiar with tires. We tried two guys with the Cheetah multiple times with no luck. We also made sure to use lots of lube and even a ratchet strap. No matter what we did we could not get the 6 X 16’s to seat on the 4.5” rims.

After trying for 30 minutes to get the bead seated I almost tried the “explosion method” which we’ve successfully used in the past in extreme cases. But I didn’t want the chemicals to potentially wreck my fresh paint job so I gave up for the night. Very disappointing. I have the beads currently being held apart with some 2 X 4’s and will give that a few days to see if it helps.

I’ve never had a tire this difficult to seat.

Will post an update when I have one.

 

I used thick cardboard tubes cut down and used them to spread the bead wide open. I left them in a few days and then dropped them off with the cardboard tubes still in. They said they were a little tough but no big deal.

 

Thank you, guys, for all the input on the Diamondback tires. The previous owners of my 51... had a set of 15" stockers restored for the car. new stainless trim rings and caps and painted the rims a darker green. then but the Americans on it. it's lowered with springs in the front. and has blocked in the back. he put 205/75 & 215/75-15 on the car. has a "rubber rake" not super crazy about. so, I have been in the market for radial white wall for stock wheels. I like the Auburn's 2 1/2 " ww. and I think I'll do the optional beauty bar they offer. have had good and bad luck with some of the Coker tires in the past. having had 15" & 16 Firestone Deluxe Champions on other cars. Bias ply wasn't going to happen with the 51 this time.

 

When I had DB make my wide whites I asked for 2-1/4” width and they said sure. It was for a 1956 which were about 3” that I didn’t want for sure. There are many times I miss my 1950 2dr sedan…

 

may do the 2-1/4" width .. did they charge extra for that? since I think standard was 2-1/2 or 3"...

 

Here’s my follow-up from my post earlier in the week.

After having a really frustrating and discouraging time attempting to get the tires to seat I took another crack at it after a few days. In that time lapse I had propped the beads apart with a couple of 2 X 4’s. I only waited about three days with the boards in place before I gave mounting them another try and this time I was successful! I'm not sure if the 2 X 4’s made much of a difference but they definitely didn’t hurt. After some more trial and error I eventually came up with a technique that worked fairly well to get the tires mounted. Here’s what I did.

First, I put the wheel on the tire machine and slipped the well-lubricated tire over the rim. This was pretty easy because of how compressed the tires still were even after propping the beads apart for a few days. I also removed the core from the valve stem to make putting a lot of air in easier.

Then I took a couple of the 2 X 4’s I’d been using to spread the beads apart and pushed them up between the tire machine and the bottom sidewall of the tire. This mostly propped the upper bead of the tire very close to seating. It took several attempts and a bit of muscle but eventually the entire upper bead seated! And surprisingly it stayed up in place even once I removed the boards underneath holding it up.

Then I carefully took the tire off the machine and stood it up with the rear of the tire facing me. That bead was a mile from being seated so I hooked the air hose on the tire machine to the valve stem and then filled up the Cheetah (air cannon) and gave it a blast from the back followed by immediately filling it with air from the tire machine. It worked! I couldn’t believe it. After trying numerous different ways this method proved to be the trick. I was able to mount the other three tires fairly easily using this same technique.

One other installation note I will add is something I didn’t notice until I got the tires home and cleaned them up. These tires do feature the colored “quality control” yellow and red dots on the sidewalls. They were faint so I hadn’t seen them prior to scrubbing the tires. The balancing process wasn’t too bad but I’d imagine they would have taken less weight if I’d seen these prior to mounting the tires. Just something to look for and be aware of if you’re doing this job.

Here’s a picture of them mounted on the car. I think they look great and ride nicely.