I always feel weird responding to these threads. Corky is someone I consider a good pal... and I love Coker Tires, so I am biased. Take all of that in mind... and seriously, don't let me influence you too much one way or another. I've had... I dunno... four or five different sets of Firestones in various sizes on various cars in the bast two or three years. I had one set that bounced like a basketball... And after doing all kinds of balancing acts, I discovered it was a bent wheel... I'd bet that is pretty common. Old wheels, old tire technology, etc... I think it's unreasonable to expect things to be easy.
One 61 Merc. Comet on ww radials and one 56 Merc. on ww bias ply also 7 Hot Rods and all Coker bias ply.........they are very good to me and I highly recommend them.
The 450/500 16 tires are notorious for being out of round. I've had problems, Bones have had problems and several others too. Just ran into a guy at the showdown with a new car and he's having problems with them. The car I had problems with we just changed to a different tread and size tire and the car rolls fine now. Of co**** their customer service is easy...they know it's a problem and are more than happy to try again at getting a set that is round....meanwhile we get stuck with all the mounting and balancing costs. Not to mention the headaches of dealing with it. Clark
I'd say it's more than 75%... I doubt less than 2 or 3 percent of the cars that get their tires really get driven.. like 12+ hours at highway speeds. Over the last few years I've had a set of coker radials disintegrate, as well as balancing problems and separated belts on a set of diamond backs. And, I might add, these were on NEW wheels... bought a set of the 5.50 excelsiors for my modified, and it was almost impossible to drive due to them being out of round. Ordered a set of 6.00 firestones, and was finally able to drive it, although it's still not what I would rate as perfect (these were on new wheels also). I have a customers car in the shop right now, and it is having issues with coker radials as well. The reason I changed the whole look of my chevy is so I could run cheap wal-mart wkinny whitewall radials.. guess what. No tire problems in two years now... At least when I was running portawalls all I had to worry about was them slinging off every 1500 miles or so.. not coming apart and destroying my car. Think I'll try some of that roof paint for my next set of www.. Brian
Just put a set of their bias plys on my coupe. I think it drives better than when it had the radials on it. Definately looks better! They were always friendly when I talked to them too! I can't remember the guys name when I put my order in, but with his help and the HAMB discount I saved quite a few bucks!
Got Firestone Bias on my coupe and they roll fine. I'm happy with the tires and the Coker staff. And when you throw in the alliance discount you can't beat them.
Had an issue with BF Goodrich 14" wide white radials that I bought through Coker. One was badly out-of-round and the other had a bubble on the sidewall. All I can say is that Coker was terrific to work with. They wanted me happy with their service, were interested in getting me back on the road, paid for the returns, and had new tires here in less than a week. No complaints. Pete Richmond, VA
Other than a summer making industrial rubber pinch valves and Wikepedia, I am not up on tire manufacturing,so PLEASE excuse my ignorance. Where in the manufacturing does the tire become out of round and why can't this be detected before it's shipped out?
Not my cars, I have driven them from here to Canada, both coast, and everywhere in between and never had issues. Like Ryan said a lot of it has to do with the rims and sometimes you might get a tire that might need more weight that normal but that life in the Traditional sense. Sounds like most of the problems are with the radial tires and not the bias ply.
OK, my take. I drove my Cokers 200 miles Saturday in the T, put about 3500 miles on them last summer, and on a smooth two lane they run great. They are a bit harsh on a rough road but any bias tire would be, the sidewall construction is way different without as much give. Tire inflation can be a big issue as well. I would bet most are running too much air in thier tires and that is where some of the pogoing coms from. In my light tub (about 2300#) I only run about 18 lbs. in the tires. As far as balancing, I think these tires sometimes get a bad rep because of other issues in the car design, too stiff springs, ineffective shocks, etc.. It's easy to blame the tires when the issues are really something else. I grew up with bias tire and they have thier quirks, i don't find Cokers to be any different.
I run Coker bias tube type tires on two jalopies. Mold brands have all been Firestone, BF Goodrich Silvertown, and Excelsior. Have worn out two complete sets. I rarely exceed 70 mph, normally cruise 55-65. I never use an old inner tube, put in a new tube when mounting a new tire. No problems with Coker tires in the short time I've used them, only the past ten years, only flats I have had were roofing nail. My experience with bias tires goes back to my first time at the wheel in 1946. Before Coker most tires I had were Allstate(Sears) and Western Auto, the ones I wore out in about '98 were Allstate, manufactured around 1970. Bias tires have never been a problem for me. The biggest problem with them is if the tube gets punctured, the nail will rip a larger hole in the tube at higher speeds and the tire goes flat IMMEDIATELY, without the usual warning that accomanies the going down of a tubeless tire. People tend to avoid the installation of flaps, due to the added expense, usually making up some rationalized excuse not to use them. I know from experience that the use of a flap will increase the life of the innertube, due to the added protection of preventing the tube from chafing against the rim. Avoid the ranting of people that don't even drive on bias tires, but have all kinds of expert advice on the subject. Yep, me too.
I pulled into the lot of a local tire shop back in the early sixties to talk to the owner's son. The owner walked by and told me I needed some tires to which I replied, "I don't have any money for new tires". He just shook his his head and started walking off. He hadn't made it twenty feet when the right rear tire on my '56 Ford blew out sitting there. He said, pull that thing in here and pay me when you can. He ran Denmans on his Olds 98 and I was lucky enough to get a set of first capped tires with casings off his car. I remember the recaps were a whopping $6 each.
Originally Posted by Gene@Gearworksmfg ....................I sell cokers at my shop and never have any problems with them. ......................... Anyone run Denmans?....................... Yes. I put a set of used Denmans I got on ebay on a 31 Chivvy in '98. The car only had a couple of thousand miles on it when I sold it, so I don't know how they turned out. I put in new tubes. They balanced easily and didn't have any problems the short time I had the car.
I guess i am b*** akwards then the rest of you.I sent 2 sets of radial WWs back because of separation right where the WW and blackwall meet.No problems from Coker,sent new tires both times and shipping.I drove to the roadster show last year from the midwest on bias 6-16 Firestones up front and 7-90 dirt tracker Firestomes in back thru the desert and mountains 75 mph average with no problems.Did kinda piss me off when i took the wrapping off the dirt trackers and found made in Puerto Rico or Taiwon,dont remember which.
I had more problems with radials except for the one recapped bias ply tire 30 years ago,radials seem to go bad from age more quickly then bias and has me worried since my 37 Chevy p/u has fibergl*** fenders and running boards and a radial going bad can cause a bunch of damage. Anybody in the Dayton Ohio area have a set of Cokers bias plys on their car so I can see how they ride and handle so when my radials get old I might put a set on the 37.
i had a problem with a set of coker www radals on my 50 chevy belt moved on one and cracks in side walls on another one coker replace all the tires on the car and on my 58 ford i got a blow out on a tire that was on car when i got it the replace that too this all happen about 5 yrs ago i would buy thier tires again thier service is great and they work with you
I had the same problem as Plowboy. two American Cl***ic radials out of round. The first went bad on the way home from the Drags (3 hr trip). The most recent happened on my way to drop my car off at a shipping agency(almost 4 hrs). I only made it a third of the way and had to stop and buy two new fronts. The dealer did not have another tire my size so i had to get two. I ***ume Coker is going to replace this tire like they did the last. They will not reimburse me for my troubles though. I am tempted to buy two more of the cheap tires ($176 installed) to replace the Cokers when i join my car.
i had new coker whitewalls on my 61 caddy and they had excessive run out and coker replaced them. Then I had brand new cokers again on a 33 ford i bought and the front 165/15 2.25 whitewalls had ruts in them around the cir***ference in the whitewall and also caused excessive wheel shake even after rebalancing. Coker replaced them with American cl***ics.
Cooker Bias ply on on the A are fine, I have Cooker radial www on the 51 Kustom and will not ever buy them again. I always deal with Summit as they have the best customer service.
The Jalopy Journal
