This isn't a request for opinions on what looks best on MY car. I doubt I've ever asked opinions on something that effects the look of my car, but I need some help from you guys in regards to a tire change I'm going with in the near future. In about 68 days, I'm getting WWW's for my T Bucket. For a long time, my thought was that they were a "fancy" look. Not for a stripped down street cruiser. "Show cars only." But, the look has grown on me and I'm getting a set. Amazingly, the final straw didn't come from my friends, who run them or a pic on the HAMB. I was at the post office, getting ready to pull out and this older lady walks up and starts asking about my car. Surprisingly and pleasantly, she knew what she was talking about. If you knew my area of Houston, you'd understand my surprise. Any way, just before she walked off, she stood back and said, "You know, this car would look very nice with some big white walls on it." Wow. It was like the scale in my head that had regular tires and WWW's balanced, tipped, no DROPPED, to one side. Who was I to ignore the vision of someone who was there when cars rolled on WWW's all the time? So, my hot rod coin jar has been filling up and I'm doing research. I've already decided on radial Coker Classics 165R15 for the front runners. I like them for the rear as well, but 235-75R-15 looks kinda "balloonish" to me. Which isn't THAT bad. I'd get used to it. Then, I noticed the Hurst Cheater slicks. I love that look. They stand fairly straight on the sidewalls and you gotta love a pie crust slick. Now, here's my questions: 1. Will they work with radials on the front end? 2. Are they practical for the street? I drive every day, but rarely in the rain. 3. Are they all recaps or are they made brand new as well? 4. Who makes good cheater slicks? I'm committed, so I'll just dismiss whether or not they'll look right. It's my vision and if I end up not liking them, I'll save them for my other build. All I want to know is will WWW cheater slicks be practical (safe) for the street? Otherwise, I'll go Coker's all around. Here's a photo shop someone here did for me. Oh, I also have this comment from the boss, shortly after I got my T running after the wreck. Although, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean radials. <TABLE id=post4685634 class=tborder cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=thead style="BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid">12-18-2009, 08:30 PM <!-- / status icon and date --></TD><TD class=thead style="BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 0px solid" align=right> #9 </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid" width=175>Ryan<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_4685634", true); </SCRIPT> Administrator Join Date: Jan 1995 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 13,810 </TD><TD id=td_post_4685634 class=alt1 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid"><!-- icon and title --> Re: Miss Fortune updates.... FINALLY! <HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Tires... That car needs tires really badly... Some nice tall bias tires would help it out a ton in my opinion. Love your zest... <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________ Ryan Cochran </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> LMFAO! That haunted me for a while, Ryan. As much as I dig bias ply, I drive too fast and too much on weird roads to have them on a light weight car.
. 1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Most all are recaps except Radirs and the Firestones 4. I have run Hurst but hear Towel City makes some good one too. Those tire will be a major improvement in the looks deptartment. Go for it! .
The Hursts are radial recaps, and as you know available in WW. Do a search and read the numerous threads on Hurst and then make your decision on them. They ain't the greatest for real drag racing cause they're heavy as all hell, and stiff in the sidewall 'cause they're on SUV tire carcasses, and don't "hook up" like a real slick. I know Houston has a good bit of rain, as we do here in GA. and I'm always a bit wary in the rain with ANY real wide tire, especially a slick. My roadster was puchased from orig. builder in a mock up condition with new bias ply WW Cokers. They are now maybe 8 years or so old due to his and my slow poke building and I'm almost roadworthy after a long time, but wary of the tires. I also drive some back roads here in GA and the Interstates here are also worn from big trucks. So I am gonna let function override form and buy radials. Been looking at Diamondback, and they have some nice big/little sets with the ones I've been looking at around 24-25" front and some rears over 30", on Cooper tires. All on steel rims with baby moons and trim rings. I have a pair of 10" American Mags I can mount some real slicks on if I wanta go drag racing and get serious about it. Then I'd buy something that bites, not something for looks.
Good points so far. I'll look at Diamondbacks again. My main concerns are drivability and looks. In that order. I was also steered to Towel City and sorta remember that thread on here a while back. There seemed to be a little disagreement on how long they last. Again, research. I don't want to drop money for rear tires and be doing it again next year. That's not cost effective for me.
So far, Diamond backs are the most expensive (small margin) and better made white wall design (sales propaganda?). Coker's are a little cheaper, but no info on their white wall science. I've decided against the cheater slicks. Maybe it's my retread paranoia. I'm searching threads for Diamond Back V/S Coker information or you can add your experience here.
I have ran both tires, Cokers and Diamondbacks, I like the Diamondbacks and will purchasing another complete set as soon as I find someone to buy one of my kids! IMO the Coker whitewalls did not hold up very well and showed blems in a matter of no time. The Diamondbacks still look great. I am surprised the Diamondbacks are more pricey, last time I looked (in my case anyways) the Diamondbacks were a little cheaper priced. The Cokers do offer a discount for alliance members (great thing) and I found the best prices (after you include shipping) to be from Summit Racing or JEGS. Good Luck
I found a good thread with minimal drama and it sounds like Diamond Back adds the white wall to a radial. The Coker's appear to be made as a white wall. Has anyone noticed that much white wall separation on the Diamond Backs? Yes, I could PM them, but I want consumer opinions. As a package deal, the Coker's are $738 and the Diamond backs are $846. The sizes are: 165/15 front and 235/75R/15 in the rear. Shipping is roughly $100 for both brands. Diamond back I and Diamond back II. Coker classics. Those are the styles I liked.
I know you said you decided against the cheater slicks, but I just thought I would mention this. I am running the towel city recaps. They are recapped on new bias plys and man I love them. I drive my car a lot ( of course not rain friendly) with no issues. They are soft so they hook really good and wear good. Just thought I would mention this for any FUTURE project options as I seen a earlier post mention them. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
That's good info. I really like the pie crust design. If money allows (big stretch) I may do as a friend suggested and get a set for short trips or the occasional cruise night. I'd get rims for them to make the swap go quicker, but that is a nice option, as far as looks go. I don't drag race. For one, I don't have a roll bar and wouldn't race without one. But I do enjoy the occasional high speed burst of fun. Right now, the Coker's have just about won me over. I checked a few other forums and Coker's seem to have a better rep, Diamond Back is a VERY close second. Another reason the Coker's seem like the best bet, is the Classic's appear to have a semi bias ply look. I know it's not exact, but I'm hoping they won't have that cartoonish balloon tire look. I keep my rears at 26psi for the ride quality. I may have to raise that to get the look in the rear tire that I want. Thanks again, everyone. 68 days.
I've ran the silver town radials from Coker they were very nice but they are still radials. I changed them out for bias plies. Those Hurst cheaters look nice, but those are the heaviest car tires I've ever seen.
as a side note ,my 31 has a open front end and I put double sided ww with the "beauty ring" on and love the look
My pal Ken took a set of Diamond backs off his 32 4 door sedan,,the white wall split on one of the rear,He told me this is the second tire to do this in the last 4 years. Ken is real anal and drives me nuts checking the air pressure every single time he stops for gas so it's never a issue of low air pressure,,this happened on the Deuce Run earlier this year. There is plenty of tread left and the tire itself is not compromised but the whitewall split is unsightly. Ken decided to order set of Coker Radials,, Personally,I prefer bias ply,that's what is on the Deuce pickup,I haven't had any problems and run them hard and fast,,they just have a better look to me. HRP
For once I am not gonna try and steer you in a direction. All I have to say is the radial cokers stand up pretty well in my opinion.
Dan31, could you post a picture of those double whites, I bet they look killer with the beauty rings!
Great info and pics, HRP. That Diamond back sidewall had me VERY curious. I understand why they id it, but it seemed like a high tech "port-o-wall".
Since I first started running radials in '71, all I ever heard was, "NEVER MIX RADIALS AND BIAS PLY!" Especially in your case where you drive it a lot.
Fred, I've run several sets of Coker bias plys and several sets of their radials. I agree with your choice of radials for a car you drive daily. My last set of radial whitewalls got a good mix of highway and around town driving before I sold the car. Great handling on a '48 Ford with a MII front. Not a T bucket obviously. I've never had a problem with any of my Cokers and hope you're as happy with your's if you go that route.
I'm faced with the same problem. I've been trying to order the diamondback auburn deluxe for 6 months now because I love the look of bias plys but want the reliability of radials but they keep getting delayed. As of May the new release date is January 1, 2014.
I hadn't planned on it because it would definitely look goofy. But the science around not mixing seems mixed. I don't see how it could matter, especially if you went skinny bias in front and bigger radials in the rear. Maybe a tire guru will chime in.
Radial tires in the rear will have a pushing effect on the front bias ply tires. Had and early 60ish truck that had radials on the rear with bias ply's on the front and going into a small curve/turn it would want to push the front end. Not sure what happens when radials are in the front and Bias ply's in the rear - I think it has something to do with one rolls better or has less rolling resistance
I think I read on a previous HAMB thread that the white wall tires (both brands) are very pressure sensitive. I would check into that before lowering the pressure to the 26 PSI you mentioned for your rear tires.
The 39 guy is correct. If you run your pressure too low the whitewall will get damaged no matter whose tire you buy. The first deep pothole on the highway will leave an ugly mark on your $250 tire!
I did. I could get away with 28-30 in the Coker's. I tried it tonight and the ride wasn't that bad. Easier to spin the tires, but not that bad.
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