Are they any cars here that have pictures of there tires?

[JIPJOBXX]

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I'm thinking about buying a set of tires for my Dodge but I would like to get an idea of what profile they would look like on my Dodge. I like my skinny tires but they are old bias-plys and think it would drive and ride better with

Goodyear Eagles, P205 70 R 16" tires plus it might just help out with a vibration problem I have.

Thanks Jon

[aero3113]

I just purchased these on ebay a couple months ago(NEW)and love them. They are 700 X 15 radials made by Sumitomo. Blueskies tried to find these tires but had no luck. Maybe you have some different sources that can find them.My car was low and I had to get new front springs and have my rear leafs reworked for them to fit,It was well worth it and the car drives great.

[BobT-47P15]

aero.....does Sumitomo make a radial with any narrower wide white?

Or, are they all the approx 4" width yours appear to be??

[Plymouthy Adams]

are these tire complete with a DOT number? reason I ask is that they are not listed as an available product...

[aero3113]

Bob, I am not sure what others they make I happened to come across these on ebay. Tim, here is all of the info off of the tires including a DOT #.

7.00 R 15

SL717

RK 230

DOT U2NV

7K6V1708

[Plymouthy Adams]

thanks for the info..I am all the time being asked for alternate sources for WWW's bside rip me anew one junk Coker sells...(their name) granted the BFG's and Firestone speak for themselves...

I ask about the DOT because of the statement:

The Department of Transportation (DOT) grades passenger car tires on three factors: tread wear, traction, and temperature resistance. Check on the sidewall of your tire to see if it is DOT approved. Tires that are not approved cannot legally be run on the road.

Lots of products get backdoored into this country as demand for the products is sufficient to outweight the law if their is a quick buck to be made..

again ...thanks...

[Andydodge]

I also was interested in these tyres but they are not listed by Sumitomo in Australia, but I think they may have been available thru the Diamond Back tyre cO as they list a Sumitomo in the US catalog I have but again not available here in Oz.....try the Diamond Back co in the states.

[Norm's Coupe]

aero.....does Sumitomo make a radial with any narrower wide white?

Or, are they all the approx 4" width yours appear to be??

Bob,

You probably could get those tires in a narrower width. If you want some of those you might want to check around at some of the foreign car dealers like Toyota, Kia, etc. for that brand. I know my mechanic friend who owns a auto service shop can get me the foreign tires. He got my brother in law a set a couple of years ago for his Ford van. I would not worry about them having a DOT number on them. Any new tire sold in the US has to meet US DOT standards.

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

Of course what brand tire anyone buys is a personal preference, like anything else we buy.

Personally I have preferred Firestone tires since 1960. It's the only kind I buy when I buy tires for my everyday cars. Never had a problem with any of them. On the other hand I've had many company cars that came with (the other big name company) and had nothing but trouble. In fact, the company was always replacing the OEM tires(not Firestone) that came on the Ford company cars.

As for the Coker tires, I've had two sets of new Coker brand tires and haven't had any problem with those either.

As for cost. Whenever I check pricing for other brands, they are all about the same price, if they are a well known brand. So.....price is a non issue.

[Plymouthy Adams]

well..checked with the parent company and the SL717 is listed only as light truck tire in a blackwall...HMMMMMM....someone throw me a bone here..

[Plymouthy Adams]

Norm..if it does not leave the driveway brand and dot approval is moot..

the concern here is the DOT approval..and is it a legit number..(scrupples???)...I cannot seem to find that info..what would be bad is have one blow out and cause serious injury/damage and some sharp ambulance chasing lawyer find that the tires were illegal imports..who now has the libility..that is one question I would not want to try answer AFTER the fact...

and

to add to the confusion is the vast amount of imports that are flooding the market these day..do we really know for certain that the numbers are in reality assigned or assumed and stamped?

[Norm's Coupe]

Norm..if it does not leave the driveway brand and dot approval is moot..

Tim,

The driveway is actually a thing Don C came up with, probably because he was bored one day. I may not drive my coupe more than 50 miles away from home, but it does leave the driveway quite often, except for last year. I just don't make a habit of telling people every time I leave the house in it, and I don't take pictures of it every time I go someplace in it.

As for the Coker tires. I do know others here in the Ford V8 club that have put lots of miles on their Coker brand tires without a problem. That's why I went to Coker. Those guys recommended them too.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have yet to see a Coker tire that was not out of round..they are truly junk tires for the classic trailer queen where looks outweight functionality..

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

If you saw my coupe in person, you would know it's certainly not a trailer queen. In fact, I don't own a trailer or anything big enough to pull the car trailer.

As for those local Ford guys. Some of them do have real nice old Fords, but none of them pull them on trailers. There are only two of them that even have trailers. They usually use those trailers for pulling home other projects though. I don't know how many have the bias Cokers or radial Coker's, there's a few of each I guess. I know at least some are bias because those guys are real sticklers when it comes to correctness. Some, like my brother in law has a set of each.

When the guys put my tires on the wheels, they were able to balance them without a problem. I've driven at least 55 MPH on side roads and have no vibration. If my tires were out of round, I would be able to feel it. So.......at least my Coker bias tires are not out of round. I would think the guys in the Ford club with Coker tires would say something too about vibration, if they had out of round tires. Those guys are always doing tours around the state in their old Fords. Several of them even go to the Model T show in Indiana driving their old Fords.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Norm..buy and use what you want the fact is Imade the personal statement that Ihave never seen a good Coker tire...that is my experience...regardless of yours...I have worked in the atuomotive retail industry for a number of years professionally..enough to know that the business is just to iffy and seasonal...so I got out for the 9-5 x-dollar an hour guarantee...

[Norm's Coupe]

Yes Tim. You are correct. It's a personal thing like I said before too. Doesn't matter what product we want to talk about. There are always people who will swear by a product and those who will swear against the same product. Nothing personal about it (except our own belief's).

[claybill]

i bought a set of 'blems' DENHAM tires..'cause they were a good price @50 ea...new WWW. G78x14

but they are 14's and i mounted them on ply rims....but now i cant put them on anything!!! 14in?/

claybill...aka convertibill

[kool47p15]

Are the B.F. Goodrich Silvertown wide whites that Coker sells made by Coker, or B.F.?

[Captain Neon]

It is my understanding that everything Coker sells is made at their plant. They have licencing agreements with the other brand names they sell.

[Norm's Coupe]

It is my understanding that everything Coker sells is made at their plant. They have licencing agreements with the other brand names they sell.

That's my understanding too. Based on that, I wouldn't think they could get or keep a license to make tires using the Goodrich or Firestone name, if they made bad tires. Those large companies don't want someone making a bad product with their name, then getting the bad rap for them.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Coker Tire Company is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that sells obsolete Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and US Royal bias-ply and radial whitewall tires for collector automobiles. The company also has a facility in Fresno, California and over 30 distributors worldwide.

Coker Tire also sells its own brand of whitewall bias and radial tires

Truly the real problem arises in the fact that they have no competition for the vintage sizes and styles...that was why I was interested in the other company...competition usually brings forth better quality and better prices or someone is going under...

[BobT-47P15]

I bought these Firestone 6.70--15s (bias ply) from a Coker sub-dealer in

Springfield, MO.

A bit more cost per tire than the Coker house brand, but they have been

both Fine and Dandy......no problems with balance or vibration. And I

especially wanted this width of whitewall.

It's more like what they used in 1960 and that time frame.

2 1/4" wide.

Bought this other set at a swap meet...slightly used.

B F Goodrich Silvertown 7.10--15, 3" wide white.

I like the narrower ones best. Got a set of original style

wheels in the deal, which made it even better.

[Norm's Coupe]

Coker Tire Company is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that sells obsolete Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and US Royal bias-ply and radial whitewall tires for collector automobiles. The company also has a facility in Fresno, California and over 30 distributors worldwide.

Coker Tire also sells its own brand of whitewall bias and radial tires

Truly the real problem arises in the fact that they have no competition for the vintage sizes and styles...that was why I was interested in the other company...competition usually brings forth better quality and better prices or someone is going under...

That's true. As far as not having much competition, that could be because no one else wants to mess with making vintage style tires because of the limited amount of potential customers to sell to. Whenever you have limited production of a product, it raises the price because they don't make as many. If they were able to mass produce them like tires for modern cars, that automatically would lower the price. However, if they did that it would take years to sell them to the limited customers. So.......we should be happy places like Coker even wants to make the tires for our vintage cars.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I did locate a site that will interpret the DOT numbers for validity..not done the research just marked the page...also...if your car is rated for H tires and you put on lower speed rating tires..I read that this is cause for the insurance policy to be null and void...now how many people get told that...?

[radioguy7]

Ok, so officially what is the radial equivelant tire size if I were to replace my stock bias ply tires? I do plan on using a radial tube as well for safety. I'd like to keep the look as close to stock while adding the measure of safety with radial tires.