My new Diamondback wide whites arrived today.

[David Maxwell]

I'll be putting them on tomorrow or Saturday. Will let everyone know how they ride, brake, steer etc. once they're on.

[BobT-47P15]

Oughta look nice, David. And drive real good.....you did get radials, didn't you??

[David Maxwell]

16s.

[Brad Lustig]

Yeah DB only sells the radials. I'm anxious to hear your opinions. Probably go with them next time around. How wide are the whitewalls?

[James_Douglas]

David,

I am very interested in hearing your impressions about the tires. I have a friend here in San Francisco who put a set of Coker WW on one of his cars. Over a year he had to send 5 tires back for various quality reasons until he got a set that was as they should be.

The Diamond folks told me that they can supply me with a set of higher pressure tires, so I can have a little more load capacity, with wide white walls. The Desoto Suburban is a heavy car, heavier than most, and with 225's the load capacity of the Coker Radials is not much more than the cars weight. I would like a little cushion so to speak...

So, please do give us an evaluation of your tires after you drive them for a while. When you mount them, also ask the person mounting them to tell you how much weight was needed to get each one balanced.

Best, James

[anthonyb]

I recently put a set of DB Classics on my 41. 215/75R15 with 3 1/4"WW. $753 with shipping and only took about 8 days to get here. They run much quieter and smoother than the old bias plys from Coker that were on there. Also seem to have added some horsepower to the engine as it now can cruise at around 60-65 (with more to go) without sounding like it's about to disintegrate.

About the only problem I have now is the left front rubs on hard right turns due to the added width of the tire.

Just wish they would have been available when I first put this beast back on the road.

[BobT-47P15]

Anthony, I think the deal is that radials have a better "rolling resistance" factor than bias ply. So, not only are they quieter, they roll better, hence your improvement in speed, etc.

[David Maxwell]

Looks like the earliest appointment I could get for mounting is on Monday afternoon (BUMMER!). I was really hoping to give the a good road test this weekend.

[Reg Evans]

I really like mine from DB.

I got a little carried away though in wanting to go faster at the same rpm as the smaller tires that were on J Lo originally.

16" wheels w/750's rear and 700's front.

I think I'm ready for a speed run on the salt now or some off roadin.

[David Maxwell]

...Yahooooooooo! Wow! First thing I noticed is how the car just tracked perfectly from the get-go. Pulled out of the parking lot and onto a busy road that's not in the best shape. SOOOOO much quieter than the bias plys! Next thing I noticed was the elimination of steering wheel play. Then I realized I was experiencing what Reg Evans did. That is, I was just enjoying my ride and the quietness of it when I suddenly looked at the speedo and realized I was already going 60 mph. Felt like 40 tops. Very happy with the DBs so far!!

[BobT-47P15]

Oh, you noticed........there IS a difference.

That's pretty much what I experienced a few years ago when I ran a half worn out set of used radials. At that time, I was not familiar with Diamondback, and most ww radials did not hold the white color very well...at least the ones I saw. I think they have improved them now. I went back to bias ply simply to get the wide whites. Now would consider radials again.

Drive em and enjoy.

[Normspeed]

I bought Michelin radials for mine and like David, I was truly amazed at the improvement in handling. Uneven road surfaces, no problem now. Bump steer gone. Much better cornering. Prior to the radials I lowered the car slightly, had a good alignment done, replaced all the shocks and adjusted the steering box. All that helped but the one single biggest improvement was radials.