Which Diamondback tire?

[james curl]

You have to use radial tubes in radial tires.  Years ago I put radials on my Triumph TR -4 with wire wheels and the installer used standard tubes and all four went flat within the first month, thats when I found about the difference.  Never had another flat after we installed radial tubes in the radial tires..

[DLK]

I know that you specifically asked about Diamondback tyres so disregard my 2 cents worth if you wish.........when I was looking for tyres/tires(lol) for my 41 Plymouth I contacted the importers of both Diamondback and Coker tyres here in Oz, pricewise they were almost identical in price but the Diamondbacks in the size I wanted were not available...........I wanted and purchased 195/75x15 and 235/75x15 Coker Classic Wide Whitewall Radials and was very pleased with the difference they made to the steering, handling and general "feel" of the car...........admittedly they replaced Columbia(?) brand 6.00 x 16 crossplies that I think were probably past their use by date although they looked still fine with plenty of tread left...........I'm a hotrodder so it was decided to replace them.....lol............I would assume that Diamondback tyres would offer a similar improvement............regards, andyd    

The more I read these posts and all the other threads on tires the more sure I am there is no "right:" answer.  In the end it boils down to personal preference.  One thing I recall reading on other threads is that because of the way the white sidewalls are bonded onto Diamondback tires they are less likely to discolor or have bleed-through than Coker tires but there seem to be plenty of people on here who like Cokers too..  I do have at least a couple of months before I make a decision.

[DLK]

I've had AS4's is on my car for about a year now, under 500 miles, they ride real nice. Here's a link to the post I made when I bought the tires. http://p15-d24.com/topic/33587-my-new-diamondbacks/?hl=diamondback

Thanks for the link Mark!

[DLK]

I've had AS4's is on my car for about a year now, under 500 miles, they ride real nice. Here's a link to the post I made when I bought the tires. http://p15-d24.com/topic/33587-my-new-diamondbacks/?hl=diamondback

Mark - I found a retailer here who will put 4 AS4's with hazard warranty on my Wayfarer for around $1200 with tax, install, balance, stems etc.. I may pay a few bucks more going through them but I like the fact they deal with a lot of these tires and I can deal with them rather than Diamond Back if there are any warranty issues. I realize you don't have that many miles on your tires but it seems you like the look and ride of the AS4's.  My only question is do I pay $40 extra to get the 3" wide whites? Did you?

[Young Ed]

Mark - I found a retailer here who will put 4 AS4's with hazard warranty on my Wayfarer for around $1200 with tax, install, balance, stems etc.. I may pay a few bucks more going through them but I like the fact they deal with a lot of these tires and I can deal with them rather than Diamond Back if there are any warranty issues. I realize you don't have that many miles on your tires but it seems you like the look and ride of the AS4's.  My only question is do I pay $40 extra to get the 3" wide whites? Did you?

 

Only $10 a tire seems like a no-brainer to me.

[JDaniel64]

American Classic is coming out with a radial in our cars' original sizes this summer, 7.10r15 for me, i have been pondering new tires for a long time now and then these popped up, dunno if anyone else would be interested, the 7.10r's are $271 each   Here's a link to universal: https://www.universaltire.com/american-classic-tires/bias-look-radials.html

[Don Coatney]

Call me cheap but I paid less than 2 Franklins for my skinny white radial tires mounted, balanced, installed, with a road hazard warranty.

 

[James_Douglas]

I have been running DB Tires on the 5000 pound Desoto for three years and 2 months.  Their tires are a Yokohama 700RX15 with the big WW and the WW beauty ring.  I love the way the tire rides and the 4" contact patch and tire diameter are almost dead on the same size as the original bias tires.  The sidewall is six ply and is a little stuff for lighter cars. 

 

HOWEVER, I noticed in February that one of the tires had a "crack in it".  When I looked at the other rear tire it had a crack as well.  It looks like the whitewall at the splice separated.  Not from the tire, but from each other side of the WW splice.

 

I wrote DB with photos.  Two weeks went by and I did not hear a thing.  By then it was March 1st.  When I finally got them to contact me they did everything they could to pass the buck.  They told me on the phone I could ship them back from CA and they would for $50 re-do the WW.  The next day in an email they told they would do it for $75.  I told them that this IS my car that I drive and I cannot have it on blocks for a month or two.

 

I pulled the car out of the garage as it had been raining the past couple of weeks and cleaned the WW real good and noted that a 3rd tire was also splitting.  The car had not been driven in the past month.

 

I got emails from them telling me that the photos showed "abuse" as in at some point it scrapped a curb.  Because of that they can deny any coverage on the warranty.  I take it real easy in San Francisco, but from time to time I do get a little curb scrape.  Nothing that a little 800 wet-dry sandpaper will not get off. 

 

They also asked several time if I was using the car as a limo service as it is on the Limo chassis.  I had to tell them no repeatedly. The also keep asking if I inflated them correctly.

 

I asked about the warranty and the fact that I had paid the road hazard fee.  I was told that my warranty period was over on March 1st.  Even though they waited two to three weeks to get back to me.  When I pointed out my email that they got in February, they then told me they would warrantee only the two tires in my February email even though the car had not been driven since then and a third tire also was cracked.

 

Of course the warranty is pro-rated and as such at the end of the 3 period is not worth much.

 

The tires are in great shape otherwise and I was not about to spend another $1000, even with a $50-$60 discount for the "warranty" credit.

 

I had some professional tire people look over the tires out at Sears Point Raceway.  The conclusion is that the vulcanization point where the two white wall part are spliced just failed.  This is as expected as when the tires arrived, my set and a friends (10 tires in all), several had to be sent back with the black "liner" showing through the vulcanization point.  I could see under intense light that one of mine had the black liner just under the white and did not send that one back as I did not want to be that picky.  I should have.

 

All in all I think that their lack of quality control on these tires coupled with the very intense service I put them through in weekly City and Highway driving with a very heavy car is a bad combination.  The next time I need tires, I may well get another set, although with a smooth back wall only. A weekend car may well never stress the joint and never see the problem.  A few deep pot holes and I suspect that you will a couple of years down the road.

 

What really left a bad taste in my mouth is that they sought ever opportunity to not stand behind their product.  There is little doubt to anyone who has seen the tires first hand that the crack is a manufacturing defect.  They seemed to not care or wish to investigate so as to make their product better.

 

If you have a heavy car or use it a lot, I would think hard before using their WW tires.

 

James

[DLK]

Don I hear what you say. The oversize 235/70 narrow whites on the car now have a lot of tread on them but they are 14 years old and are too wide for the rear fenders. Spending TWELVE Franklins on tires makes me shudder but I know how much the wide whites will stand out on the car.  You would think with at least three companies making the wide whites (Coker, Diamond Back and Lucas) prices might come down but apparently not. Look at the three cars from last year's WPC National Meet (mine in the middle) and you can see how the wide whites add to the period look. Is that worth that much?  Probably not...

Call me cheap but I paid less than 2 Franklins for my skinny white radial tires mounted, balanced, installed, with a road hazard warranty.

 

 

 

[plyroadking]

You want to be sure that the tires you buy are made by the company who's name is on them, a lot of old curing molds and rights are sold to off brand low quality tire manufacturers, just because its got a reputable on the tire doesn't mean they made it.....

[navyboy]

These cars run and steer the best with bias ply tires, you feel like you are driving with a flat with radials due to the steering design. If you have had nothing but radials you would not notice how wrong driving this type of car is with radials, Firestones are the best I have ever used and seen by a long shot! (Besides the fact that radials just look wrong in many ways on cars of this era and pop out as a eye sore for those that know what they are looking at).

[Don Coatney]

In my opinion radials are the best way to go. Bias ply tires tend to follow every ridge on the road, they do not do bumps near as well as radials. Radials have more road contact than Bias tires so steering at slow or no speed is a bit more difficult. But once up to speed Radials have more traction and drive very comfortably. As I said this is my opinion. Others can disagree with no hard feelings. I do question how Radials can stand out on a car that is lowered to the point the tires are not visible  Everyone should do what makes them happy.

[Mark D]

I like my wide whites. Gives the car a great look. Might not be everyone's cup of tea but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[BobT-47P15]

I think my Coker Firestones are around 2 3/4" width white.  More a 1950s - early 1960s width.    But I prefer it over the wider

"gangster" 4 inchers.  Just personal choice.  

 

I do run tubes in mine as I'm afraid the old wire wheels might have some leaks.  And, yes, if using radials - be sure to get the proper

radial tubes.  As to exactly which tire I would buy next - i'm pretty sure it will be radials.....but don't know which brand.  

 

I think this has been a good and helpful discussion so far.

 

[BobT-47P15]

I think these tires are a 3' width......don't recall what brand.  Bought them already mounted on original style Plymouth

steel wheels in order to use original hubcaps and trim rings.

 

[Desotodav]

I love the color and style of your convertible Bob. Hank, Rod (RodFru) and I checked out a similar but earlier convertible in a fella's private collection while I was over there recently in CA. I'm more of a truck guy, but I have to admit that those early MOPAR cream-colored convertible's sure take my fancy!

[DLK]

I did a search last evening on the numerous old threads regarding radial tire sizes to replace the 6.70/15 bias ply that came new on my Wayfarer.  It seems that I could go up to 225/75/15 for lower rpm but that 215/75/15 is the closest match in diameter to the original bias ply tires.  I guess my only concern is the width of the rims.  Some people on old threads say the 225's are too wide for standard rims yet others have them and seem to have no problem.  I guess i will let the tire dealer be the judge of that because I would like the slightly bigger diameter (28.3 vs. 27.7) tire if it works ok with my stock rims.

[58prostreet]

On 4/9/14 I called james at diamond back and ordered 4 AS4 www radials, 215/75/15. They were $224 each and I paid an additional $10 per tire for extra 1/4" of whitewall, which should be 3 1/4". Total was $936 plus $78 ship=$1014. He said 2 to 2 1/2 weeks which was fine. On friday 4/18 UPS showed up with the tires. There was 2 packages of 2 tires each. The whitewalls were packed facing each other in the pack and they were wrapped tightly in plastic. Very nice packaging. I put both packages of tires and 4 rims in my truck and dropped off at my tire guy to get mounted and balanced with new valve stems. I picked them up and they had  the typical blue protective coating on them. I got them home and they didn't look exactly right, so I measured the whitewall and it was 3' instead of 3 1/4'. Now I have everything mounted and balanced and ready to go, so I decide I will just live with the 3' www. Called James and he says to send a picture with a measuring tape held to show 3'. I did that on 4/20. Monday 4/21 I called James to see if he got picture, He fumbles around and says yes. He says "let me see what I can do". I have emailed him 2 more times and still have not heard back. I guess all I want is a credit for the $40 and maybe a "we're sorry for the mistake", but at this point I have no response at all.  

Guess I am just venting, but it seems like that they just don't care. I will let u know the results if there are any.By the way, the tires are very nice and ride and handle good. Customer service just sucks.

sorry for the long rant. These were put on my '52 Wayfarer with stock rims.

Bob 

[DLK]

By the way, the tires are very nice and ride and handle good. Customer service just sucks.

sorry for the long rant. These were put on my '52 Wayfarer with stock rims.

Bob 

This makes me more glad I am planning to have Norm's Tires do the ordering, install and customer support for me even if I pay more including our high MN sales tax.  I am glad to hear you like the ride and handling.  Do let us know how it gets resolved.  

[58prostreet]

dkopesky

If u can get it done for $1200 u are doing the right thing.. Mine were $1014 to diamond back and $108.48 to tire guy. I hate to settle for something less than I want, but it's to much hassel to start over again. Good luck.

Bob