Re: [Chrysler300] 300F Tire questions - again!

[lettercars@xxxxxxx]

John and All:
Unfortunately Diamondback does not make the proper size tire (radial) for  
the 300F yet.  However it is great to hear of unqualified satisfaction with  
a product.  Perhaps I will suggest (demand??) that Universal replace my  
tires with Diamondbacks when they are available.   Thanks,  John.    
300ly, Gil
 
 
In a message dated 8/12/2009 12:42:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
john@xxxxxxxxx writes:

About  four months ago I finally purchased my first set of wide white 
radials and  installed them on our '57 300 C with the factory 15" Motor rim & 
wheel  wires.  The brand I chose was Diamondback as I've heard from several car 
 friends how please they were.

The Diamondbacks have been flawless in  performance and I truly enjoy 
driving the car once again.  As I recall  cost was close to $800 for the four 
installed.  A lot of money, but the  look and ride are well worth the funds 
spent.

John  Lazenby

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  lettercars@xxxxxxx 
To: awrdoc@xxxxxxxxx ; cpaviper@xxxxxxxxxxx  
Cc: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Wednesday, August  12, 2009 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] 300F Tire questions -  again!


Tony, Noel and All:
Gil Cunningham  here. I sure wish I could report all was well with my 
Universal AC  tires, but, unfortunately such is not the case. As Tony 
mentioned,  while up in PA at the meet I stopped by the Universal Tire 
place in 
Hershey because their tires I had mounted and balanced here in Tallahassee 
did  
not ride as smooth as I felt they should. There were far more  "vibration" 
areas than with the 30 something year old B.F. Goodrich  Silvertowns that I 
had used to attend four meets. (Given to me by  member Terry McTaggart!) Of 
course, those were bias ply tires---if  that should matter. I must state 
that the Universal people were  extremely willing and anxious to help. No 
complaints in that  department at this time. They ended up changing out 3 
of 
the 4 new  tires (1000+ miles on them), mostly because the sidewalls did 
not 
look right. (raised areas, both radially and circumferentially. .I 
personally watched all zero out on the balancer. They even took the 
precaution  
to put the two which showed a little run-out on the rear. I worked  along 
with them.
On the way back to our hotel, I did feel  there was definite improvement, 
especially at highway speeds. On  the way back to Florida, however, it 
became increasingly evident  that the vibration, if anything, was worse in 
the 
mid-speed ranges,  and was most noticeable and annoying when the road was 
smoothest!  Definitely unacceptable, and far worse than that SET of radial 
tires I bought for the 300H at Discount Tire many years ago for $95.00 
(Plus  
tax, of course!) That is not a typo---$95.00!! They have served  very well 
while driving to many meets and hardly look  worn.
Anyway, that is my story. I called Universal after we arrived  home and 
explained the situation, but did not ask for anything  specific, and 
nothing 
was offered. I have not driven the car since,  so don't know if some 
miraculous "healing" has taken place while it  has been resting. Ha. I 
guess I 
will give it another test drive and  then write Universal a letter. What to 
ask for? Coker replacements?  Afraid of them yet. My B.F.G.s are long gone 
(worn out anyway).  Maybe another balance? Go back to bias? Don't know.
So no, I can't  recommend Universal ACs I am sorry to say. They do look 
great.  Makes me wish the car was a trailer queen--- then I wouldn't care. 
300ly, Gil



In a message dated 8/11/2009 8:04:08 A.M.  Eastern Daylight Time, 
awrdoc@xxxxxxxxx writes:

There  are well over 100 sets of Coker 235/75R14 on our cars today. 
Generally, they require alot of lead to balance. They have not been any of 
the  
other problems that have been associated with other size Coler  tires. 

The ride and steering on mr "F" conv  have been great at all 
speeds. My only problem recently was after  having the tires rotated front 
to 
back. Radial pull occurred and  had to swap the right to the left to have 
the 
car track straight  again. 

The American Classic tire is not the same. Actually  it's tread is oh 
so 70's Michelin and exremelt  handsome. 

I personally had to get the 100 pre sell orders in  order to get Coker to 
make this size. With that said, I would  prefer the looks of the AC tire as 
my next choice. 

Hope Gil Cunningham chimes on on this discussion since he recently put a  
set of AC on his "F" conv and drove from FL to PA  and back. He 
reported some vibration at high speeds and had a  couple of tires swapped 
out 
at an AC dealer in Hershey PA.  

Hope Gil will report whether or not the AC are performing well  and if he 
would recommend them. 

Tony

cpaviper@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: 
> 
> After reading the  Club emails over the past few years discussing tires - 
I'm still  trying to zero in on what to buy for our F Coupe. 
> Re Coker,  I'm still hearing issues - just about every Coker-related 
message  talks to problems with balancing, and that they've hopefullly 
resolved  
their structural integrity issues. Re American Classics, their  website 
gives no info - just refers to Coker, Universal, Lucas as  distributors. 
Comparing the Coker and American Classic P235/75R14s,  the load capacities, 
tread 
widths, section widths and overall  diameters are identical - only Co ker 
catalog's UTQG (Uniform Tire  Quality Grade) ratings differ between the 2 
"brands " (American  Classic's 540BB rating is apparently better than 
Coker's 
400BB  rating) and the Coker tire price is a few bucks more. Sounds like 
we're  
still unclear whether American Classic and Co ker are one and the  same 
tire - the tread patterns in the catalog photos appear  identical. 
> I called Diamond Back this morning and spoke with  one of their sales 
reps, Jim. He advised that there's no current  maker of a quality 
P235/75R14 
tire today - could be a dig against  Coker? He did say that they're working 
on 
a 75 series 14" radial  that will approximate the tire size we're all 
looking for. They  just received their first test version of it, are were 
not at 
all  pleased - he estimates that any such tire won't be ready to market 
until next summer [2010] or later. 
> He did offer up the  following suggestion, and I'm wondering if any of 
you have tried  this. Diamond Back sells a European Metric tire that's also 
used on  vans and light trucks, and that he says works very well in 
automotive  
applications. He says handling and road noise are very good. The  tire's 
height is 27.3", vs Coker's 27.87"; tread width of 6.3" is  the same as 
Coker's; cross-section of 8.5" is 3/4" narrower than  Coker's 9.25"; it's a 
6-ply 
tire rated at 2464# vs Coker's 1930#,  is manufactured by Federal, and it 
replaces 225/75R14 - is  described on Page 6 of their 2009 catalog. The 
tire 
does come in a  2 1/2" wide whitewalls. 
> Is anyone out there running these  tires? Or had any experience with 
them? 
> And there's  also the continuing debate re installing new rims. Diamond 
Back's  website quotes the 12/6/07 Old Cars Weekly article that we saw on 
our  
Club website a few months back, and says the claim is bogus, that  there's 
no alloy difference, and no markings on rims to indicate  use with bias or 
radial tires. DB's argument in fact states that  radials absorb more impact 
and are therefore less stressful on rims  than are bias ply tires. Any new 
thoughts on this, as we're still  running the original 1960 rims on the F? 
> Th anks for your  input, and apologies for again bringing up an old topic 
!  
> Noel Hastalis 
> Burr Ridge, IL 
>  And there's also the continuing debate re installing new rims. Diamond  
Back's website quotes the 12/6/07 Old Cars Weekly article that we  saw on 
our 
Club website a few months back, and says the claim is  bogus, that there's 
no alloy difference, and no markings on rims to  indicate use with bias or 
radial tires. DB's argument in fact  states that radials absorb more impact 
and are therefore less  stressful on rims than are bias ply tires. Any new 
thoughts on  this, as we're still running the original 1960 rims on the F? 
>  Th anks for your input, and apologies for again bringing up an old topic 
 
! 
> Noel Hastalis 
> Burr Ridge, IL  
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]  
> 

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