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

[lettercars@xxxxxxx]

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]  
>       



------------------------------------

To send a message  to this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For  list server instructions, go to  
http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm

For archives go to  http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/Yahoo! Groups 
Links






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

To send a message to this group, send an email to:
Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm

For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:Chrysler300-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:Chrysler300-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/