There seems to be
quite a gap in quality between Coker
branded and American Classic (bought from
Coker) . I have 4-5 of the latter sets,
14” but do not drive them that much..but
so far no problems. JY told me he had the
same experience, I followed his advice,
and this post just confirms it yet again
. Those who have trouble with Coker
branded 14” are not alone. I am a big fan
of Michelin, but it drives you to black
walls. . Once you can deal with that,
modern lower profile 16 “ , like on JEEP
Grand Cherokee , come into play too. I
have used Cragar aftermarket black steel
wheels with those.
The point about
balance is important too…many Michelin
sets need no weights at all. Just made
right. That impresses me. no more shaking
at 72.
At one time there
was a vendor who welded rings into 15”
wheels such that 14” 300F wheel covers
would fit. I agree that is the best
solution,15” wheels, if you really want to
drive the cars harder than show cars, and
get better tire technology .
John G
I think those of using 14 inch wheels on
older Chrysler, Dodge, Mercury, Pontiac,
Oldsmobile, etc. are pretty much out of
luck.
Last Production tires in the 235/75R14 and
225/75R14 were made by Cooper and their
related brands such as Mastercraft,
Multi-Mile, etc around 2005. The only
current option in 235/75R14 (replaces
8.85-14 or 9.00-14 or 9.50-14) that I know
of is American Classic sold by Coker as well
as others.
And as you note, several people have had
problems from separation to out of round /
major balance problems with the low volume
specialty radial tires in these sizes.
An argument against such low volume
specialty production tires as well as the
bias reproduction tires is that these are
very old technology and not generally
subjected to the same level of quality
control as high volume production tires.
Most if not all of these still use the old
clam shell molds.
This may be less of an issue in bias tires,
but when early bias belted tires were
introduced around 1968, Goodyear had done
their homework and invested in technology
while the other of the big 5 Tire makers
(Firestone, Goodrich, General, and Uniroyal)
and the private brands rushed to catch up.
The same was true for Radials - Michelin had
introduced them to the US in the mid 60's
and Goodrich followed in 1966. The other of
the big 5 were still focused on Bias Belted
and had to rush radials into production in
the late 60s and early 70s.
As a result there were many recalls and
radial tire designs were iterated multiple
times. One of the more significant
improvements was going from the old clam
shell tire molds to the segmented molds
which better accommodated the steel belts.
As I said, unfortunately most of the low
production specialty tires are still made in
the older style clamshell molds.
Furthermore, they are generally made in
small batches and do not benefit from
continuous production - this tends to
further aggravate consistency in product
compared to tires which are mass produced.
A Coker Classic 235/75R14 I have with a
2001 production date has never seen the
ground. It was made in Mexico in a clamshell
mold. Further it is very heavy compared to
any one of 4 brands of mass production
235/75R15. I have never dealt with American
Classic - they look similar, but again I
have no example to evaluate - they may be
superior, but having lived thru the 60's and
70s with direct contact to radial tires at
that time, I would not personally want a
clamshell made steel belted radial. You can
tell if its a clamshell mold - there is a
visible splitline in a new tire with excess
rubber flashing running circumferentially as
opposed to multiple split lines running
transverse to the tread.
The biggest production grade tires are
215/75R14 (26.7 inch OD - replaces 8.00-14,
8.25-14 - 27.5 to 27.7 OD) available in
narrow whitewall. They probably have load
capacity to replace 8.50-14 (28.1 to 28.4
OD) but will be significantly lower diameter
and of course radials squat more than older
bias ply tires. If you choose this option, I
would make sure I stayed away from the
multiple lines of Chinese made tires that
come and go under different names. I have
gone with Hankook H724 where the 215/75R14
was appropriate.
But I think the best option is to switch to
15 inch wheels if possible. Here you have
the option of 225/75R15 which is a good
match for 8.50-14 diameter or 235/75R15 for
9.00-14. And depending on size, Hankook,
Nexen, Toyo, Maxxis and Cooper have these
available in narrow whitewall in tires
produced in Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan,
and Mexico respectively. The last Cooper I
have with a date code of mid 2016 was still
made in clamshell mold in Mexico. And if you
want to go Diamondback there are many other
blackwalls in these sizes.
In
preparation for the spring meet, need
to replace the old 900x14 bias ply
tires with a radial.
Diamond
Back is still in process with their
235/75R14 and no info available for
when the long of tooth project will
happen.
I
purchased a set of the Coker radials
back in 2001 and after 3 had
separated (not good!) within few
months of purchase they swapped out
for the 9:00x14, too their credit no
charge for tires or shipping.
Would
appreciate any feedback from members
on the radial tire subject
gary gettleman/Santa Cruz
