A couple thoughts on tires for your new 300-F -
The 300-F was the last of the Chrysler 300 Letter Cars fitted with 14" rims and wide whitewall tires. The 300-Gs were fitted with 15" tires, even though the other 1961 Chrysler models still wore 14" wide whitewall tires.Over the past few years, fewer and fewer 14" tires have been available for our purchase.
Currently, three companies offer tires that approximate the original 9.00x14 tires fitted to 300-Fs - Diamondback, Coker's American Classic and Kontio.
The tallest 14" tire size by Diamond Back is 225/75R14 - about 1/2" shorter, at 27.3" tall, than the American Classics
American Classics offer 235/75R14 tires that are the correct size for our Fs - 27.87" tall.
Some of our Club members have been dissatisfied with their recent purchases of these American Classics
The tallest 14" tire size by Kontio is 225/75R14
I think all these tires are engineered in FInland and manufactured in China
2 3/4" wide whitewall
Tire size info from our Club's Tech Section -
Recent emails from our Club members - found in our archived emails -
From: "Carl" <cbilter@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "John Lazenby" <french_fryguy@xxxxxxxxx>, "Chrysler 300 Club International" <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2024 6:19:29 PM
Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} KONITO TIRES
John, two items of feedback:
1) not all Diamond Back tires are sourced from China. Depends on what brand they use and from which plant. The ones I purchased from DB for my G last year are Nexens. They have two plants in Korea and (sadly) one in China. So depends on the brand used and the plant. The whitewalls have stayed perfectly white thus far (8 months), which gets to point #2.
2) While I do not have personal experience with Kontio, my past and current internet research has shown many anecdotal examples of Kontio (and all other Chinese whitewalls) turning brown in short order. My experience with DBs are that they never turn brown. I previously had good results with USA made American Classic, up to 2022. The last set I bought , summer of 2022, started turning brown within 6 months, some of the tires worse than others. This could have been from mishandling in storage/shipping/installation (blackwall was resting against whitewall, which can permanently stain the ww) or from the black rubber from behind the ww leaching through the ww.
From: pmonaghan1@xxxxxxx
Date: 3/10/24 6:51 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: "Chrysler 300 List Server (chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)" <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, James Douglas <jdd@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: {Chrysler 300} Re: 15 inch tires
Ironman is Chinese Private label tire made for American Tire Distributors. I would not recommend them. There are plenty of tier two and tires that are much better in the are close to the same price range. Tier 2: General, BFG, Hankook Yokohama, Kumho Tier One: Conti, Michelin, Bridgestone. Don't be fooled by Goodyear. Also I would look for an extra load tire given weight of these cars.
- From: ridgleyracing65 <ridgleyracing65@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2024 16:05:00 -0700 (PDT)
I have a set of the White paw tires on my 300C. I am very pleased with them. The car drives great. I first bought the last set of Coker American Classic in the 235 size for the car last August and when we balanced them, the all had a "hop" , but balanced OK. On the road, the car drove horrible, bounced both up and down, but also side to side. I took them to another tire shop that has a Hunter Road Force balancer that actually loads the tires as if they are on the road. This machine also provides a "rating" number for how the tire performs. Anything under 28 is acceptable. The best American Classic was 26 and two were 67 and 68, the worst tires they had ever seen. Coker was very good and took the tires back after I provided camera evidence of them on the machine. Coker had no more 235s and did not know when they would have any coming in, so I tried the White Paw 225s and the best tire registered an 8 on the machine and the worst a 16. All I can tell you.
Dyke Ridgley
- From: Edward Mills <millserat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2024 19:36:14 -0500
The 15 in tires in the sizes we would see on big 50's-60's Chryslers would have typically been 7.60-15 or 8.00-15. These translate roughly to P225/75R15 and P235/75R15.
Because these are lower profile (75 series = Height of cross section is 75% of cross section Width) vs original tires which were 83 series (83%), these tires are typically shorter overall - for example a 7.60-15 was typically 28.7 in to 29 in Overall diameter. The 8.00-15 was 29.3 to 29.7 in OD.
The 7.60-15 was rated at 1225 lb at 24 psi or 1310 lb at 26 psi. The 8.00-15 were rated at 1335 at 24 or 1395 at 26 psi. These were the 4 ply standard OE tires. Station Wagons and some High Performance ran 6 ply with higher load capacity at higher pressures. Yes Manufacturers wanted a soft ride back then - owners manuals frequently recommended 4 psi higher pressure with full load (5 passengers and some luggage) OR at high speed (Interstates 70 mph considered high) - we typically recommended and ran 32 psi. The P225/75R15 is typically 28.05 in OD (Cooper Trendsetter) to 28.3 in (Hankook), while the P235/75R15 is typically 28.65 (Cooper) to 28.9 in OD.
Hence the P235/75R15 (28.65-28.9 in OD) is a closer match to dimensions of the 7.60-15 (28.7-29 in OD). The P225/75R15 (102 Load Range) are typically rated at 1885 lb at 44 psi and the P235/75R15 (105 Load Range) are typically rated at 2028 lb at 44 psi. There are also P235/75R15 XL (Extra Load) (108 or 109 Load Range) that are rated to 2183 or 2271 lb respectively.
So my bottom line is go to the P235/75R15 as best option. It provides the tallest tire commonly available (not perfect, but nearest match to ride height) and there are a lot more options in this size as it was used on many pickup trucks. As to load capacity, the standard 105 Load Range should be more than sufficient. If you really want the max load capacity, go to the XL variants - BUT STAY AWAY FROM the LT235/75R15 - it offers more load capacity but at a significantly stiffer ride (it may rattle your bones - I went that way on a Jeep and regretted it.)
If you want to go 70 series, a P235/70R15 (27.9 in OD) is loadwise equivalent to the smaller P225/75R15, but you are compromising geometry (and speedometer error) compared to the P235/75R15.
Now as to 14's we are pretty much out of luck replacing an 8.50-14 or a 9.00-14. The biggest 14 inch mass produced tire I found last time I did the research was a P215/75R14 (roughly same as P225/70R14). As to the P215/75R14, there are a few name brand options including some Narrow Whitewalls. They are the evolution of the 8.00-14 (to 8.25-14 to G78-14 or G70-14 to 215/75R14). However the P215/75R14 (27.0 in OD, Load Range 98, 1664 lb load at 44 psi) is significantly smaller than the 8.50-14 (28.1-28.4 in OD, 1265 lb at 24 psi) or the 9.00-14 (28.7-29.0 in OD, 1355 lb at 24 psi). They may handle the load OK, but you sacrifice ride height.
There used to be some production grade P225/75R14 and P235/75R14 but the last Coopers went away around 2006 leaving only the Specialty tires = Coker or American Classic in the P235/75R14. Diamond Back also has a nice looking Auburn Classic in the HR78-14 (equivalent to 8.50-14 or P225/75R14 - 27.5 in OD) which looks almost identical to the HR78-14 Michelin X Radial of the 1970's.
But personally I try to avoid Specialty tires (especially the bias reproductions) as they are typically made in small batches using older technology and manual labor which may result in more variability that current Production grade tires using automated equipment. They are also significantly more expensive. But as I said previously - I would stay with a name I recognize and avoid tires made in China.
As to Load Range Suffixes, you will mostly find S or T - written Load Range 102T or 105T or 102S etc. H, V, W, Y, Z are all high speed ant you are unlikely to encounter those in 14 or 15 inch offerings. But stay away from lower letters in the alphabet before S, like N or Q (except H). One last WARNING - STAY AWAY FROM tires with the letters "ST" written as part of the size designation - these are designed for Trailer Use Only at relatively low speeds some as low as 55 mph as I recall.
Noel
On 05/09/2024 4:56 PM CDT michael johnson <mikeljgt350@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I am awaiting the arrival of this car I bought last week, but the records show the tires are about 19 years old, they are Coker P235/75R14 with 2 1/2 inch whitewalls. I am thinking I will need to get new tires since they are so old. I have bought Coker tires before, would like to have radials, but am wondering if I have any options besides Coker in that size or some other size that might work. Thanks for any ideas.
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