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
