Re: 54 Caribbean tires

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2010/3/5 19:13:43

I think you first want to consider the kind of use the car will get before you decide between bias and radial. The Caribbean is of course quite the show car and if you're interested in oompetitive showing, then bias is just about a must, and from my own experience with my 56 Carib you don't give up much in the way of handling, though others will say the difference is more dramatic. In bias, Packard like all car manufacturers used multiple sources for tires so no doubt Firestone, GoodYear, BF Goodrich would be OK. I doubt Packard like to buy US Royal due to the GM ownership of same. Size should be 8:20 x 15. Most of the tire brokers will be able to advise on the appropriate whitewall width for the era, and you can also find plenty of factory and era photos from which you could scale the whitewall width against a known dimension like the wheel diameter.

If the car is going to be primarily a driver and not a show car, then radials are no doubt the better choice. Diamondbacks have proven very good, Cokers less so at least in their earlier years when failures were quite common.

Hope this helps you clarify your choices.