Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Since it's winter and there's nothing automotive around here to do but dream about spring improvement,, I thought I'd do a little tire shopping.

I need to narrow down the sizes first.

Shop Manual specs:

The 1954 Clipper (5401) specs a 15" x 5 1/2" "K" rim.

The tire specced is a 7.60 x 15"

It doesn't state tread width.

The car now has L78 15 tires on it. Very nice bias ply Cooper "Untouchables" with lots of tread, but of course about 40 years old. I believe they are 3" wide white walls.

I found a tire conversion chart that says
7.60 x 15 =
H78-15 =
225-75R 15

8.00 x 15=
L78-15=
235-75R 15

Well, the L78 tires I have on there now are a bit "oversized" according to this, but they fill up the wheel wells nicely and don't seem to be rubbing anywhere.

I started looking around the internet to see how confusing this would get.


I found a 760-15 Universal 3" Whitewall Tire that describes itself as:

"Factory production white wall tire commonly found on many American automobiles manufactured 1950 to 1956. Popular on vehicles such as Packards and Buicks to name a few." (BTW, that's not a "few" but a "couple".)

Tread Width: 5"
Pie crust shoulders.


I found an H78-15 Coker Classic 3" Whitewall Tire. It describes itself as:
"Economical alternative to the 760-15"

Tread Width 5.74:
More modern looking sidewalls


Is it best to look at the "stock" size 7.60/H78/225-75
or go to the larger 8.00/L78/235-75 ?

And what about tread width? With a rim of 5 1/2" I would think that would be the minimum tread width to go for, otherwise you've got a fatter sidewall than the tread. Looks like you're on stilts. Just as a fr'instance, a similar Coker to the one mentioned above in an L78 has a 5.88 tread width.

I think you are going to have to decide if you want radials or bias to narrow down the sizes. I have bias tires on the 56 which sits so much that they are now square so am looking for alternatives for the Clipper. The fellow at the tire store says radials can also go square but tend to straighten out with a bit of running whereas bias usually stays square. I can confirm the square side does tend to stay on mine.

The modern tread width of 5" for the 760 is probably about right for the older ones too. The radial will be wider but IMO, the Pmetric tires look strange on Packards. So many have them and report good luck and handling - particularly with the Diamondbacks - that I guess they must be considered. Based on some of the comments made last year I am not a fan of Coker's bias tires. Not sure how the other vendors rate with their bias selections if that is what you want.

For mine, I am strongly considering the 700R15 which looks more like a bias tire but is a radial. It is a heavy ply light truck tire but in spite of that gets decent reviews for noise and comfort. Mike in Walnut Creek mentioned using a blackwall version on his Clipper and I can get those locally. Diamondback advertises their whitewall version of that tire as a replacement for several of the sizes common to Packards and your size is right in the middle of the list. Not sure how much the approx 1" greater diameter will affect the speedo though. Has anyone used or tried them?

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Here's a calculator to help determine differing tire diameter changes to speedometer readings.
Tire Ratio Calculator

I used the 700R15s on my race car replica, in blackwall. They look terrific, but I find them somewhat harsh on a light car.

I am running Diamondback 235-75-15s on my 51 200. They steer astonishingly light and corner quite well. Makes the car quite a pleasure to drive. These were made from a tire called "Eldorado Golden Fury". That is quite a mouthful, but they seem to specialize in less popular sizes like we want. I have put a set on the newly re-awakened thousand dollar wonder and am very pleased for the money.

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It is a very personal choice, here's my opinion. I chose the H78-15 Coker Classics and I'm quite pleased with them so far.

Here in Oz you cannot choose from a wide range of wide whitewalls - in fact, the major seller / importer informed me a month ago that there were no WW radials in Australia! So I had no choice as the next shipment was to arrive here in late January.

Most importantly, the Cokers look right, and they were $150 less each than an approximately equivalent WW radial (at $390 each - wowsers!!) - IF I could get them. There is so little choice hereabouts. Because I won't be driving the '51 much my budget doesn't extend to paying a fortune for tyres.

The couple of drives I've done are not enough to let me form much of an opinion yet. However I've driven them 250kms on bumpy roads and the highway at 60mph and was pleasantly surprised with the handling. Steering is light, they don't 'wander' on reasonable roads (- which was my biggest concern), and they look the part. Also, fit is good because anything much wider will not easily fit past the rear fenders when you get a flat and have to change it.

I guess I would choose radials if the price was not prohibitive and they were available in a style / size that looks totally original. No doubt you can get them in the USA. But I did want to say the Cokers seem quite good IMO.

Over the years I have had a number of cars come through here with Coker Classic bias ply tires on them. I'll agree with Larry that they rode and handled quite well. Have not heard any reliability problems with them. Other's letter-series bias plies have been dismal with a feel akin to driving the car through congealed oatmeal.

Had a set of the 7.60-15 Universals on a '50 Newport; great look and ride, just so-so on cornering.

Inherited a set of Coker radial www; they came in on an abandoned restoration project. Imagine someone had put 205-75 15s on a 200! They are now on my '50 Champion daily driver and are a pleasure for ride and handling. I am not too worried about their renowned "may-pop" tendencies on such a light car, but am keeping my eye on them.

Funny this subject is coming up.

Just stopped by a car cover company and got to talking with a kid who owns a 56 Chevy Bel Air. He had a brand-new set of wide whites on his car that looked fantastic but they looked exactly like bias-ply tires. I put it to him: "why in the world would you opt for bias when the handling is so terrible?"

He says "but NO. These ARE NOT bias ply! These are radial tires with a bias ply look!" I honestly didn't really believe him, but the more he talked about them, the more I became interested.

On further research, he's absolutely right: they're Coker American Classic tires that are truly a radial tire with the Bias-Ply look. The tire has got the tall, narrow profile of a bias-ply tire along with the pie-crust edge, etc.

He said he loves them: they feel like driving his car with power steering, but they handle great.

I plan on purchasing a set of these for my 2255. They are pricey though! Diamondback supposedly has them too, but I'm not seeing that they're fully available on the dbtires.com site.

Check out the links:

cokertire.com/american-classic-bias-profile-radials.html

oldcarsweekly.com/news/newproducts/coker ... steel-belted-radials-bias-ply-looks

They do look like a nice tire. Diameter is more appropriate than the 700R15 I was looking toward getting. They also have the correct 7.60 size for the 54 Clipper.

I am really curious now as to how many are out there in actual use and how the ride and handling compares to the regular DB radials that so many here have bought and like. The Chevy guy seems to like his but how many others. With the narrower and taller side profile as compared to regular radials it would seem something has to be a compromise somewhere.

The reason I had been leery of Coker is some negative comments in a discussion on radial tires vs bias of almost 2 years ago where one poster had warranty issues with Coker and others had sudden unexpected and unexplained failures.

In my size they would be about 20 more than the DB 700 or 30 more than the equivalent size DB regular radial. That looks to be the case across the Packard size ranges.

The reason I had been leery of Coker is some negative comments in a discussion of a couple of years ago where one poster had warranty issues with them and others had sudden unexpected or unexplained failures.

I had several friends who were early purchasers of the Coker radials when they were first introduced and to one extent or another, they all suffered significant tire failures at low mileages. But Coker did honor the warranties as far as I know, and the problem was put behind them quite some years ago. Though Coker radials would be near the bottom of any tire list for me, the reasons wouldn't include their structural integrity.

But Coker did honor the warranties as far as I know, and the problem was put behind them quite some years ago.

That is good to hear. I'm still in a quandary on which way to go on mine. The wheels are now gorgeously powder coated in a perfect match to the Packard body color and rarin' for new shoes. I have considered the DBs or local 700Rs and now the Cokers. Truth be told I think the smartest thing for me to do right now is just get modern blackwall radials from Costco or Les Schwab at slightly over 1/3 the cost of the whitewalls. Just have them for rolling around town tires.

The way I'm making progress on the car it's looking less likely that it will go far under its own power in my lifetime. Assuming it doesn't wind up in the junkyard, let the next owner get what he wants. Another benefit would be to see if radials go square from sitting as fast as bias do and if they do, at least I wouldn't be quite as upset when they are relatively inexpensive modern tires.