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Hi All,
I am getting ready to purchase a new set of 7.00-19 tires for a 1930 roadster. Wanted to ask for anyone experiences/recommendations....Lester?, Firestone?, Bedford?...all seem to be in the same price range...which are the best? Also, I am looking at purchasing from Lucas Classic Tire. Are there any other places that specialize in classic tires and have good prices?
Thank you!
Rich

I've had completely satisfactory experiences with two sets of Lesters on my 1934 Packard over the past 40 or more years, never an issue or problem. But for the most recent set I decided to go with Bedfords for two reasons: (1) strong recommendation from a prestigious restoration shop whose work includes a good percentage of early cars prepared for touring, and (2) the superior "of the era" appearance of the Bedfords. Thus far (3 years) the driving experiences with Bedfords has been totally satisfactory.

I've dealt with Lucas for a long time, never a problem and I was especially pleased with their ability to provide me with new high quality Firestone metal-stem inner tubes at the time I bought the tires. Sure there are other well-known tire vendors, most now owned by Coker, Universal just to name one.

Photos: top - 25 year-old Lester at time of replacement. Bottom - new Bedford Coach tire.

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Checked into my tires...split rim. Purchased a few spoon tools on Amazon and got the metal (chrome) disc piece off without a problem and minimal damage to the paint on the wheels.
I ordered a pair of the Bedfords from Lucas Tire only to have my order cancelled a few days later and an email saying they are out of stock with no resupply date.

You may want to try Coker Tire. I recently purchased a set of six tires for my 1929. They originally told me the same thing, but when I questioned them, they said it would be six months at the earliest and a year at the latest. Persistence pays off. Good luck!
John Wogec

You may want to try Coker Tire. I recently purchased a set of six tires for my 1929. They originally told me the same thing, but when I questioned them, they said it would be six months at the earliest and a year at the latest. Persistence pays off. Good luck!
John Wogec

Since Corky sold the company, the foreign guy who runs it is killing Coker Tire. I've had a set of Firestone 7.00x20's on backorder since August of 2021 - again, with no restock date even being guessed at.

Lucas doesn't have any tires because they got theirs from Coker, Corky scoured the planet finding the molds for these things and has a giant warehouse full of them - problem is, the new owners aren't interested in making them. Even a lot of common size muscle car tires are out of stock - it's ridiculous.

Personally, I like the Firestones, just personal preference, but do remember, these cars didn't come new with wide whitewalls. Wide whites were generally shunned until 1932-1934, and they were never commonplace throughout the thirties - look at contemporary advertising, photos, and videos on YouTube, you rarely see whitewall tires on anything until after WWII.

Good luck!

My Bedfords were made by Specialty Tires of America in Indiana, PA. They've been in the tire business for over 100 years. I suspect their participation in the collector car tire market is solely via exclusive manufacturing arrangements.

stausaonline.com

I bought the Firestone's from Universal a couple of years ago, none available as I now need two for my sidemounts. They told me the Firestone's were made in the same molds used in 1930's so authentic to the car. STA makes them but no one has ordered them lately. Universal said a long wait time( summer ) is likely.

Just spoke with a guy at Lucas Tires about my cancelled order for 7.00 by 19. He said there is one factory in the country (Pennsylvania) that makes all the brands of old style tires. 40,000+ are on backorder and they haven't even started to resume production because of COVID hysteria. A guy at Universal Tires said 700x19 is on their schedule but with no production date, so maybe June or July. Labor and material shortages he said.