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Can someone tell me the difference between the 3 inch whitewalls from Coker Tire and Kanter Auto? Has anyone ordered from Kanter for their tires? Coker seems to have a corner on the market so I was surprised to see them cheaper on Kanter. Or recommend somewhere else to get new tires from? Mine are starting to split in the side walls. I don't like the idea of being stuck with a blowout that could have been prevented.

As I understand radials will ride much better but I'm not sure I want to give up the more original look. I don't drive it long distances typically but this is the first time I am replacing the tires on it and I would like them to last as long as possible. Any feedback on what I want to look for would be great. Thank you in advance.

Have you looked athttp://www.diamondbacktires.com/ ? I have 700R 15 WW on my car and they look and ride great.

Amanda
I am not a fan of the way radial tires look on prewar cars, either. I drive my car all over the place with the bias ply tires, and with a completely rebuilt front end, including tie-rod ends, king pins, center steering link, and steering box, I have no problems whatsoever with the way the car handles. I then did a drive test between my car with bias (1940 limo) and my father's car with radials (1942 limo), and concluded very little difference. Both cars had their front ends rebuilt.

I will concede that in emergency braking situations, the radials will stop you faster.

Amanda, Kanter Bros are not tire manufacturers so they are acting as an agent for some tire company, they should be willing to tell you the brand/maker if you inquire.

I too very much dislike the appearance of radials and I drive both my cars a significant # of miles each year. I echo West's comments about the suitability of bias ply when a front end is in good condition and properly aligned; my 34 Eight has a solid beam axle and front leaf springs so it inherently doesn't handle like a car with independent front suspension but nevertheless it has very good road manners with Lester 7:00x17 bias ply. I had bias ply on my 56 Caribbean whose front end is reasonably tight and properly aligned and it had extremely good road manners. Ultimately I replaced the bias with radials because I was offered a warranty replacement to replace the bias ply which I believed to be showing premature tread wear. Though there was a slight improvement in handling especially when crossing pavement strips, I'd call the difference modest, at best.

I've always had the suspicion (unsubstantiated) that bias ply collector car tires aren't necessarily made to the same design and performance standards that the best of bias ply tires were in their heyday, the same is perhaps true of most collector radials. If I was unconcerned with authenticity and appearance and competitiveness at major events and my nearly exclusive use of the car was to blast down Interstates keeping up with today's traffic, I might lean in the direction of the better collector car radials.

PS - I have no substantiation of it but I've been told by several folks in the tire business that radials have a shorter "static" life than bias ply; if true then bias may be a better choice from a longevity viewpoint for a collector car that doesn't accumulate a lot of miles.

Re the "static" life, has anyone noticed a difference between bias and radial for a car that goes long periods without moving much.

That seems to be the one thing I have noticed about the bias tires. Since I never had radials on the Packards, can't compare but bias seem to easily become flattened with sitting and don't round out very well after driving. Have radials on the pickup which also sometimes sits for long periods --granted, probably not as long as the Packard-- but don't seem to have any problems in that regard.

That may be a problem with what Dave has brought up. The new tires are just not made as well as they used to be (again, unsubstantiated). My tires are pretty old now, and I've never had a problem with flat spots. They are Firestone from the Pleistocene period.

Amanda: I just put a new set of Diamond Back Radials
(Classic Fury - 225/75/15 with 2 3/4 inch white walls)on my 49 Deluxe Eight - A much improved ride over old radials and great service. No problem with having them shipped, mounted and balanced locally.

For what it is worth, Diamond Back uses new radial tires from various manufactures then applies the white wall to them. The brand selected depends upon which manufacture has the best size match and look for the specific application. I have Diamond Backs (Hancook) on my '37 Six, probably overkill for the distances and speeds I drive the car, but they look and drive great. If you are considering wide whitewall radials for your Packard, I recommend Diamond Back because they use tires from major manufactures. Why take a chance with an unknown brand? If you are going blackwall, you have many brands from which to choose.

(o{I}o)

I just ordered Diamondback Radials for my '53 Caribbean. It is strictly a driver and will not be in any judged competition for quite sometime (if ever). The bias ply tires on the car currently have been on there since before I owned the car (11 yrs) and are cracking at the sidewalls. They also have flat spots.

My primary reason for ordering radials is that we have a ton of highways in the Chicago area (often under construction and resurfacing). To get to most club events I need to get on the highway. Since appearance wasn't my concern, I opted for the radials. They were less expensive than Cokers or Lucas Tires as well.

I agree also with West and Dave. I had my front end rebuilt 3 years ago and that made a world of difference (even on the old tires).

My 700R 15 Diamond back tires look just like bias tires - the tread width is narrower than the cross section width, the same as bias. BTW mine are Yokoma tires