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I'm really surprised by the photos. Lester did have a bout of tire problems back in the 80s, perhaps the early 90s, shortly after they bought the business from the Lincoln Highway Tire Co., these problems surfaced on a CCCA Caravan and was manifested as bulging sidwalls, tread separation, etc. But that was a long time ago and since then, at least in 7:00 x 17, Lester has been the predominant tire with folks touring all over the country on them w/o issue. I'd think Lester should be anxious to bend over backwards to examine your situation.

Pat, have you contacted Lester? It shouldn't be necessary to ship one or more tires back to the US for a warranty evaluation. If they really wanted to examine them with a view towards a warranty settlement, they surely could assign the evaluation to some tire shop in Ireland. And if they don't want to go to the trouble, I think the hobby would like to know that.

PS - are you a member of CCCA? CCCA has a member who is also in the collector car tire business. Perhaps a conversation with him as club member to club member would be worthwhile? Wallace Wade, Dallas Texas. 800-666-8973. www.wallacewade.com, and wallacewade@earthlink.net.

Bulging sidewalls? Tread seperation? Could it be that I got old stock?

I will contact Lester as suggested, I really want to like the tryes but with a 50% failure rate for me, it is proving hard.

I have the 'bulging tyres' off the car, but still in my possesion. The images above are 2 still on the car.

Thanks,

Pat.

Could it be that I got old stock?

At some point the DOT mandated date-coding of tires was extended to collector car tires, though I don't know when that went into effect, or how to read the codes. But I'm sure Lester or others will be able to tell you how to determine that.

See this:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

PS - FWIW, I just went out to look at my Lesters for a date code and found nothing beyond the maker's name, size and load rating/inflation data, though there may be other information on the interior sidewall. Purchased in May, 1993 and I had to wait for a production run so they were probably quite fresh as of that date.

"I don't have the same problems with the Bedford tyres fitted to my Buick or Dodge."

Have u contacted Bedford for the 7.00 x 17 tyres?????

Perhaps this a biased or radical idea i don;t know:

Based on the terrific amount of difficulty that has been experieced with the current tyres i would be very compelled to save a lot of time and money to just find some modern production 7.00 X 17 (or compatiable modern size).

Modern tires mite not have period correct detailing that we all desire. But at some point one must draw the line on expending resources like time and money to retain originality.

Maybe try a (commercial) truck tire dealer.

Just to repeat a bit, there are few choices in 7:00 x 17 x 6 ply rating. To my knowledge they are branded as Lester, Beford Cord, and Firestone. All seem to have their fans; Bedford Cord especially among the concours crowd. I haven't really heard much about the Firestone. A 6:50 x 17 as used on the 32 Light Eight is available but really isn't a viable option.

Not that it does you any good, but there are more choices in 7:50 x 17 (the size used on the Twelves), as they have clearance and compatibility problems with the rims. In bias ply there are again Bedford Cord, Lester, Firestone and a highly regarded Goodyear-branded tire. Last I heard the GoodYear was not made in 7:00 x 17 but that may have changed. Michelin makes a 7:50 x 17 (perhaps metric-sized) radial but it's really a truck tire, weights a "ton" and as I recall they are about $500 each, perhaps suitable for a Twelve. 7:50 x 17 x 8 or 10 ply was a not uncommom truck tire size years back. Also not an realistic option.

A couple of makers offer 225 and 235R55x17 but these are ultra low-profile tires.

I'll make a call to a prestige restoration shop to see what he currently recommends for that size and for a touring car.

OK, I just spoke with the owner of a shop that probably has the most experience with this vintage Packard and has prepared many such cars for long-distance touring.

In a nutshell, avoid Bedford Cords, he's replaced set after set after set. Apparently some repair or changes were done to the mold by Coker (the maker) and the tires are now often out of round. Though he dislikes the appearance, he has very high regard for Lesters as a touring tire and generally never a problem. He also says the Firestone-branded tire seems to be well-received and might be a good choice to consider and are apparently a bit oversized (which might be a plus); when they first came out they were thought of as a but undersized but apparently there has been a change.

Are you really sure there isn't some other reason for your horrible experience with the Lesters - seems to be so contrary to the experience of others?

That's about all I can offer on the topic.

I am deeply indebted to you for your investigations, above and beyond to call of duty.

I will look into the Firestone option, I saw a set on a Packard in France recently and they looked well-built and are 'fatter' than the Lester's. However they seem expensive, a set imported from the UK would work out about at about e1,500 (around $2,200 US).

If I got some sort of an answer from Lester as to the cause of the tyre problems, I would be happy to fit them again, I will contact them and hopefully this will happen.

I can't think of any reason of the 'problems', I am the only, careful, driver of the Packard, it is stored indoors in a heated garage.

I will report again on my progress.

Once again thank you for your biased and unbiased opinions and radical and not so radical suggestions.

Slan go foil,

Pat.

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Two other bits of info. The Firestone 7:00 x 17 has a price here in the US at $280 each for single whitewall, $202 for blackwall, and $416 for double sided whites.

Hadn't noted it before but I also see Universal Tire advertising an imported Dunlop in 7:00 x 17, at $508 each.

Great price on the Firestone, but I have to pay massive import duty when importing items from the States. (Unless I get the sender/exporter to 'write down' the invoice price).

Also shipping is a considerable extra cost.

I have emailed Lester (www.universaltire.com, I hope!) and do hope they respond.

Sl?n,

Pat.

Is there no local distributor in the UK that can get them for you?