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

I am going to put radials on my '54 Clipper. The bias ply tires that are on it now look nice but are getting old, and I would like a better handling tire. I want to stay with wide whitewalls that look like the originals.

I am mainly considering tires fromdbtires.com/tires.html

Which size and make have people used - Are you happy with the way they look on the car?

Thanks.

I went with DB radials after my father in law and a few others got sets, they ride and handle fantastically, and look great. The main contender in my decision was coker, but i had read about some complaints over at the HAMB, and i had seen the DB tires first hand.

Do you know what size and which Diamondback you used? ...ie Diamondback I, II, III, Fury, HR, LS5, MX?

I'm running 215/75 R15, but next time I would go with a 225/75 R15 or even 235/75 R15 for a taller tire.

What are the benefits of a taller tire?? A tad more ground clearance but Packards have scads of that. A slight lowering of rpm's on the highway?? In my opinion a 235 is way too big a tire (overtired??) even for a senior series car. 215 is what the 7.60 converts to, one size larger is 225 and that I would say is the max

The 215s I have on my car make the car sit way lower then the original plybias tires that were on the car.

When I had purchased tires (from coker) I said that I had a set of Denman (I think) tires on the car. The rep at Coker said that they manufactured tires for Denman. I wonder if that is true for Diamond Back also.

...although the rep could have been lying to me too, I guess.

I'm just saying that just because the name or packaging is different, the manufacturer could be the same.


Mark

Unless the situation has changed very recently, Diamondback doesn't manufacture any tires. They purchase from various tire manufacturers around the world and have the sidewalls modified and then have the white rubber sidewall applied.

If you want to know who actually manufactured your tires, just look up the manufacturer's code on the backside, the website to decode these has been cited here before, sorry I don't recall it from memory but if you just google tire manufacturers I'm sure you'll find it.

Denman I believe is an actual manufacturer and makes for Lester, Coker, and others.

My 56 sits at the proper height (the picture to the left was taken a while back before work was done) and yet my Coker radials rub in front when parking or turning in or out sharply.

Might want to get more info before you order oversize tires......

Just moseyed out to the garage and looked; they seem to be size p235/75 R15....which I hope helps. With wide whitewalls.....

My father, and grandfather, worked at the denman plant in Warren, OH, which i believe is the original plant.

Denman used to be a BIG name in tires, especially specialty ones, but not as much any more. My grandfather, a veteran marine of WWII, came back to work at denman and received a letter to not have to go to Korea because he was important to a project that was making special and large tires for the military. It must've been important enough for the military to let him stay home and work on it, my grandmother still had a copy of the letter, and since she passed i believe my dad does.

Last i heard, a few years back, they couldn't get bank financing to upgrade operations, and were sold to someone in one of the I states (Indiana or Illinois). I don't believe that denman tires now are the same as what they used to make, i thought that the company bought them "for their name". Recently, the original plant had a major fire.

I do know that Diamond Back does not make the tires, they apply the whitewalls. However, each company does whitewalls differently and with different layer amounts and types. Diamond Back claims to have another layer of rubber to keep the black from leeching through.

I couldn't find the receipt, but i believe i had H78-15s and replaced them with 225-75R15s, the diamond back II line, with 2.5 or 2 3/4" whitewall. In their catalog, they show who makes each tire line, and those are made by bridgestone or firestone.

Below is a pic of them on the car, it seems to ride the same height. Sorry they're dirty, last ride was the Warren Packard Museum meet, where it rained, and i haven't cleaned them yet.

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