Radial Tyres

Thanks Jim,

Your message, along with the others, is taken to heart. No Cokers for me.

Roger

A word of caution on the Coker radials with the tubes. I had one blow out on me in my Cord 810 Westchester at 75 mph on the way to Auburn. The tire literately disintegrated, the only piece I found was a small piece of the inner tube. Coker's response to my questions was I needed to change the tubes every two years because they go bad (which I thought was BS but did anyway).

The following year I had a tire go flat sitting on the show field and a month later another tire blew out again at 75 mph on the way to Auburn.

Needless to say the Coker radials were removed from the car. After asking around I heard of a lot of people having problems with them going flat.

Needless to say I will never put another one on my car.

Thank you again to everyone for their responses.

Roger

I have not seen a Michelin tube in a while, though I do recall them being "thick" and very high quality.

The Coker radial tire has a very aggressive ribbed pattern on the inside of its casing - and upon our last flat there happened to be a Goodyear engineer (and everyone else as well) who was quick to be concerned by what appeared to be the pattern wearing on the tube.

The question regarding the Coker tire may be related to usage. As mentioned, they were bought in 2007 and came on our car when purchased in 2007. After the first flat in 2008, I changed all the tubes (as well as one tire that just would not balance well or run true) w/tubes recommended by Coker. And, I have had constant issues (mainly due to not finding all the code stickers in the tire). I am running with gutter strips, the wheels are flawless in the tube area, the tubes have a dusting of talc, and basically there should have no problems - but there are. Mileage on them now is about 8000 miles and that mainly highway and 55mph speed state route driving. And, there are plenty of Cord people with their fair share of problems, incl. I have seen a few shredded fenders.

Yes, the ?name brand? Diamonback tires are really a great asset (for those not aware Diamondback applies a whitewall to a ?name brand? tire or in Mike's case I believe they "cleaned up the blackwall area? to remove modern labeling.

And, the Diamondback 6:50 x 16 "Auburn" tire is a new manufacture (it is being specifically designed mainly for Auburn, Cord, Ford and a few popular others (initial advertising stated multiple sizes, though recent advertising speaks only of 6:50 x 16). And, the delivery waiting time is due to testing (and this has been in the "works" for several years now).

Have you seen a Michelin tube? They are much thicker than most tubes and priced accordingly. I have liked Diamond Back tires because they use brand name tires. If they are manufacturing this "Auburn" tire themselves, which I suspect, I would be concerned about the quality and longevity.
Cordially Mike

That is correct: The DiamondBack "Auburn" 6:50 x 16 I am told is in testing and I have been seeing advertising stating early 2015 delivery dates, but nothing set in stone as to a definitive date.

That being said, Diamondback offers two (2) 16" sizes that will work. I suggest the largest 16 profile that they make. The smaller profile works a little better on a Cord (due to fender clearance issues - all be it large tends to work as well). I like the side profile, but it takes a little getting use to the wider tread (caught my eye every time I walked past the car in the garage).

The Coker tires have a nice profile and a nice tread width, but whole tube issue is a problem (and I doubt even Michelin makes a tube strong enough to really eliminate concern).

There is a UK Diamond Back agent who having investigated tells me that DB haven?t yet produced any of their promised whitewall ?Auburn? radials. The supplier also tells me that Coker 700R16s fitted with heavy duty Michelin tubes won?t puncture. What do you think? Please see my ?Steering Shimmy? thread.

Roger L

I now use a spray sealer (as seen on TV) to seal Cord rims. I spray a couple coats on the depressed area of the rim. I just did a set on a S/C Cord phaeton with Diamondback tires last week. The tire store balanced and checked the wheels and all was good to go. As Mike mentioned, Diamonback tires work great without tubes. I have (3) Cords with them and never had a problem losing air or any other tire trouble. The ride is a tremendous improvement from bias ply tires. Obvoiusly if you want to have a show car and have it judged, go with bias ply.

I used clear silicone sealer on spokes although I don't know that it was necessary on welded spokes.
Cordially Mike

Did you call or e-mail Diamondback - I would think they could ship to Europe (though obviously do not have a European distribution point).

And, you can seal the spokes and etc. with RTV and if concerned can also RTV a flap/gutter strip in as a safety measure (which is what you see on for example a new Dayton Wire Wheel).

Thank you to all respondents. I am intrigued by the idea of running tubeless tyres on old style wire wheels. How can the wheels be sealed?

Diamond Back do not appear to be available in the UK so Coker are the only whitewall option but I have heard about their puncture potential with tubes and Coker say they must be run with tubes to keep them on the rim.

Roger L

Mike Huffman is my role model for driving 851 Auburns !

I have had Diamond Back radials on my speedster since 2007 and have put about 30,000 miles on them with no trouble. They are tubeless.
Cordially Mike

If I am not mistaken, Speedsters came with a 7:00 x 16 tire (and it takes a decent sized tire to fill the fender openings) ?

I have a set of radials on the 1935 Auburn 851 Phaeton - and I love them.

They are 6:50 x 16 Coker brand and unfortunately Coker recommends running a radial tube in them. I have had several flat tires (5 plus) and fortunately none while on the road (all be it one the year prior to last in the parking lot of the V-8 Ford Museum just after pulling off the highway at the exit ramp at Auburn). Some of the flats were my fault - I thought I removed all the tiny stickers from inside the casing (and did not) and the last flat seemed to be caused by the aggressive pattern on the inside of the tire casing. I have about 12,000 miles on the set (new in 2006).

I am looking forward to getting a set of DiamondBack "Auburn" radial 6:50 x 16's - they have been advertising delivery sometime this year and say they are in "testing".

And, DiamondBack also has modern 16" radials with a whitewall applied. I bought a set not too long ago for an Auburn Phaeton. I had the beauty ring applied and they looked like a period whitewall. They take a little getting use to due to being slightly lower profile and also having a wider tread. I installed these with tubes (via that was what the owner wanted), though I personally would have sealed the spokes and run them tubeless.

On the 36 Phaeton I just installed a set of bias-ply Goodyear 6:50 x 16 whitewalls (the ones with the concentric rings on the whitewalls) - very nice and the least weight was .5 onces and the most 2.5 - impressive. They also run true.

And, on the other 36 Phaeton I just installed a set of bia-ply Firestone 7:00 x 16 Whitewalls - the best one was 2.5 ounces and some were close to 5 ounces, plus I would not describe them as running true (all be it I have seen much worse).

You will love them,and wonder why you didnot do that earlier. R

I am UK based with a 1935 851 Speedster. I note that radial whitewall tyres are now available for these cars. Has anyone tried radials on a Speedster and what are your recommendations. Radials or not?

Roger L