[spartazoo]

I am about ready to pull the trigger on a set of the Coker radial wide oval redline tires for my 66 GTO. I currently have wide oval bias ply redlines on the car. I want a better ride but the vintage look.

Has anyone switched to the newer radial version? Do they offer a better ride?

Thanks!

[1965gp]

I have the diamond back redline radials and they ride great. I have never had a set of Coker tires but have heard their redlines are hard to balance

[Pershing]

I had the same set up on my GTO as you do: Coker Wide Oval bias ply tires. They were on the car when I bought it and the build dates on them were nine years ago. They rode just fine and handled fine too, for a 1960's era car. I had no complaints other than they were old and not a modern radial. So I decided to buy the radial Coker red line Wide Ovals. Within 100 miles, two tires developed bubbles in the sidewall. I called Coker and the customer service rep was excellent and with no hassle. They sent me two new tires and paid for the freight. I sent them back the defective tires and they paid the freight too. One of the new tires needed 6oz to balance! I just made it the spare. Oh well. As I remember, the other tires were between 1/2 oz and 2.5 oz to balance. The car has some other problems with it and I have not put on enough miles to say how they compare to the exact same tire in bias ply. For another car, I went with Diamond Back. They use a modern radial tire, shave off the sidewall lettering and then apply a barrier so the black does not bleed through and then they apply the sidewall, either white or red. This was a concours car so I sent them the dimensions I wanted for the whitewall, both the width and the distance from the wheel. I am very happy. They look perfect for this car and ride very well and the handling is noticeably better than when I had the bias-ply on them. They were expensive but in ten years, I will buy another set from them.

[jamesq]

I echo the positive comments on Diamondback. They custom made a 1" whitewall large 14" (HR78) tire for my wagon and they look and ride very well.

James Q

[694.1]

Any web search will return myriad quality issues with Coker. They are hand assembled unlike modern tires. I have their American Classics on my '57 & they ride like truck tires.
Since my car does not preform like a T/A, I live with it...

[54nomore]

FWIW, I just saw a Facebook post Where Coker has announced a considerable price increase that goes into effect Feb. 21st! Better hurry!

[DANTIP]

I own 3 sets of Wide Oval radials (FR70-14). I’ve had excellent results with them.

My first set had a balancing issue until I learned the freshly powder coated wheels were making the tires hard to seat properly. It took a more experienced installer to figure it out. He ended up lubricating the tire/wheel more then working to get it to seat properly.

Good luck with them!!

👍👍