[fyrebird68]

Going to go for 15" redlines and torq thrust Ds on my turquoise drop-top GTO. Wanted to for ten years.

Diamondback or coker tires? Any good/ bad experiences? Tire size thoughts?

[The Champ]

Coker has a very limited range of sizes.

I wanted 235/60/15's on the front and 255/60/15's on the back of my '64 GTO - which meant that Coker wasn't an option.

Very happy with the quality of the Diamondback's!

[gtohurstjudge]

Diamondbacks look better on the sidewall because there is no lettering
dot stamp, etc. to detract from the appearance, just a smooth black rubber sidewall
with a raised red stripe on it. Here'w a pic of one on my 65 Buick Riviera....

[1969GTO]

Diamondbacks too, I would send a pic, but since the take over, I can't seem to get that to work now.

[Engine-Ear]

I am ALL about pie-crust bias-ply hides, but (hopefully) more importantly, how does each offering DRIVE?

[66 TigerGold]

Diamondbacks, great selection of sizes and brands. Had two sets so far and will be ordering the third set soon. Jim

[Terry M. Hunt]

I have 2 sets of DB on GTO's and a third set on my Catalina 2+2. One set was created from a Toyo radial, a second set created from a Dayton radial, and I forget what the third set was created from. I also have a 4th set of blackwall radials(they refer to these as Smoothies, since all lettering etc. is removed as noted) mounted on Hurst wheels. Very satisfied with all these different tires, but boy are they "pricey". When the last tire mfg stops making any 14 in tires, I guess I will be well and truly screwed, since DB will no longer have anything to create their 14 in tires from. Then I guess we will all be at Cokers mercy.

[Engine-Ear]

Terry, what do you mean "created from"???

[Stuart]

Diamondback takes a tire manufactured by someone else (say Toyo or Dayton) and puts the redline stripe on it.

Coker finally has a radial tire with a piecrust edge like a bias ply, but I haven't heard yet how well they work: https://www.cokertire.com/american-c...whitewall.html They have an 8.00R14, in either a wide whitewall or a blackwall.

[Terry M. Hunt]

Diamondback "creates" their tires by cosmetically altering tires manufactured by others. They don't actually manufacture the tires themselves. If you visit their web site there is a good explanation of what they do, how they do it, etc.

[Verdoro 68]

Just curious - is Diamondback the only place that you can get a 17" tire with a redline? I've seen a few cars with 17" YO Rally IIs that have redlines and was wondering if they all went through Diamondback.

[The Champ]

I am not aware of anyone else that makes redlines in 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20" sizes.

[Andre]

I have 3 sets of Diamondback redlines, and one set of Coker redlines, which I inherited. I've put thousands of miles on the Diamondbacks. I have only driven the Cokers a few hundred local miles, but the ride is good, and they look more original.
I also have a pair of bias ply redlines, but I'm using them for spares. They are brand new, but the thread pattern doesn't look very aggressive.

[GT182]

Try going thru Summit to get them. You might have better luck. Another PY member did a few weeks ago and got the Redlines he wanted from Summit.

[Terry M. Hunt]

Stewart, I called Coker several months ago when I was shopping for red lines for my 2+2 to ask if they had any plans to make the American Classic(radial with bias look)with a red line, but they said no plans to do so. maybe they'll change their mind at some point. Sure would be a good option for all the full size GM(and others) owners.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Terry M. Hunt

I called Coker several months ago when I was shopping for red lines for my 2+2 to ask if they had any plans to make the American Classic(radial with bias look)with a red line, but they said no plans to do so.

I suppose you could buy the blackwall tires from Coker, then send them to Diamondback to get the redline added. However, they're pretty expensive to begin with so that wouldn't be very economical.

[gto_ron]

I have Diamondback redlines and I'm very happy with them. They're built on Cooper radials, I've had very good luck with Cooper tires on my daily drivers. They're not cheap but about the same as Coker.

best regards

[Gator67]

The red lines on my DIamondbacks (based on Firestone Indy 500s) are very dark. From day 1 they've looked like they're dirty. I bought 5 and they all look the same.

[Alvin]

TTT for future reference.

[strato gto]

Got Diamondbacks on my 64 Prix.They are made from B/F Goodrich radial T/A's.The stripe is a little dark but with the raised red line I can easily "roll" some paint over them in the future.They need a little more orange in the redline.IMO.