Tires for 60 bird

[Gold Bird]

My set of Coker radial tires are now 7 years old and starting to get some cracks in the rubber. I have been thinking about getting a set of more original style bias ply with the wide whitewall, any suggestions on what brand to get and where to get them? I know they won't ride as smooth as the radials but I am on a mission to make the car like it was when new! Thanks! Tom

[6TB1RD]

Stay with steel belted

You can get the WWW steal belted radials, for between $100.00-$150. if you look around, the manufactures of these tires are committed to giving you the original look with a better ride.

You can get them in 1.5" for the 14" tire and 2.0 for the 15's.

I don't even know what if any issues with a car show, but my local shows don't even look for the tires.

[RustyNCa]

My set of Coker radial tires are now 7 years old and starting to get some cracks in the rubber. I have been thinking about getting a set of more original style bias ply with the wide whitewall, any suggestions on what brand to get and where to get them? I know they won't ride as smooth as the radials but I am on a mission to make the car like it was when new! Thanks! Tom

I can ask a friend of mine that got some bias ply tires for his Camaro, he was running the radials, and you can see a difference, and you can also feel a difference by the way. He tells me he likes the look much butter, but that he would switch on the radials for a long drive.

[Dan Leavens]

Goldbird stay with the Cokers. I have tried both and if your going to have it a s a driver, the ride AND handling is superb.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada

[Alexander]

If you want the correct bias-ply tires, four brands were used from 1958-60 : Good Year, B.F Goodrich, Firestone and US Royal. The Good Year is available in 8.00 - size. The BF Goodrich is available in the 8.00 - size. and the optional 8.50 - size. Firestone and US Royal are not available in reproduction.

You can get these ties form Coker or Universal .

http://www.universaltire.com/

http://cokertire.com/

[Gold Bird]

I think my tires now are 215/75-14, will the larger 225/75-14 fit ok with the fender skirts? The current Coker tires that my father put on years ago look a little skinny?

[dgs]

Do you have 5mm clearance on each side of your 215's? The 225 and 215 are the max width of the tire in mm. 5mm is less than 1/4", so if you have an extra 1/4" you should be good. It's not exact, the rim width can change the actual size of the tire. A 215 might be 220mm or 210mm wide when installed, for example (It might be off even more, I'm just guessing.)

I've got 235/55R17 on mine, but the offset on mine is different than the stock 14" wheels, so it's not easily comparable. I can say that I have extra room back there on both sides, but none in front. I could go to pretty easily another 5-10mm per side in the rear, but getting them on and off would be challenging.

My wheels are centered on the mounting surface of the drum (zero offset), the stock wheels are biased inward (positive offset) so I'm thinking it won't be the skirt that might be a problem, it would be the inner fender or the leaf springs.

All that said, I bet someone has already done it.

[Gold Bird]

DGS, looks like I have plenty of room for the 225 size tire, my 215 looks too skinny for the size of the car. Any pictures of your ride with the 235/17's? Must look very cool!

[RustyNCa]

Well, for what it's worth I am running 245/17 up front on my 58 and 275/17 on the back. And yes the last time I went to remove the tires, the drivers side rear tire was a challenge to get off. Passenger side no problem, I think the reason is that on my 58 the panrod bar mounts on the drivers side which must allow the passenger side to drop down further.

I had a machine shop make the panrod bar adjustable so we could center the rear end of the car, we discovered that the rear was off center about 1/2 inch to the passenger side, but now that we have it centered getting the drivers side wheel off is not fun.

On the 65 we are having a set of 15x8 wheels made with custom offsets and we think we can fit 245x60 up front and 255x60 in the rear, going to try 275s but I think it's going to be to tight. I think the 65 is going to look good rolling on 2" white walls in those big sizes with the factory landau hubcaps

[Guest]

Ford offset the rear for reason.

[dgs]

Here's one, there are more in my gallery.

[kansasjohn]

gotta keep those u-joint needle bearings spinnin! kansasjohn

[Gold Bird]

DGS, The new wheels look very cool, especially with the black color!

[dgs]

Thanks, I was real pleased. I got them at Discount tire and they worked with Boyd to determine the exact size. I just told them I wanted the 17" Junkyard Dogs. Boyd came up with the with and offset (8" and zero, respectively) that would work with my car. They fit just right. The only thing I think it needs is a little height taken out of the front, but I'm fine with it for now.