Experience with Coker Excelsior 6.00-16 tires?

[Adam/Mill Valley CA]

I currently have bias ply Firestone 6.00-16 tires on my '36 pickup, these have been very satisfactory but are ageing out. I see that Coker lists the Firestone 6.00-16 at $241, but also has an Excelsior (blackwall) bias ply 6.00-16 listed at $128. Does anyone have experience with these latter tires, good or bad? I'd certainly prefer to pay $128 vs $241!
Thanks,

Adam

[34fordy]

Originally Posted by Adam/Mill Valley CA

I currently have bias ply Firestone 6.00-16 tires on my '36 pickup, these have been very satisfactory but are ageing out. I see that Coker lists the Firestone 6.00-16 at $241, but also has an Excelsior (blackwall) bias ply 6.00-16 listed at $128. Does anyone have experience with these latter tires, good or bad? I'd certainly prefer to pay $128 vs $241!
Thanks,

Adam

I went to the Coker site and found that they have neither the 600 or 650 16s They say they will back order them. That could mean never I suppose!
Jegs says 3/7/23 on the 600-16 and 4/11/23 on the 650-16 shipped from the manufacturer.

[Adam/Mill Valley CA]

34Fordy, I did see those dates on the Jeg's site. I'm certainly willing to wait, if these tires are actually going to be available and of decent quality.

Adam

[nelsb01]

I am on my second set of Coker Firestone 6.00 16 tires on my 1949.
If you keep them inflated and rotated, they last very well. I have put 30,000 on my 1949 since the first set that was installed in 1996.
The second set was purchased not because of the miles and wear on the tires, but the age of the tires. (18 years)

[pistonbroke]

I've never had Coker bias plys but the wide white radials I've had were s===! Our local tire store tried to balance them and found them to be out of round. The second set came on a car I bought and were found to be the same. I hate to say bad things about a company trying to cater to our hobby but I can't throw $50's and $100's at a bad product. Tim

[Seth Swoboda]

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Originally Posted by pistonbroke

I've never had Coker bias plys but the wide white radials I've had were s===! Our local tire store tried to balance them and found them to be out of round. The second set came on a car I bought and were found to be the same. I hate to say bad things about a company trying to cater to our hobby but I can't throw $50's and $100's at a bad product. Tim

They are out of round indeed. Michael Driskell has a tire truing machine where he trued up his set of tires. It's pretty neat and if that service was widley available, most folks would benefit from it.

[34fordy]

Originally Posted by Seth Swoboda

They are out of round indeed. Michael Driskell has a tire truing machine where he trued up his set of tires. It's pretty neat and if that service was widley available, most folks would benefit from it.

John Worden in Green Mountain, Iowa, near Marshalltown, has a tire shaver. I took some 17" tires to him a few years back. His machine works great and his prices are very reasonable. He is a Fordbarn member.

[deuce_roadster]

The Coker "Ford Script" double whitewall tires that were on my Dearborn wagon which only was driven on tours at National meets and rarely around where I live, were worn out after the second National meet. They purchased the Universal Tire company who used to make these tires and the quality went into the toilet. Now that the car doesn't need to be point judged, I put Diamond Back Auburn radials on it, and now it is a pleasure to drive.
If you aren't getting the vehicle judged and drive it a lot, ditch the bias tires.

[mike42]

Adam….

About 10 years ago I bought the Coker 600-16’s for my ‘40. I bought through Summit and they were around $200 each and shipping was free. Wide white walls. They balanced out well and a big improvement over bias ply’s I had on. This was 10 years ago and maybe quality has gone down since then.

Mike

[52flthed]

Speaking of; Does anyone know of anyone that would shave a set of bias ply tires in New Jersey? Or tri-state area?

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

Speaking of; Does anyone know of anyone that would shave a set of bias ply tires in New Jersey? Or tri-state area?

Yes. I found a place in Nazareth, PA. K&T Vintage Cars in Nazareth, PA. They charge $50 a wheel, but that includes getting the tire rebalanced.

Great shop and I highly recommend them. For those who don't believe the issue of out of round Coker tires, the pile of rubber laying at the bottom of the shaver did not lie.

http://www.ktvintagecars.com/tiretruing.html

[52flthed]

Originally Posted by Tim Ayers

Yes. I found a place in Nazareth, PA. K&T Vintage Cars in Nazareth, PA. They charge $50 a wheel, but that includes getting the tire rebalanced.

Great shop and I highly recommend them. For those who don't believe the issue of out of round Coker tires, the pile of rubber laying at the bottom of the shaver did not lie.

http://www.ktvintagecars.com/tiretruing.html

Wow thanks Tom! I just called them. I’m making plans to get my tires off and over to them.

[Mart]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

Wow thanks Tom! I just called them. I’m making plans to get my tires off and over to them.

I've never had it done, but would they need to be on the intended wheels? Or do they have "master" wheels they use?

Just curious.

Mart.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Mart

I've never had it done, but would they need to be on the intended wheels? Or do they have "master" wheels they use?

Just curious.

Mart.

On the rim you intend to use if you want it balanced.

The cutting blade is stationary, so as the "high" spot passes over the cutter, it shaves off the excess.

I expected the cut to be all in one area, but was surprised that was not the case. The cuts happened all over the tires circumference

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

Wow thanks Tom! I just called them. I’m making plans to get my tires off and over to them.

Excellent. Really great people to deal with. You can mention that Tim, the hot rodder from NJ, referred you.

[Adam/Mill Valley CA]

I haven't had any problem with the Coker bias ply Firestones being out of round but as I said they are now ageing out, perhaps the more recent examples aren't as good? I did have tires shaved in the past when I ran my old 914/6 on track days, by Roger Kraus Racing in the East Bay, they did a very nice job-I assume they could do it for vintage tires too. I have queried Coker Tire RE the Excelsiors vs Firestone bias plys RE quality given the large price discrepancy, still waiting on a response on that. As I've said in another post, I would rather stick with bias ply tires on this '36

Adam

[52flthed]

Originally Posted by Tim Ayers

Excellent. Really great people to deal with. You can mention that Tim, the hot rodder from NJ, referred you.

Sorry TIM not Tom!! I’ll mention your name when I go up there for sure. I appreciate you mentioning them I’ve been looking for months off and on. It’s only an hour and half drive.

[Adam/Mill Valley CA]

Coker responded to me RE their Excelsior vs Firestone bias ply tires, saying the Excelsior should run the same as the Firestone on the freeway, no specific word about quality issues although I didn't really expect that. They suggested their radials but I've already decided to stick with bias ply tires. Dimensionally, the 6.50-16 Excelsiors are a good match for the Firestones (at least by published dimensions), the 6.00-16 seem to run a little smaller in section and tread width, so I decided to go with the 6.50 which they said would be available end of March. Summit Racing actually has the 6.00-16's in stock but not the 6.50's so I placed an order for the latter-shipping $10 to SF Bay Area. Eventually I'll report on how they work out

Adam

[tippa77]

I drove last summer with Excelsiors on front of my 39, runs good no need even balancing
there is photo in The test forum

[Bored&Stroked]

I run the Coker Excelsior Radials . . . with a "semi-biased ply look". They are not cheap but have been very good tires and they surely track a lot better than a bias ply (especially at higher speeds or on 'grooved' pavement).