TIres??

[Richard Dunn]

I decided to replace the tires on my Centurion.
So I started shopping local tire dealers for a set of whitewalls.
I started at Goodyear and no luck. They had the size but only in blackwall.
Then I headed to a nearby Firestone dealer. I knew the manager there from a while back and he was always a pleasant person to deal with. He could get me a set in the correct size in a white wall which was fine with me.
To top it off my room mate got a $1.00 over dealer cost offer on line which expired today.
So I called the Firestone dealer and told him to get me the tires.
Long story short, I take the Centurion to the Firestone dealer and drop it off. Needless to say it was bitter cold yesterday and the car was hard to start and from past experience I was afraid a hose would burst or something like that.
The dealer calls me about an hour later. They are unable to mount the tires onto the chrome rims. There is a 2 inch difference between the width of the wheel and the width of the tire. ????? he told me they were unable to mount the Firestone tires.
He said the equipment wouldn't work.
So I reluctantly passed on the Firestones.
I went to pick the car up and we ended up ordering a set of tires that would work. They have a real thin whitewall and they were a brand I never heard of. I feel very uneasy about that.
Then I remembered while I was at Carlisle last fall I stopped by a tire dealer and I had picked up a brochure.
COKER Tire makes classic car tires in a variety of sizes and whitewall widths. And I remembered that there were classic tires by Firestone listed.
THe Firestone dealer told me that if I order the tires he will install them for me. Or if that didn't work out he would try to track them down for me.
Has anyone here ever dealt with COKER or another classic tire vendor either by phone or by internet?
I just need a basic tire with a white side wall that I can depend on.
Any recommendations?
Thanks

[Smartin]

I bought my tires from Coker for the convertible, and as far as I know, Rolf is still driving on them. I ordered from their website in 2003.

I don't think they offer that particular line anymore, though.

My Formal Coupe has a set of Michelin 225/75/15's on it, and the guy at the tire store said they're a really nice tire. Ted had them installed before I bought the car. I've driven 20k miles on them, and they're excellent. I don't have access part numbers right now, because the car is 15 miles away in a friend's garage for the Winter.

[EEE]

I think I had 255/60/15 on there, and they looked way wide for the rims, but they worked. Was that close to what the Firestone dealer was trying to mount?

[Robroy]

I have a set of Toyo 225/75/15 that was on the car when I once got it.
They are comfortable and seem to be durable too

[Phil Genario]

Rick, i bought a set of Kumos for the 72 coupe 225/75,and this was after i called every tire store around,no whitewalls,guess people dont realize collectible cars have whitewalls!They look nice have a bit of a ribbed sidewall to them,that i could live with,i got attitude at firestone,guy said "just put blackwalls on it"SURE! THe Kumos are a nice riding tire,normal whitewall,4 cost like $370 ,Dont get me wrong ,i love coker tire and have spent plenty of money there ,and would love to see a set of j78 dual stripes on it,just cant justify spending nearly a grand when all is said and done,if you need the model name ,let me know,Phil P.S.Coker is great to deal with however Universal tire in hershey Pa,has pretty much the same and you will save on shipping as its close .they are very knowledgible,there phone is 1-877-231-9925, let me know if you need info on the kumos.Phil

[Robroy]

Anyone out there that have tried 225/70/15 on their Centurion?

[73 Centurion]

I have 235/70/15's on mine and they fit the rims nicely and fill the wheelwells, but my rims are 15X7 while the sport rims are normally 15X6. Some of the late model wagons had 15X7 in 5X5 but it takes some hunting to find them.

[73 Centurion]

still struggling with loading pictures. It seems anytime I try to load a picture that was on the site before it fails. When I open the manage attachments screen I see a bunch of the old filenames without the images. Is there a way to delete these broken links?

Edit: Adam helped me find the solution. Go into Settings and Attachments and you can delete the old attachments. Now attachments work easily for me.

[drail1eye]

I might have a set of 225-75-15's that I will be taking off my 73 the are a nice set of 2.5inch ww called Classics with the Buick Rally rims call me in a few weeks if you to talk about them 765-228-9558 my name is Darrell

[drail1eye]

Here are the rims

[drail1eye]

Here they are again sorry had a problem with the pics

[Robroy]

still struggling with loading pictures. It seems anytime I try to load a picture that was on the site before it fails. When I open the manage attachments screen I see a bunch of the old filenames without the images. Is there a way to delete these broken links?
John, I have had the exact same problem.
Have you tried deleting the old picture, then saving the post and finally upload the same picture again but in a different size this time (larger or smaller)? That worked for me.

I’m a big fan of the factory rally wheels, but I have to confess that your car looks really good with those chrome rims (post #8), especially since the rest of the chrome on your car seems to be in such good shape too.

[73 Centurion]

I have a love/hate relationship with those rims. I bought them decades ago when the car was Colonial Gold. They don't look as good with the Black Cherry. They are keystone rims with a gold center that are very unusual. I've never seen another set like them. Then again you don't see many Keystone rims of any style.

I have another set where the centers are corroded that I'm thinking about stripping and painting the center in Black Cherry but leaving the steel rim in Chrome. I also have a set of Buick rims that might clean up nicely. I'm probably going to clean those up first and put on a set of white walls. Then I'll probably complete one of the corroded Keystones and see how it comes out.

Plans, plans and more plans. Nothing is getting done until I complete the body work on my Acura and free up the garage.

John.

[garybuick]

Richard you dont need expensive coker tires. There are lots of whitewall tires available in our size. 225/75/15. Try cooper, sigma, hercules, BF goodrich, they should be no more than 80 each max. If firestone cant put tires on those rims they are douchebags. Youve got a 15x6 or 15x7 wheels and 225 will fit fine. Ive got sigma shadows on mine , 225/75/15 51.00 each at tire kingdom. Just get the tires from them and take them somewhere else to mount, dont let TK touch your car!!

[Centurion717273]

Amen

[Richard Dunn]

Richard you dont need expensive coker tires. There are lots of whitewall tires available in our size. 225/75/15. Try cooper, sigma, hercules, BF goodrich, they should be no more than 80 each max. If firestone cant put tires on those rims they are douchebags. Youve got a 15x6 or 15x7 wheels and 225 will fit fine. Ive got sigma shadows on mine , 225/75/15 51.00 each at tire kingdom. Just get the tires from them and take them somewhere else to mount, dont let TK touch your car!!

Thank you everyone for the advice.
I am going to keep on looking.
I forgot all of the other brands listed above.
I only went to Firestone because I had had a good relationship with the one locaton for many years....then when the two managers were let go that location customer service went downhill fast. Then the one manager was rehired at another location, that's why I went to him.