Tyres - whitewall sizes

system11

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A small and strange question - so I found the tyres on my car are 12 years old, so it's time to get them replaced. I found the original receipt in the glovebox, car uses 235/75/15 Coker whitewalls all round, but for some reason 2 were purchased with 2-1/2" walls and the other 2 are 2-7/8"

Does anyone have any idea why they'd do that?
 
A small and strange question - so I found the tyres on my car are 12 years old, so it's time to get them replaced. I found the original receipt in the glovebox, car uses 235/75/15 Coker whitewalls all round, but for some reason 2 were purchased with 2-1/2" walls and the other 2 are 2-7/8"

Does anyone have any idea why they'd do that?

Somebody just put on whatever white walls the dealer had in stock. Neither is correct for the car if this is the '67 vert. This car would probably have came with either 8.25/15 or 8.55/15 tires. The white walls could have been a double striped type, a single stripe type; about 1", or a red line stripe. Many also came with the black wall tire as white wall or red lines were an extra cost option on many models. If you have a build sheet for the car, the correct tire size and white wall can sometimes be decoded from information on the sheet on many models.

Dave
 
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Drum brake cars would have been 8.25x14 base and 8.55x14 with any options, like factory a/c.
Disc brake cars would have been 8.55x15. In 1967 C-body cars. All I recall seeing was the "single" whitewalls, usually in the less than 1" width. Double-stripes were usually on Imperials and Cadillacs. Redlines were usually on Corvettes or some other "muscle car" vehicles.

That's how I remember things from back then. The "wide whites" or "gangster walls" were popular toward the end of the '70s. On some vehicles, they didn't look too bad, but on others, not so good. LOTS of white rubber to scrub on them! Almost as bad as waxing a C-body 2-door quarter panel (I do have two of those!).

Respectfully,
CBODY67
 
Oh I realise they're not exactly the correct thing for the car (only towing station wagon has this size listed in the handbook), it was just the difference in width of the wall between the two tyre pairs, started to wonder if it was done to try to make them look more 'even' since the fronts are carrying more weight. Car looks pretty damn good with them on so I'll be keeping the general look.
 
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The original white stripe was about 3/4" wide. Fortunately that size tire with a 5/8" stripe is readily available here in the states for well under $100 each. Those Cokers probably set him back over $200 a tire.
 
As you search for tires, you may want to read this closely related thread -- lots of good discussion/pics in it. Likewise, have a look at this other thread.

PS: my 1970 Polara 'vert came with very narrow dual-stripe whitewalls. AFAIK no one makes dual-thin stripes anymore, but I have one left in my car (the original spare tire). I posted a picture of it in the first linked thread.
 
He got a pretty good deal, they were $150 each - but that was back in 2006. They're going to cost more than twice that now in the UK.
 
My guess would be they (especially a mom & pop store) gave him a good deal to clear out the last of some old mismatched stock.

It's neither Arthur or Martha now, since you need to replace them.
 
Oh I realise they're not exactly the correct thing for the car (only towing station wagon has this size listed in the handbook), it was just the difference in width of the wall between the two tyre pairs, started to wonder if it was done to try to make them look more 'even' since the fronts are carrying more weight. Car looks pretty damn good with them on so I'll be keeping the general look.

I have been running the Hankook 225- 75/14 tires on my '66 300 for a while now. They have been a fine tire. Here is a link for the same tire, but in the next size up: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...5H724XLW&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
 
Rip,
Those are the tires I'm looking at. Once I get them installed on my new 15"X7" rims I'll post before and after pics.
My current 14"X5.5" wheels and 215 tires just look too skinny on the Monaco.
 
Rip,
Those are the tires I'm looking at. Once I get them installed on my new 15"X7" rims I'll post before and after pics.
My current 14"X5.5" wheels and 215 tires just look too skinny on the Monaco.

I'm also looking at the Cooper Trendsetters in that 235/75-15 size. They have a sidewall that is a little more appealing, and the price is close to or better than the Hankooks.
 
Drum brake cars would have been 8.25x14 base and 8.55x14 with any options, like factory a/c.
Disc brake cars would have been 8.55x15. In 1967 C-body cars. All I recall seeing was the "single" whitewalls, usually in the less than 1" width. Double-stripes were usually on Imperials and Cadillacs. Redlines were usually on Corvettes or some other "muscle car" vehicles.

That's how I remember things from back then. The "wide whites" or "gangster walls" were popular toward the end of the '70s. On some vehicles, they didn't look too bad, but on others, not so good. LOTS of white rubber to scrub on them! Almost as bad as waxing a C-body 2-door quarter panel (I do have two of those!).

Respectfully,
CBODY67

Imperials had even three-ribbon white wall tires, which appeared in 66. The dual white stripe tires were offered up to 1973 from about the mid-60s. I can`t argue against Ripinator`s comment about the Cooper Trendsetters.
 
I should have said - my car is a 69. I'm pretty sure it's been lowered a bit.

What I've found in the UK so far are (with stripe sizes):
Coker Classic (>3")
BF Goodrich Silvertown (2-7/8")
American Classic (3")
Diamond Back (3")

I think the first three are all actually made by Coker. I'm leaning towards the BFs, they're closer to what's on at the moment in terms ww size and have a higher load rating. They're ... £338 each here, one of those "welcome to the UK" moments.
 
In addition to looks, I'd run a comparison of opinions re: handling/comfort characteristics. @Ripinator, @saforwardlook and I have all have vouched for the Hankook Optimo H724 tires. They have a narrower WW band that you may not like, but I find them to be very comfortable (we have some pretty bad roads where I drive the car at least some of the time) and to have fine handling (at least in the dry -- I've never driven my car in the rain).
 
Unfortunately the looks are really important, our roads vary between 'small potholes', 'very good' and 'looks fine but the car bounces up and down wildly' - that last one was terrifying, I thought the wheels were going to lift off or the bottom crash down. Proper rural area, they pretty much laid the tarmac down without doing much about flattening the roads around there.
 
Yeah it was as someone above suggested, looks like they just fitted what they had. The 2-1/2" wall measures closer to 2-7/8, the 2-7/8 is closer to 3" but the very outer 4mm or so is peeling. It looks like getting a spare set of steel wheels would be a good idea because these could all do with repainting - the hubcap leaves about 1cm of visible steel rim which was painted black. Don't really want to leave her up on a set of axle stands.
 
£338 each here

jaw hitting floor.gif
 
Yeah honestly it's so bad that I might consider getting some imported by the people who brought by car over - stick them in the trunk. Where's a good place to get American Classic tyres cheap? I think I'm leaning towards them even though the wall is slightly bigger. More tread footprint while slightly narrower if the adverts are correct.
 
Yeah honestly it's so bad that I might consider getting some imported by the people who brought by car over - stick them in the trunk. Where's a good place to get American Classic tyres cheap? I think I'm leaning towards them even though the wall is slightly bigger. More tread footprint while slightly narrower if the adverts are correct.

I'd love to see our excellent President do a free trade deal with the UK just to stick Brexit up the EU's ***. Then you could get the tires tyres cheap and we could watch Coronation Street w/o a 6 month delay.
 
Haha, yeah - if only. Looks like our govt is going to sell us up the river though to people who are openly calling for more power and a European army.

Bad times. I don't have to think about them when I'm messing with my Fury.
 
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