Tire Recommendations?

rds289k · September 28, 2010 at 3:16 PM

I intend to purchase a set of radials for the street to go on styled steel wheels for my 65 FB. I will purchase them from one of the usual vendors. I will not show the Kar in these tires at MCA events, so historical correctness is not paramount.

What I'm looking for is something that rides well and has a nice look with raised letters. It will be for the 14" rims.

Any suggestions for a tire based on your experience?

Appreciate it,

=rds

zray · September 28, 2010 at 3:43 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> ".......... What I'm looking for is something that rides well and has a nice look with raised letters. It will be for the 14" rims..............."

in my opinion you can have "rides well" OR "raised (I guess you mean white) letters", but not both. I define rides well as meaning having good to great wet & dry traction. In case of emergency I don't want to hit a person, animal, or object because I bought a great looking tire that didn't have decent traction and handling qualities.

I use and can recommend BF Goodrich Traction T/A's, Unfortunately they don't come in many sizes. I use the 195/70-14 size. I can state for a fact they have better traction & can hold a curve better than 225/60-14 BF Goodrich Radial T/A (raised white letter tires).

TireRack.com has them for $68.00 ea.,

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js…4TTAT&tab=Sizes

Z.

rds289k · September 29, 2010 at 7:46 AM

Thanks for the suggestion, Z - I'll check them out! I've used BFGs on another car, can't remember if they were noisy or not. I won't be driving it too much, and there are those dualies making sound, so that may not be an issue. Ride safety is paramount, of course.

Any other recommendations from the troops?

s2ms · September 29, 2010 at 11:12 AM

I just went through this. You choices are VERY limited in a 14" tire. I strongly considered the BFG Traction T/A ZRay recommends but in the end wanted a slightly wider tire so went with the standard BFG Radial T/A, 205/70R/14, you have more size choices with these. Other than those two the Cooper Cobra is still available in several 14" sizes.

Dave

jwc66k · September 29, 2010 at 1:36 PM

I have a set of Cooper P225/60R14 tires on my 66 hardtop semi-daily driver with style Steel Wheels and they give a good ride. They arn't fancy and as far as raised letters go, I am not one to give "free" advertising as a priority in selecting a product.

Jim

CharlesTurner · September 29, 2010 at 1:49 PM

My wife has a set of Cooper tires on her daily driver and they are the worst tires we have ever used. Absolutely horrible and the tire shop could never get them balanced right. Tried to tell us the wheels were bent, but had no problems with the prior tires balancing. Will never buy that brand again. Just an FYI...

jwc66k · September 29, 2010 at 4:49 PM

Women drivers are like that -

zray · September 29, 2010 at 5:12 PM

if you have a grand to throw at tires I've heard the Avon CR6 ZZ's are phenomenal. They come in medium and hard compounds.

however in 14", they only come in 185/70-14, which is actually close to the original tires.

http://rogerkrausracing.com/pages/pricing.html

Z.

Edited by - zrayrichter on 09/29/2010 17:14:23

66gtk · September 29, 2010 at 9:16 PM

I have white wall, but maybe the Yoks are available in black wall or white letters??? I am very happy with mine, and the price is great!

http://www.hipomustang.com/hpmx/topic.asp…hTerms=yokohoma

289kford · September 30, 2010 at 7:04 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

Absolutely horrible and the tire shop could never get them balanced right. Tried to tell us the wheels were bent, <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Being the every day car, I realize you may not be talking about an old classic, but....

Keep in mind those old wheels are 'lug centric' and need to be balanced using the lug holes with an adaptor. A young guy may not know that and try to balance them using the cones for the newer 'hub centric' wheels. The wheel would wobble and look bent or out of round. The SS or Magnum's would be impossible to balance correctly with the cones.

Edited by - 289kford on 09/30/2010 07:16:39

289kford · September 30, 2010 at 7:15 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

I intend to purchase a set of radials for the street to go on styled steel wheels for my 65 FB. I will purchase them from one of the usual vendors. I will not show the Kar in these tires at MCA events, so historical correctness is not paramount.

What I'm looking for is something that rides well and has a nice look with raised letters. It will be for the 14" rims.

Any suggestions for a tire based on your experience?

Appreciate it,

=rds

If you don't have the wheels yet, you could go with the 15" version of the SS. You will have a wider choice of tire size and brand.

I have 15" Magnum's and like the 'bigger' look, but it was mainly tire choices that sent me to 15". Running Goodrich Touring T/A's, 215/60 but thinking of switching to 205/65.

rds289k · September 30, 2010 at 9:05 AM

Thanks for the tip on the lug-centric as opposed to the hub-centric issue! I'll look out for that.

Regarding the tires: I just wanted a tire that I could drive around town with. I purchased a set of 14s for this purpose, since that is the original size on the car. The ones I bought are original, date-coded styled steels.

I have spent rivers of money on restoring the Kar, aka "Rhonda", and I have a set of show wheels for showing the Kar. Therefore,I have been seeking advice on an affordable tire (t<$100 per) for street cruising, given the limited selection for 14s.

This post has produced some good ideas and suggestions! Thanks!

jwc66k · September 30, 2010 at 10:23 AM

Back to the "Coopers" - I was on my way across the street to my neighbors house last night (Giants baseball) when I noticed that my 1969 VW Baja also had Coopers on the front. They have been on the car over ten years, have at least 25,000 miles on them, been thru several trips into the Sierras, work great at 6 psi in the sand and show no signs of wear. There is not much weight on a VW front end. I mentioned this whole flap about Coopers to my neighbor and he stated he too, had Coopers on his 2003 Hyundai installing them in 2004, by choice. Are they the best tire? No. Are they the worst tire? No. Do they give a good service? Yes.

Jim

GdiB_old · September 30, 2010 at 11:15 AM

I don't know about the whole line of Cooper passenger car tires, but the Cooper Discoverer HT and HT Plus have been by far the best light truck tires I have ever used on the F-150 and Explorer. The cuurent HT Plus set on SVT rims have over 65,000 miles. I know several Mustang owners who use the Cooper Cobra's and love them. They look correct for the era. Dollar for dollar a great tire. Sorry for your bad luck with them Charles.

CharlesTurner · September 30, 2010 at 2:28 PM

That's ok, we all have different experiences, which is why we are here to share info.

hipo_p51_old · October 3, 2010 at 11:12 AM

+1 on Cooper truck tires. No probs on my F-150.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

I don't know about the whole line of Cooper passenger car tires, but the Cooper Discoverer HT and HT Plus have been by far the best light truck tires I have ever used on the F-150 and Explorer. The cuurent HT Plus set on SVT rims have over 65,000 miles. I know several Mustang owners who use the Cooper Cobra's and love them. They look correct for the era. Dollar for dollar a great tire. Sorry for your bad luck with them Charles.

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