65GS.com - Buick Gran Sport Enthusiasts!
Drivetrain => Rims & Tires => Topic started by: mdkd on March 30, 2014, 06:12:29 PM
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All
I'm looking for some new cruising boots for my 65.
I am currently running Firestone 215 R75 14 on stock 65 GS Rally wheels with a 1" WW that looks right on a white car.
The tires look in good condition but I am concerned about age.
Nothing like tire problems when your on the move and I hope to do a lot of cruising this year.
I intend to leave the bias ply tires for next year when the show points matter in 2015.
Any suggestions?
MDKD
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Coker tire has a pretty good selection.
I do see 3/4" ww in their BF Goodrich section. There are other choices avail.
http://www.cokertire.com/brands/coker-classic-tires.html (http://www.cokertire.com/brands/coker-classic-tires.html)
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Cannot help you with tires, but I sure love your license tag! :cheers2: :thumbsup:
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Milton,
Hankook has some amazingly inexpensive 215/75 - 15 in WW. http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireDetail.do?ra=searchTiresBySize.do&fl=&pc=10703&counter=0&ar=75&rd=14&cs=215 (http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireDetail.do?ra=searchTiresBySize.do&fl=&pc=10703&counter=0&ar=75&rd=14&cs=215)
The whitewall is a bit narrow but they ride very nice. If you would like a picture of them on my turquoise car let me know.
Dan
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A lot of these newer tires are not all they are cracked up to be. I have some newer Coker wide whites on my 53 CHEVY truck that are looking a little checked ,whereas the michelins that have been on my nova for 15 years look new. I hope it isn't like the 30 year shingles on my garage that need to be replaced since their 2008 installation. I am not sure if they are reproducing the same tire as pictured or just the look of it. What is up with the license plate? Is that true? Dan
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Dear Milton, Walt, Tom, Dan, Dan, and mid-60s "its gotta be narrow white walls" types,
I feel your pain brother! (http://www.canebas.org/Weather/LWC_forum/Custom_emoticons/pout.gif)
White walls of any sort are getting increasingly hard to come by and narrow white walls are specially endangered. If you can't find anything that fits your performance and appearance objectives, you might consider Diamond Back tires:
http://www.dbtires.com/ (http://www.dbtires.com/)
They are expensive, but they remanufacture brand name tires to give you the appearance you want. Basically it appears they can make any side wall appearance that you desire. I have been drooling over some BF Goodrich radial T/As remanufactured with nice 1" white-walls for my trusty wagon. She has had white-walls since about 1979 or so, I can't let her down now!
Hope this helps!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Milton,
It's so good to see the hardtop again. Did you re-chrome the rear bumper? I don't see that ding any more. Glad you are enjoying the ride.
A Buick Riviera friend of mine recently bought some vintage style radials from Diamond Back Classic Radials.
http://www.dbtires.com/2013_catalog/2013_DBTiresCatalog_Web_Hi.pdf (http://www.dbtires.com/2013_catalog/2013_DBTiresCatalog_Web_Hi.pdf)
They say narrower white walls are available upon request. However, I've always wanted to put redlines on the hardtop with larger, wider wheels. Keep the original ralley wheels for the bias ply show tires. Put big, fat radials on a wider ralley wheel for driving.
John
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dsags and all the rest of the contributors
I had to look up my South Bend pictures from last years BCA Nationals because I didn't remember you having whitewalls on your trophy winning senior car.
How many miles have you put on your Hankook tires so far?
A picture would be great if it doesn't slow down today's communication.
Thanks to everyone for the input.
It's part of what makes this such a great Forum.
MDKD
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Here are Hancook 215/70/14 that were on my 68 when purchased. 3/4"? ww
They need to be 225/70 and I could not find the "225/70" last month when searching.
Height might be achieved by the 205/75, but we all want width as well as height.
I ended up at Diamond Back for my 225/70/14 w 3/8ths whitewall for this 68's rims(not pictured, but Ooh lala, I am pleased)
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/Wildcat65/f0fc8bdcb1dd41da79398285ca5d7a38_zps94d8ba0f.jpg)
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Hi Ted and mid-60s Buick fans,
I ended up at Diamond Back for my 225/70/14 w 3/8ths whitewall for this 68's rims(not pictured, but Ooh lala, I am pleased)
Hmm, this is very encouraging! I really didn't see anything besides Diamond Back radials as a reasonable choice for my trusty wagon. However, I hadn't heard of anybody else going with them. So which model of Diamond Back radials did you go with?
Curious minds want to know!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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DB tires I purchased were the III's- based on the BFG tire. I asked for white 3/8 instead of the redline they have pictured.
I've done several cars with the DB's, including the 65 GS on Torque Thrusts :) I'm a fan!
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Hi Ted and mid-60s Buick fans
DB tires I purchased were the III's- based on the BFG tire.
Well, what do ya' know - the every same tires I had in mind! :thumbsup:
I asked for white 3/8 instead of the redline they have pictured.
Just to be sure I understand what you did, so you went with a 3/8" white wall instead of a red-line? I'm curious, why didn't you stick to a more traditional 1" white-wall? It is a free country but I'm always interested in the motives behind the scheme.
Still curious!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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http://www.gmphotostore.com/1969-Buick-GS-400-Coupe-and-Convertible/productinfo/53217711/#.UzsuV6hdV8E (http://www.gmphotostore.com/1969-Buick-GS-400-Coupe-and-Convertible/productinfo/53217711/#.UzsuV6hdV8E)
The 1" looks too big on post 65 cars. I though that would be "Perfect" for my 65 Riv and found them to be too wide at 1". Not by much, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 too much. Maybe 3/8 is too thin, even for the 68. It looks like the 1" stripe is too big in diameter; ie it should be closer to the rim vs in the middle of the tire face diameter!
Riv: within 1/8"!
(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f376/Wildcat65/65Riviera5_20_12.jpg)
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I found 775-14 Firestone bias ply white wall tires for sale from Collectors Auto Supply. They have a 7/8 inch wide whitewall which if memory serves me correctly is the proper width.
http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/collectorsautosupply/the-14-INCH-TIRES/Categories (http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/collectorsautosupply/the-14-INCH-TIRES/Categories)
John
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Here's a photo from a December 1964 press release introducing the 1965 GS. It looks like a 1" wide white wall or so. Can anyone guess the width from this photo?
John
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Great photo John. Very nice reference material. For comparison here's a picture from a supplier of 7/8 inch whitewall. Tough call.
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I think it was 1". I can check my spare tire, it is the original that came from the factory.
Loren
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Here's a photo from a December 1964 press release introducing the 1965 GS. It looks like a 1" wide white wall or so. Can anyone guess the width from this photo?
John
John, using the somewhat unscientific method of expanding your photo, then finding my trusty old short metric ruler, my findings are thus.
The whitewall itself is exactly 1 centimeter wide, while the rim is exactly 14 centimeters wide. Converting those numbers back to imperial measure, and assuming the rim is 14 inches wide, the whitewall is exactly 1 inch wide. :cheers2:
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Tom,
Impressive calculations! Move to the head of the class!
John