Tire differences today ! WOW !

Today I had 5 new tires installed on my latest acquisition.

The spare looked like it never saw the road and may have been behind the seat since new.

It was a 8-90 15 bias ply.

I ended up getting 5 American Classic 1.6" whitewalls for this car which are 235-75-15 radials that are made in the USA.

I have seen other tires before but not a 8-90 15 and I have to say...
IT IS HUGE !

I will measure tomorrow but I would guess that the diameter between the two are at least 3".

The bias ply was so old and hard that the wheel machine had a very hard time removing it from the rim and it had no give once it was off the rim.
I bet it would hold the car up even if it had a flat.

Since it is in great condition, it will be on display in the barn with all the other old vintage service station items in a tire display rack.

I love the look of a bias ply tire !!!

I was going to get a set of the new bias ply look radial tires but the size wasn't offered and the price was about 300.00 a tire.

Anyway, here are some photos from the tire shop today.

Darren

You're right that,s a huge difference!! Is there any company that can supply those big vintage tires..? Im a dummy on tires I only know what size are on my own cars and the difference between 15 and 17 inches today. Maybe im too young

When my green '60 Eureka was repainted and finished off prior to Hudson I was so pleased with the results that I decided to give the car a little gift..... correct size and type tires. I experienced everything you experienced. Most notable, of course, was the surprising diameter difference. It's amazing what 1.5" (difference in the tire radius) does for the overall appearance and stance of the car. I'm so pleased I made that decision. I made the same decision for my '54 Eureka and am contemplating the same for my '53 flower car. Coker sells these 890-15 in a wide white, but of course a set of tires is not cheap. Thanks for a great post!

Yes, there is...

http://www.cokertire.com/brands/firestone-tires/firestone-bias-ply-wide-whitewall-3800.html

But I didn't want a 3" whitewall or bias ply as I will be putting about 5000 kms on this car this summer.

Darren

The reason I went with American Classics this time is because I am not happy with the Diamond Back tires I have on 3 of my other hearses.

Not with the ride at all but with the so called WILL NOT YELLOW/BROWN WHITEWALL situation. I have half the tires browning at the edges.
:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

NOT SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT !

They are about a 100.00 a tire more than American Classics and I had the same size whitewall at 1.6"

I will update this when I have had the A.C.'s in use for a while.

Darren

Glad to see some one else confirm what I have n been posting for years now. The new 235 are lonely a 28 inch tire. They are down a inch from what they used to be. 890 are 31 inch in diameter

I wonder if 245 75 15 would be closer to the correct size now?

I have had American Classics and I really liked them. I also had Coker and they yellowed, plus they were more expensive. I also had Diamond Backs, they seemed okay, but that was ten years ago.

One other co selling vintage tires is Universial out of PA. Same tire same price. We went with the L78 for the 72. They are a 30 inch tire with the correct white wall. The 265s are correct diameter but about 12 inches wide and no Whitehall.they are the only tire except the 890s that have the correct load rating. We went with the 3 in 890 for the 58.

When I bought a set of new Coker's for my '39 Eureka LaSalle, I had them mounted and installed. I took the car home to wash the whitewalls. It didn't take long for me to discover that only ONE of the tires had a pure WHITEwall, the other 3 (no matter how much I washed and scrubbed) were yellow.

The initial call to Coker did not leave me happy, but I then discovered that a man who owns a well known restaurant here in Ft. Wayne had the same thing happen to him. Basically, I let him do all the footwork negotiating this out with Coker. He ended up satisfied and instructed me to phone the service MANAGER. I did, and he was very friendly and helpful, worked with me.

One beautiful thing was that a customer who stores two cars with me was going to Florida and passing through Chattanooga. The manager at Coker told me that if I sent all four wheels to him, he would mount and balance and make sure they were all white. It was a pain to jack up the entire car, but I did. In the end, very satisfied.

Darren Bedford said:

The reason I went with American Classics this time is because I am not happy with the Diamond Back tires I have on 3 of my other hearses.

Not with the ride at all but with the so called WILL NOT YELLOW/BROWN WHITEWALL situation. I have half the tires browning at the edges.
:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

NOT SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT !

They are about a 100.00 a tire more than American Classics and I had the same size whitewall at 1.6"

I will update this when I have had the A.C.'s in use for a while.

Darren

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Ive never heard of Diamondback having that problem. What were you cleaning them with? I would tell them about it doing it. Please post a pic here, I would love to see how they are turning. Ive had mine on my 49 for 9 years as of last month, many many miles, and they look just as good today as when I put them on.
Those bias are huge!!

Ed

I did get my American Classics at Universal in PA.


John

I will get photos of the browning and post them here.

special

anybody remember AMBULANCE SPECIAL tires. my dad used to order em and always had spares. hadn't seen em in years but I THINK they were Dayton tires. 8.90 x 15.

Kyle Martin said:

anybody remember AMBULANCE SPECIAL tires. my dad used to order em and always had spares. hadn't seen em in years but I THINK they were Dayton tires. 8.90 x 15.

Click to expand...

back in the day I think they (AMBULANCE SPECIAL tires) were 10+ ply bias belted tires you're referring to but I could be wrong, and wouldn't be the first time

There were a number of different companies making the 890. Some geared to ambulance service this new patch are 8 ply rated bias ply with a firestorm label.they weigh about half of one of the older ones does.