775-15 Firestone

[Tony C.]

Are all repro tires made at one place and sold at all tire supplyes? Are some tires better then others. I was looking at a set 775-15 Firestone 5/8" white wall from coker. What do you think of coker tires?
Thanks Tony

[Duke W.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

If you search "coker" you will probably find a lot of complaints about their products - out of round - structural failures...

I believe most Coker tires are made in Mexico, and the tooling is ancient.

Suggest you google Kelsey Tire. They are the exclusive distributor for Goodyear reproduction tires, and there are less complaints about their products.

Duke

[Wayne M.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

Are all repro tires made at one place and sold at all tire supplyes? Are some tires better then others. I was looking at a set 775-15 Firestone 5/8" white wall from coker. What do you think of coker tires?
Thanks Tony

Tony -- I still run a set of Firestone Deluxe Champion Goldlines that were made in New Zealand; got them at Bloomington around 1986, so I'd doubt that down-under source is still active. Never had any complaints about out-of-roundness, etc.

[Duke W.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

In 1986 the tooling was 20 years younger! Tooling does suffer from wear and use damage, which is probably why so many are complaining about the quality of Coker's products.

"Corky" is a big wheel in SEMA. He should spend more time minding the store! My understanding is that his daughter is pretty much running the business, now.

Duke

[Jack H.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

In 1986, I believe it was Lucas that had the exclusive from Firestone for reproducing tires and, yes, they were made in New Zealand then. Of the five white walls I bought, two were out of round and Lucas made me PROVE it (at my expense) when I hand carried them back to California for warranty exchange...

I don't think Coker had rights to Firestone back then...

[Dick W.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

Tony, if you are wanting tires for judging, you will probably need to get the Kelsey Goodyears. They are the closest repro tire out there today.

[Keith B.]

Re: 775-15 Firestone

I have had both the Firestone and Goodyear tires. The Goodyears are more expensive but have far better quality. The Goodyear is a large tire appears bigger in the wheelwell. Speak to the people at Kelsey. The tires for 66 and 67 are different than the others and are different than the passenger tires for that year. The tires were made for corvette only. They will flat spot while sitting and take a little driving before they even out. I struggled gettng them easily into the spare hub.