Whitewalls - Firestones or US Royals?

Nevada51

I'm interested in getting a set of whitewall bias ply tires for a lowlight. I've seen a lot on Firestone's and they do look great but I was hoping to get a smaller whitewall side than the Firestones. I see US Royal has a 2 1/4" WW tire. Anyone had experience with these? Has anyone got any pictures of them mounted?
Thanks in advance.
Cam

John Moxon · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:07 am Post subject:

I have Firestone's and they are standing up quite well. They clean up well with just a very fine light crazing of the white wall that only shows up if you look very closely. The US Royals are cheaper and according to Mike Gregory, (a few years ago) at The House of Ghia aren't as good.

Hopefully he will be along later to confirm this and add some first hand comment.
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NOVA Airhead · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:10 am Post subject:

Have you checked out Coker tires?

http://www.cokertire.com/
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(o)=!=(o) · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 10:38 am Post subject: White walls

I purchased these last year for my '71.
They were made in Indiana from old BF Goodrich molds. They have performed great so far. I ordered them from Universal Vintage Tire in Hersey PA

Van

1971 Vert

(o)=!=(o) · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 10:42 am Post subject:

I just realized you asked about bias tires. I would stay away from those. I almost wrecked twice coming down the mountain when I got caught in the rain. I bought radials and couldn't be more pleased.

Van

John Moxon · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:20 am Post subject:

79SuperVert · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:20 am Post subject:

I bought 4 Coker Classic whitewall 165/15 radial tires in April 2011 and I'm very happy with them despite the fact that once I put them on, they highlighted the fact that I needed to renew my steering linkages. Now it drives like a new car.
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sparkleplenty · Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:01 pm Post subject:

"Stones" for sure... Cool

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retrowagen · Samba Member Joined: October 11, 2004 Posts: 1856

I had Firestone wide whitewalls on my late '57.

My only complaint was that the whitewall was wider than the original Continental wide whitewalls, by about 1/4".

Never drove the car in rain, so wet weather was not an issue at all Smile

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Nevada51 · Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 12:28 am Post subject:

Thanks for the responses. I am aware of the radial vs bias-ply debate, but as John suggest, you can't beat the look of them - form over function Smile

.

I think the Firestones seem to be the popular way to go, and they're not much more expensive than the US Royals. Would love to see some pics of the Royals mounted though (I did see some on wheels in the gallery by doing a 'whitewall' search, but would like to see more).

Many years ago I used to drive a 57 chevy as my daily with bias ply tyres... Shocked

Turning was a breeze with them compared to radials Smile

Cam

Trylon

Looking into lowlight period correct whitewalls as it seems my tires are a bit crusty. John Moxon suggested that I might resurrect this discussion.

Any new insights to share since this thread got buried? As far as that goes, I am not even sure about what size tire and how wide the whitewall should be.

Thanks!

dclaxon

laneven28

I struggled with this decision a few years ago when buying tires for my 56 beetle. I ended up with bias ply US Royals because I thought the whitewall on the Firestones looked too wide, and the US Royal was closer to original. What I didn't know when I bought them was just how poorly bias tires handle. They're terrible, and Ill never buy them again.

I recently bought tires for a 58 bamboo lowlight Im restoring and went with Coker whitewall radials. Haven't drove on them yet, but fingers crossed they handle much better than the bias plys.

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Trylon

Trylon


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