radial tires
-
February 15, 2018The highly contested America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is something that every hot rodder dreams about. The award is presented each year at the Grand National Roadster Show and the intense level of competition inspires some of the most creative and stylish hot rods in the world. This year, the winner of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award is the 1931 Ford roadster, known as the Martin Special. The highly customized roadster is owned by David Martin, and built by Scott Bonowski and crew at Hot Rods & Hobbies in Signal Hill, California. The car features a massaged body, and a chassis that is tweaked and tuned for performance. Before the car was finished, David entered it in the Silver State Classic open-road race in Nevada, running in the 100mph class. The car worked flawlessly, and so it was torn apart to be painted and upholstered. The car has an Ed Pink small block Chevy, making 500 horsepower, and it's putting it to the ground through a set of our
-
November 03, 2016Bryan Fuller is a well known hot rodder and motorcycle builder. He's been on TV, he's built a lot of killer vehicles and he always has a presence at the SEMA Show. This year, he has a few vehicles on display, and one of them struck a chord with us. It's a 1934 Ford sedan delivery, and it's in the OTC Tools booth in the North Hall. Right around the mid 1930's OTC (originally known as Owatonna Tool Company) sold direct to customers, using sedan delivery vehicles with custom display boards to showcase their products. The company grew, and eventually grew out of this grass roots sales approach, but it never forgot the humble beginnings, even after being added into the Bosch brands fold in 2012. To commemorate the company's history, OTC commissioned Bryan Fuller to build a 1934 Ford sedan delivery to replicate some of those early delivery vehicles.
-
November 02, 2016The SEMA Show is the largest automotive spectacle in the world, and we're so happy to be a part of SEMA 2016. It's the 50th anniversary of the show, and it's also the 50th anniversary of the Firestone Wide Oval tire. We celebrated the awesome anniversary by introducing our brand new Firestone Wide Oval Radial tire. The day kicked off at the New Products Breakfast, where we placed 2nd in the New Products Display in the Tires and Related Category. We were up against the big dogs, and our new Firestone Wide Oval radial stood tall in a room full of winners. Shortly after the New Products Breakfast, we had a Press Conference regarding the new tire, showcasing it front and center in our indoor booth. Muscle car expert, Steve Magnante hosted the event, while our President, Wade Kawasaki and CEO, Corky Coker spoke about the new tire and how it is a game changer for the muscle car market. We also installed a
-
November 01, 2016The Firestone Wide Oval Radial tire is something we've been dreaming about for years. We're muscle car guys and we're tire guys, so we've always wanted to mix authentic looks with the ride, safety and tread life of a modern radial. Coker Tire is proud to announce the brand new Firestone Wide Oval Radial, a product that uses Firestone heritage and radial construction to create the ultimate muscle car tire! These tires are now available and shipping from our Chattanooga, Tennessee and City of Industry, California locations, as well as our worldwide distributors. This is an exciting new product for us and we think you'll agree that it's time to put a new set of Firestone Wide Oval Radials on your muscle car! Along with the new product launch, we're also celebrating 50 years of the Firestone Wide Oval. As the muscle car era exploded in the mid-to-late '60s, the horsepower levels went sky high and that meant the
-
December 06, 2015Slammed is a relative hot rod term, and it usually means when something has been lowered A LOT. But this chopped and channeled Model A sedan brings a whole new meaning to "slammed". It is down in the dirt, thanks to air suspension and a spectacular chassis setup. Dave Tucci of Tucci Hot Rods in Marcy, New York built this slammed hot rod, and used satin brown as the primary color for an interesting look. The finishes, textures and colors of this slammed sedan offer a lot of visual appeal, while the wild tire and wheel combination go with the car's killer stance. Dave's sedan is rolling on a set of one-off wheels, wrapped in Excelsior Stahl Sport radial tires, sized at 550R17 up front and 650/700R20 out back. The radical big and little tire combination is just one of many features that made us take notice and catch up with Dave for a video feature. Thanks for watching!
-
November 28, 2015We're blown away with the number of cars and motorcycles that are being built for The Race of Gentlemen, which is an exclusive race on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey every fall. The event only allows approved cars into the racing field, so it is inspiring hot rod builders to tackle these early style racer builds, like the Model A roadster seen here. This one is owned by Heath Pinter, a professional BMX rider and hot rodder from Southern California. When he's not ripping up the BMX course (he has one in his backyard!) he's hammering on old cars. His most recent creation is this low slung Model A roadster, which is powered by a Ford Flathead V8 with Sharp aluminum heads, dual Stromberg carbs and Fenton headers. The fenderless roadster rolls on a set of '32 Ford wires, wrapped in our Excelsior Stahl Sport tires, which measure 550R18 up front and 700R18 out back. This thing is lean, mean and ready to race. We love the bare bones appearance, and the stance is spot on. Check it out!
-
May 20, 2015We get around to a lot of car shows here in the Southeast, and just because we're not set up as a vendor doesn't mean we're not interested in the event. The Goodguys Nashville Nationals is a great example, as it's just a couple hours away from our office, and it offers up a couple thousand cars and trucks. The venue for the event is LP Field, which is right across the river from downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It's an excellent show, and we're always glad to sneak away from the office to check it out and snap a few pictures of cars with our tires and wheels! And though the weather may have hindered the overall turnout, the event was still huge and gave us a lot of cool stuff to look at. Oh, you like cool stuff, too? Well, you're in luck, as we've compiled a bunch of our favorite hot rods, muscle cars and classic trucks that feature our tires and wheels.
-
May 14, 2014
It's a decision every car enthusiast must make when it comes time to buy new tires--bias ply or radial? The decision affects the authenticity of your vehicle and it affects the ride quality of your vehicle, but finding a happy medium has not always been an option until now. Coker Tire offers both bias ply and radial tires in its massive product selection, but it now offers a radial tire that features the pie-crust shoulder and narrow tread profile of a bias ply tire. So, what's right for your ride?
BIAS PLY TIRES
Bias Ply Tires are authentic for American cars built before 1976, but they don't offer the same handling characteristics as a modern radial. Everyone has an opinion on the upsides and downsides both bias ply and radial tires, but it all boils down to your preference. Our suggestion is to take a good look at your build style and work from there. If you're building a numbers-matching, nut-and-bolt restoration, bias ply tires are the way to go, because your goal is authenticity. Our bias ply tires are built in original molds, which have been refurbished to today's standards and utilize modern materials for a safe and correct tire. In addition to using authentic, original molds, Coker Tire also has licensing agreements to use popular brand names such as Firestone, BFGoodrich and U.S. Royal.Inside a bias ply tire, the cords are run diagonally from bead to bead, overlapping in a crisscross pattern. The bias ply tire progressed over the time it was used in auto manufacturing, but the general construction techniques stayed the same. For instance, the Firestone 6.00-16 that rolled beneath countless passenger cars in the '30s and '40s features the same basic construction as the Firestone Wide Oval tires that were used on millions of muscle cars from 1967 to 1974. Bias ply tires typically follow the ruts and breaks in the road surface, so it provides a wandering sensation if you're not accustomed to driving an old car.
RADIAL TIRES
Starting in the 1970's, many American auto manufacturers began making the switch from bias ply tires to radial tires. Today, radial tires are still in use--and while the tire technology has grown in leaps and bounds since the '70s, each tire constructed using the same basic principles. Coker Tire was the first company to introduce a wide whitewall radial tire, and did so in 1994. It changed the face of the antique tire market, and the line of nostalgia radials continues to grow. Now, Coker offers whitewalls, redlines and gold line tires in both bias ply and radial construction.
The cords on a radial tire run straight across the tire, from one bead to the other. The radial cord layout, in addition to steel belting that rides beneath the tread surface helps stabilize the sidewall and tread patch, while allowing the tire to better conform to the road's surface. While a bias ply tire follows the ruts and breaks in the road, a radial tire will skim across the top and soak up some of the transitions. This makes for a smoother ride, and allows you to release the white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel on a rough road. If you're building a car that will see thousands of miles each year, your best bet is likely a radial, as you will enjoy the smoother ride quality and longer tread life.BEST OF BOTH WORLDS--THE BIAS LOOK RADIAL
Coker Tire revolutionized the tire industry in 2013 by introducing the bias look radial--a tire that has the authentic appearance of a bias ply tire with the internal construction and handling of a radial. The product was a huge hit at the SEMA Show, where it won the Best New Product award in the Tires & Accessories Category. The new tire is under the American Classic brand, and it's available in nine sizes to fit a multitude of applications, most of which are from the late '40s, '50s and early '60s. Coker Tire offers the American Classic Bias Look Radial in whitewall and blackwall configurations. The tires are getting great feedback, and we love seeing them pop up on the show field on everything from Tri-Five Chevys and Corvettes to Ford Thunderbirds and Cadillacs.It's a decision every car enthusiast must make when it comes time to buy new tires--bias ply or radial? The decision affects the authenticity of your vehicle and it affects the ride quality of your vehicle, but finding a happy medium has not always been an option until now. Coker Tire offers both bias ply and radial tires in its massive product selection, but it now offers a radial tire that features the pie-crust shoulder and narrow tread profile of a bias ply tire. So, what's right for your ride? Keep reading to find out. -
August 09, 2012If you know much about Coker Tire, then you know we are 100-percent in favor of driving your classic car or hot rod. Drive it hard and drive it often--it's the reason we spend so much time getting them running and driving properly, so you might as well take advantage of it! A guy by the name of John Gilbert is doing just that with a wickedly-chopped Model A coupe, and he decided to stop by Coker Tire along the way. [caption id="attachment_2784" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Looks comfy![/caption] John is a freelance photographer and writer and does a lot of work for Street Rodder magazine. He has been around hot rods, motorcycles and classic trucks for many
-
April 20, 2012Last weekend, we had a lot going on. Coker Tire was widely represented across the country, as we had a truck and trailer at the Bakersfield, California HCCA meet, as well as a big crew at the Portland, Oregon Swap Meet. Without a doubt, we supplied lots of tires for collector vehicles, but we also had some fun too! While our sales guys were hard at work, our staff photographer went up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the Spring Grand Rod Run. He came back with a bunch of cool pictures, so we just wanted to share them here. Check 'em out! [caption id="attachment_2450" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="This Model A is super cool! Love those Firestone cheater slicks on the back!"][/caption]
-
October 11, 2011It takes a lot of dedication to drive a vintage car everyday. Old cars require a lot more maintenance and they're ill-tempered no matter the driving conditions. One young man, Jonathan Klinger, an employee at Hagerty Insurance, decided he'd drive his '30 Ford Model A sedan everyday for a year, so he did just that...and he did it on a set of Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial tires! You can read all about his journeys, which are about to come to a close at his website http://www.365daysofa.com/. Jonathan certainly sounds like our kind of guy, and his "about" post on his blog says it all: "I'm Jonathan Klinger and I'm spending one full year driving a 1930 Model A everywhere I go. (Starting October 13, 2010) Why? Because not everything a person owns should contain a computer." If you like old cars, and you like an entertaining read, check out Jonathan's blog!
