1976 Eldorado Tires

[TJ Hopland]

I have seen those space savers recently that looked pretty good and I have seen bad ones so like everything just depends on the conditions its lived through.     

You need a decent compressor to fill a tire.  Many of those 12v units take a few minutes to fill a bicycle tire so you are going to be waiting a long time to fill a car tire maybe even forever because the quality of many of them is questionable.    While waiting for a tow truck I took one apart.  Mine had plastic cylinder and piston with a plastic rod hooked to a motor that looked like it came out of a cheap model train.  It was all in a metal of some sort case so I thought there was a chance it was a decent unit.  Bore was maybe 5/8 with about the same stroke.   Performance was terrible below 10psi and there were not words to describe what it was like as pressures rose.

Because of trunk space I started carrying a 'doughnut' spare in my 73.   I got it out of a 96 Roadmaster wagon so it was only 10 years old when I got it.   I have had to use it twice now and it did alright.   Not as good as a full size tire but its got me where I needed to go.   Roadmaster and the Eldo weighed about the same and it was narrow enough that it didn't have any clearance issues. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

That is the secret.   A good quality Compressor.   Mine wasn't one of those cheapies, and doesn't take that long to inflate the tyre.

Bruce.

[LenInLA]

I recently installed 4 new Coker tires on my 1976 Eldorado. The 1.6" whitewall looks great. The previous tires had a more narrow whitewall and the difference in appearance is quite something. So I concur with Brian about spending the extra money on the correct tire. I spent about $750.

Leonard Grayver

[cadillacmike68]

The tire industry went to the all numerical size numbering many years ago.

L-78-15 does equate to 235/75/R15.  You can get American Classics from Coker wiuth the proper size 1.6 inch whitewall for $165.00 per tire.

To me, anything larger or smaller than the 1.6 looks wrong on a 76 Eldorado.

I have some aged Firestone 721's on my 76 Eldo that I will be needing to replace.  Lots of tread but I know they are old and should be replaced for that reason.

You will get lots of opinions on tires and some guys go for the skinny 1 inch or 3/4 inch whitewalls because they find them for 99 bucks somewhere but if you amortize the higher cost over the 10 years of so that the tires will last the difference in money seems pretty silly.  To me...

Brian

I'm one of those.

Here are a few things to consider:

Road hazards: does coker provide a road hazard warranty? If so how long will it take to get a replacement tire if the hazard renders the tire unusable?? Will you have to send a tire back at considerable expense for them to "review" it???

Is there a mileage warranty from coker? I do not think so.

Availability of a replacement tire. Can you get one while out on a trip? The "$99 options" (sometimes less) are usually available anywhere. not so with coker.

The same questions apply to diamondback.

Yes the whitewalls are too thin, even for me, but for me to go just about anywhere requires trips on the interstate, which where I live means 60-70MPH or faster, so as not get slammed into from behind. I used to have to go 15 miles just to get decently priced fuel. I still have to go 20-40 miles (two different locations) to get the 110 octane that the car wants.

I had a failure similar to TaAssie's - not catastrophic, sut still a large piece of tread separation - on a 8 year old tire. The other 4 went away, and I got 5 Hankooks, with a too narrow whitewall as replacements. Yes it's too thin, but it's still a WSW. 

[Carl Fielding]

Alan , "Cadillac" Mike makes some very good points re: tires from a company which rhymes with a popular game of chance and skill played with a pack of cards and money. Those tires are considered by many to be "show tires". "Cadillac"s comments are well considered from a drivers perspective. What percentage of your ownership will be spent looking at , detailing it , showing it ? How much driving ? Listen , esteemed member Matt Harwood just posted "1976 Eldorado fuel injection leaks" here. Read the off topic comments some boorish oaf posted therein regarding handling of these masterpiece cars. And let me see if I can get Matt to comment on tires for you and all. He puts a lot of tires on a lot of cars , and perhaps he can just link you to his pertainant postings on forums.aaca.org .  - Oaf

P.S. : "Cadillac" Mike makes another good point. 110 octane gasoline really makes full throttle driving of the old 10:1 and 10.5:1 compression ratio Caddys a treat. I once drove my '70 CDV to L.A. Exotic gasoline is available (at a price) for the trillionaires who drive old high compression competition cars , like 13:1 Ferraris. Yes , I have heard up to 127 octane may be found. My '70 really enjoyed the 100 and 110 octane juice !  - Boorish