This now seems to be changing year to year. I'm not talking about a 'correct' width and placement white wall. I'm also not a huge fan of ordering a tire from a place that can't install it. Its hard enough to find a shop that won't destroy your stuff when they are making the money off the sale too so adding that you are bringing your own tires doesn't help.
For several years the Hankook Optimio was available but the last times I looked for it looks like its no longer an option. Discount Tire looks like they have 2 options Nexan N Priz AH5 and Milestar MS775, both in the $100 ballpark. They also list Vouge in the $200+ range. If you were to spend that might as well go for correct ones.
Nexan looks to be a long time manufacturer from South Korea. Milestar is less clear, looks like Nankang which is Taiwan? Less confidence in a brand that makes you dig to see who they are. Anyone have any experience with either one either the model or even the brands?
Any other options? And please make sure its still available. It doesn't do anyone any good to recommend a product we can't get.
Try Cooper tires.
Greg Surfas
Quote from: "Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364 on March 25, 2024, 12:41:29 PMTry Cooper tires
Got a model number? Based on my search of their website they only 2 models that come anywhere near that size are either a AT white letter truck tire or a black wall winter tire.
I have a set of Cooper Trendsetters which are smooth and quiet and needed very little weight to balance. Turned brown pretty badly for the first year or so as is standard fare with non specialty manufacture whitewalls today. After a year of frequent scrubbing the brown returns but much less than it did. Purchased in 2019. Cursory look seems like their selection is a lot less than back then but seems like some are still available?
What size in particular are you looking for?
I have Nexan tires on two of the vehicles in my fleet. No issues with them at all.
The whitewalls of Coker American Classics scrub up bright white easily and remain that way indefinitely.
SureTrac tires are much less expensive but are extremely difficult to get the whitewalls white and turn brown quickly.
Two years ago I bought a set of Ironman 225-75-15 with 1" WW for a '90 Brougham that were priced relatively inexpensively and the whitewalls were as cooperative as the Cokers.
Whenever I need whitewall tires, I purchase online and have them shipped to the shop I deal with a few doors away.
It kinda looks like the Cooper Trendsetter isn't available in the US but maybe is still in places in Europe? Doesn't bother me since my last several goodyear brand experiences have not been very good.
Suretrack looks like its Staridge of China and like many brands not real easy to see who owns em. I would imagine they make a lot of store brands as well as possibly economy options for big brands.
Good to hear at least one person has the Nexan's. It also seems like possibly a good company since they sell under their real name.
Ironman looks like a bit of a trail to follow that possibly ends up in the Goodyear family? RB-12 NWS looks like the model we are talking about and looks like there are plenty of dealers and are in that $100 ballpark. I think these are worth considering.
Here's a link to the '90 Brougham I was referring to above with the Ironman tires on. There's a closeup image of a wheel in the photo gallery. They rode and performed beautifully. Another dealer who bought the same tire on my recommendation was also very pleased with them.
https://www.raleighclassic.com/vehicles/2571/1990-cadillac-fleetwood-brougham
Quote from: Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621 on March 26, 2024, 08:01:09 AMhttps://www.raleighclassic.com/vehicles/2571/1990-cadillac-fleetwood-brougham
Eric-if I read this correctly, no issues turning brown? I have to replace a set of Lanvigator Primetours which stay white but are getting older and low on tread.
Spoke with Johnny, at Diamond Back yesterday, and talked at length about stability of bright white sidewall colors.
Recommended: white sidewalls be cleaned with a diluted solution of Simple Green...do not use bleach based cleaners, tire shine spray not be sprayed onto tires but rather a rag and wiped on desired tire areas except white walls, do not stack tires for storage, if at all possible.
Respectfully,
mark & Bessy
Quote from: smokuspollutus on March 26, 2024, 09:56:34 AMEric-if I read this correctly, no issues turning brown? I have to replace a set of Lanvigator Primetours which stay white but are getting older and low on tread.
Correct. The tires shown on the Brougham in the photos were installed in the summer of 2022.
Quote from: Bessy on March 26, 2024, 10:48:19 AMSpoke with Johnny, at Diamond Back yesterday, and talked at length about stability of bright white sidewall colors.
Recommended: white sidewalls be cleaned with a diluted solution of Simple Green...do not use bleach based cleaners,
It depends on the tire. With the SureTracs, it took a Scotchbrite pad used with a heavy duty cleaner and a lot of elbow grease.
We put a set of Hankook Kinergy tires on the 55 last year. About $125 each mounted and balanced for 235/75/15's, however I just took the wheels into them and put them on the car myself. We only have about 600 miles on them, but no complaints..... I even got to clean the blue off the whitewall myself!!
Hankook Kinergy ST H735 looks like what we are talking about here. This must be what replaced the Optimo.
Glad I started this thread because I wasn't really finding much with general searches but with some clues to go on we can find em.
I purchased a set of the Nexen AH5s for my Eldo in the 225/70/15 size to match the original size that came with the Touring Suspension option that is on the car. Coopers were available in the standard tire size but weren't available in a WW in the lower profile size. Bought them online via E-bay and was very pleasantly surprised when they all arrived together and with pretty much the same fresh date codes on them. Have had them for at least three years now and the whitewalls do not go brown. I haven't put many miles on them but they ride fine and look good on the car. I was happy enough with them to purchase another set for my Seville about a year ago and again they arrived on my doorstep in perfect condition and all with recent date codes. Haven't put any miles on them yet but for the price I thought they were a great deal especially given how hard it is to find WWs.
When I couldn't get the Optima last year. I tried the Nexen on our 91 brougham daily driver.They ride great and the price was right 354.00 a set on ebay with fresh date codes and free shipping in 2 days. Jerita
Good to hear the Nexan's have been around for a few years and so far are holding up well, one more thing in their favor.
Here's a SureTrac 215-75R-15 on a '79 CdV. It took considerable time/effort to get the whitewall to look like this- more than I ever spent on any tire. I used a Scotch Brite pad and multipurpose soap concentrate from a local reconditioning supplier that sells to auto detailers/car dealers. This product far more effective than anything offered in most typical auto parts stores.
In 2019, the price for the set of four was $376 shipped.
I also have Nexen AH5s with the thin white wall on my 57, I forgot about these tires on this car until I went to go move the car yesterday, so that makes 3 cars in my fleet with these tires. I do recall I purchased them on Amazon and my car took 235/75R15s. They were $80 a piece when I got them.
Quote from: 81 BENY Biarritz on March 26, 2024, 07:21:30 PMI purchased a set of the Nexen AH5s for my Eldo in the 225/70/15 size to match the original size that came with the Touring Suspension option that is on the car. Coopers were available in the standard tire size but weren't available in a WW in the lower profile size. Bought them online via E-bay and was very pleasantly surprised when they all arrived together and with pretty much the same fresh date codes on them. Have had them for at least three years now and the whitewalls do not go brown. I haven't put many miles on them but they ride fine and look good on the car. I was happy enough with them to purchase another set for my Seville about a year ago and again they arrived on my doorstep in perfect condition and all with recent date codes. Haven't put any miles on them yet but for the price I thought they were a great deal especially given how hard it is to find WWs.
The sad part is that the Suretracs almost exactly replicate the OE tires of the mid 70s-80s in whitewall placement and width. If only the stayed white. My Lanvigator tires are the forerunner of Suretrac (exactly the same tire besides the name) but curiously stay white.
There was also an issue with a run of them that had a sloppily applied whitewall that left a small gap as shown above. I know several people who had issues with that on a 2019 run of Suretracs.
Sounds like if you want a somewhat thicker whitewall, the Ironmans are the way to go.
The Hankook Kinergy replaced the Optimo. The whitewall is only about 3/4-7/8" if you can live with that. I put a set on my '65 last year; no complaints. They have a rather high treadwear rating; but my tires age out not wear out. As far as installation; Tire Rack (online) sells them with the whitewall option. Before buying; I shopped around for installation. National chain "Discount Tire" (now owned by Tire Rack) asked me what tires I was getting. He said "why not buy them here? They were not listed in whitewall. He made some calls; (there was an error) and I was able to buy local with online pricing, not fool with shipping, and have full warranty and free rotations available. And the manufacturing dates (Dot codes) were months not years old. Fresh tires were important to me; they rot before they wear out on my cars. Joe
I dont know if they are widely available in the USA but I fitted Kontio whitepaw radials on my 57 Seville.They are from Finland and in the UK they are around 30% cheaper than Coker and Diamondback tyres. Made a huge difference to the handling and diving comfort compared to the bias belted tyres I removed
Thanks for the tip on Kontio. Looks like for USA there appears to be a few tire dealers but all the big online places like Summit and Jegs carry them. Summit even has several options in stock. They appear to be mostly into the wide white wall so if that is what you are looking for may be worth investigating.
For those the prices are in the $250 range. From what I can tell that is in the ballpark of Cooker but I don't really shop for those. I would guess it works out in your case because there are higher fees importing from the USA than Finland. Maybe they are better tho? We don't generally hear good things about some Cooker models when it comes to actually driving.
Have you looked at these. Carcus is Hankooks
https://callitw.com/view_cart.asp
Quote from: chris cunliffe on March 28, 2024, 01:56:05 PMI dont know if they are widely available in the USA but I fitted Kontio whitepaw radials on my 57 Seville.They are from Finland and in the UK they are around 30% cheaper than Coker and Diamondback tyres. Made a huge difference to the handling and diving comfort compared to the bias belted tyres I removed
I am seriously considering the Kontios for my '55. But I have not been able see any "real reviews" or opinions on them. All the canned / planted reviews just say how good they look on their car. What's the opinion on them from those closer to their Finland homeland?
Thanks Chris! That helped Joe G
Funny I should stumble upon your thread just now!
Earlier today I just ordered my first set of Hankook tires...Kinergy ST H735!
I did a bunch of research, and narrowed it down to either Hankook or Nexen.
I actually prefer the skinnier whitewall 3/4" to 7/8" max. Just my personal preference, but I think they look best on my 68 Coupe deVille.
They both fit my budget (cost about the same, actually), have pretty good reviews, and are readily available in P235 75 R15. I 'almost' went for the Vogues, but I just thought the whitewall was a bit too wide, and after researching, they didn't get any better reviews than either Hankook or Nexen.
So, I called my local perfromance tire shop and spoke to one of the guys who seemed to really know these tires, and he basically said they were both great tires, and in his experience the Hankooks handled a little bit better, especially in the wet, but the Nexens lasted a little bit longer, tread-wise.
(These days, my tires age out before they wear out, so the handling over logevity made sense.)
He also said that the Hankooks' whitewall was closer to 7/8", where the Nexen was just about 3'4".
So I ordered the Hankooks. The'll arrive in a few days and I've already spoken to the shop that does my tires, and they are happy to mount, balance and align when I bring them in.
I'll post back with my impressions later.
Happy Easter!