Lester VS Firestone

cooke

cooke

Member
I am replacing my tires on the 31 model A I was thinking of radial tires but they are almost $1,700.00 for a set of 5 with tubes, seems a bit much. I like the idea of radials but thats just too much for tires.
I am thinking of getting Lester 550 bias ply, has anyone tried these and how are they?? My other choice is the Firestone and they make a 600 would that be too big??
 
I have 550 BF Goodrich on my car. They look excellent and everyone comments on how nice the slightly bigger tire looks. But 550 would be the biggest I would go.
 
Perhaps it would be helpful for members to post high mileage results out of various tire manufacturers?

(not that it hasn't been done before) :)
 
Firestones 19 inch. 7 years use. done 20,000 normal roads. tread getting shallow. time to replace. 2 punctures in that time . ( am replacing them with Firestones )
Exclesiors. 21 inch. 4 months. 3,000 miles. 7 punctures. Threw them in the trash can.
 
HoarseWhisperer said:
Perhaps it would be helpful for members to post high mileage results out of various tire manufacturers?

(not that it hasn't been done before) :)
Click to expand...

On the 550 BF Goodrich I listed above, I am experiencing way more miles out of them than my previous Firestone White Walls. They only lasted about 7,000 miles. I run my tires past the tread warnings until they're smooth. They are made out of worse quality rubber than previously so they won't last as long. I was tired of buying tires every year. I've got about 7,000 on these 550 BF Goodrich and they're probably about half way through their life. And they were less expensive than the Firestone black walls. Once these tires wear through, I'll move to 16" rims with radials so I can get 30,000 miles on my tires :) :eek:
 
Have them both and have had no issue with either. Go with what fits in your budget! My next will be another set of lesters.
 
I'm a bit surprised by some of the low mileage stats.

I replaced the last set of diamond tread Goodyear's that had 33,000 miles on them. No sidewall issues and they still had enough tread that people wanted to buy them.

Could the low mileage reports be attributed to alignment issues, or something? Just curious.
 
I'm always picking up tires at a large wholesaler here in CT. Very few still made in this country.....
Paul in CT Have asked and he can't/won't help me with coker's.
 
Jazzjr said:
Hell they are all most likely Foreign Made.
Probably 1 or 2 Foreign Manufactures make all of them, Using the same Rubber Compounds, and exact same Formula, for Goodyear's or Firestone's or Universals. Then just Change the molds, to make the Brand Names.
My Pocket book uses Universals, they work great so far.

A Paper Mill Locally, makes paper 24 hours a days, to expensive to shut down, they make, cut, and box 8 1/2 X 11 reams of Paper with any body's Name on it. They will even make it with your Name on it if you can purchase 5 or 10 Tractor Trailers Full of it.
Click to expand...


Nope. The Firestones I just bought have "Made in U.S.A." stamped right on the sidewalls. They replaced Firestones that had "Made in New Zealand" on them.

Coker tire seems to be the driving force behind much of the Model A size tires available today. Coker is in California, not China.
 
Goodyear 19" ride and handle better than Firestones for me.
14,000 miles on Goodyears purchased in 2008 and about half the tread left.....

I got 22,000 miles from a set of Brazilian Insa tires in the 80s-90s.
 
This was from a Wiki article so read it with a grain of salt, but if true is very interesting.

Coker Tire Company is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that manufactures and sells vintage-style Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and Uniroyal bias-ply and radial whitewall tires for collector automobiles. Applications include: restored classic vehicles, Brass Era vehicles, Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, Modern Muscle Cars, Vintage Trucks, Military Vehicles, Vintage Motorcycles, European Sports Cars, Micro Cars, Scooters, Vintage Airplanes, among many others. Though Coker's products retain the appearance of the old tires by using the original, refurbished molds, or new molds built from original drawings, the tires are made with modern materials. Coker Tire was given manufacturing rights by the original tire brands and also has acquired many different tire molds of the original obsolete tires they manufacture. In addition to tires, Coker Tire also offers wheels for collector vehicles. Many Brass Era style wheels are manufactured by Coker Tire in its in-house machine shop, while muscle car and hot rod wheels are manufactured by Specialty Wheel in Portland, Oregon. Coker Tire's line of authentic wire wheels are manufactured by Roadster Wire Wheel. Tire and wheel accessories are also available from Coker Tire, making it possible to buy a complete tire, wheel and accessory package from one source. The company also has a distribution facility in Fresno, California and over 30 distributors worldwide.
 
I'm running 19" Lesters and have been happy with them. According to the Lester website they are made in the USA. ;) Ride good and are wearing good.
 
All-American Companies
Cooper and Goodyear tire companies started out as American manufacturers and have stayed that way to some extent. Goodyear is now an international company, but its world headquarters remain in Akron, Ohio. It also owns the Kelly Springfield and Dunlop brands. Cooper manufactures tires in Ohio and Georgia; Goodyear in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New York and Kansas. Denman Tire, founded in 1919, is based in Ohio.

Major Global Tire Companies
Michelin is the world's largest manufacturer of tires for vehicles from bicycles to the space shuttle. The French company purchased the American firm Uniroyal-Goodrich company in 1989. In the United States, it manufactures tires in Alabama, North and South Carolina and Arkansas. Bridgestone, a Japanese company bought out Firestone, another company with American roots, in 1998 and makes tires in North and South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee.

Other International Companies
Continental Tire, a subsidiary of a German company, makes tires in five states: Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Illinois. General Tires are now made by Continental. Yokohama, another Japanese multinational, manufactures tires in Virginia.

According to: http://www.ehow.com/about_5632049_tires-made-america_.html
 
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