Author Topic: Michelin 185r14 Whitewall Tires (Read 32371 times)

jcochran@cox.net · « **on:** July 19, 2013, 00:32:50 »

Hi,
I am having my early 1967 250SL semi-restored and was thinking of putting Michelin 185r14 whitewalls on it but the only source I know of is SLS and they want more than$500.00/tire + shipping. Does anyone have any suggestions for another vendor or a high quality whitewall tire that perhaps is less expensive but has great handling/ride characteristics?

Thanks,
Jim Cochran

Hans2012 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 19, 2013, 01:31:01 »

You might consider the Coker Tire - Phoenix whitewalls. I have been very happy with them. They look correct and the ride is great. Less expensive than the Michelin tires you mention.

Good luck.
John

69280sl · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2013, 01:50:45 »

You would have to be the judge of "great" handling and riding characteristics. But Uniroyal had a 185 r 14 with 3/4" whitewall. Don't know if they are still available. Cost a couple of years ago was about $400 for 5, out the door

Gus

jcochran@cox.net · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2013, 02:49:23 »

Hi,
I am having my early 1967 250SL semi-restored and was thinking of putting Michelin 185r14 whitewalls on it but the only source I know of is SLS and they want more than$500.00/tire + shipping. Does anyone have any suggestions for another vendor or a high quality whitewall tire that perhaps is less expensive but has great handling/ride characteristics?

Thanks,
Jim Cochran

Cees Klumper · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2013, 04:34:33 »

I have Vredestein Classic Sprints that cost me eur 750 installed a few years back for 5 tires. Vintage looks with modern technology. If you do a search, you will find a lot of information on the tire subject.

KevinC · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2013, 15:22:30 »

I don't know that Michelin makes a whitewall suitable for our cars any longer. I believe that name brands available in the 195/75/14 (closest to the original 185(78)/14 would be Uniroyal, Vredstein, Hankook and Cooper. Coker of course makes the reproduction "Firestone Phoenix" which is the priciest of the bunch. I just purchased Cooper Trendsetter white walls for $65 a tire.

IXLR8 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2013, 22:15:38 »

Check out Black Diamond Tires.

If I read their website correctly, they will apply a bonded whitewall to just about any tire.

Www.dbtires.com

the other Joe

FRITZ68 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 24, 2013, 02:57:36 »

Here is a picture of one of my Coker Tires that I recently purchased.
They look good, handle well and I am happy with them.

Fritz

magicman · « **Reply #8 on:** July 30, 2013, 14:41:30 »

Kevin - whom did you purchase your Cooper tires from?

KevinC · « **Reply #9 on:** July 30, 2013, 14:53:33 »

They are available several places on line. I actually saw them here initially...

http://www.groupbuytires.com/75R14-COOPER-TRENDSETTER-White-Wall/dp/B008FV6A3W?field_availability=-1&field_browse=3211746011&field_keywords=195+%2F+75+%2F+14&field_product_site_launch_date_utc=-1y&id=75R14+COOPER+TRENDSETTER+White+Wall&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=brandtextbin%2Csubjectbin%2Cprice&searchKeywords=195+%2F+75+%2F+14&searchNodeID=3211746011&searchPage=1&searchRank=-price&searchSize=12#.UffT9vXD-M9

http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/cooper/195%252F75-14+cooper+trendsetter+se+92s+wsw.html

Believe it or not, I bought my set at Pep Boys!

magicman · « **Reply #10 on:** July 30, 2013, 15:01:55 »

Thank you Kevin. Are you satisified with the handling/feel of the tire?

KevinC · « **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2013, 21:08:52 »

I wish I knew...the car's at the body shop now (just painted) so it wont be on the road for another couple of weeks yet :'(

Alan Smithee · « **Reply #12 on:** August 08, 2013, 18:03:33 »

Glad to hear the Coopers are once again available in WW. I bought a set earlier this year from Big-O in 195-75-14, and read on another thread here soon after that they had been discontinued.

For the relaxed cruising I do in the SL they are just fine, they look great, and you can't beat the price.

KevinC · « **Reply #13 on:** August 08, 2013, 19:27:01 »

I actually purchased 195-75 14's as they are the closest contemporary tire to the 185 (78) 14's that came on our cars here in the US.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/WheelsTires/TireSize

Alan Smithee · « **Reply #14 on:** August 14, 2013, 01:32:51 »

That is what I have, too. I corrected my post above...

TR · « **Reply #15 on:** August 14, 2013, 19:38:25 »

Just yesterday a large truck from Intercity Lines pulled up to my house and unloaded a shiny red 280SL. This was after a prolonged & very thorough going-over in Maine, so yesterday felt like Christmas.

Mounted on the car was a new set of Vredestein Sprint Classic (185HR14)...With 3/4 inch whitewalls, courtesy of Diamond Back Classic Tires. As far as I know this was a first.

BTW John, (aka thelews), if you're reading this thanks very, very much for your earlier input on the Vredesteins. This has been a significant project and those new whitewall Vredesteins were just a small part of it, but they look great. I've not yet had a chance to check out the performance & handling of the car, but having come directly from my friend in Maine I have no double I'll find both to be excellent.

mmizesko · « **Reply #16 on:** August 14, 2013, 20:42:01 »

Guys,

I just went through this last month, and the only whitewalls i could find were the cokers 185-75-14's. I had my local Mr. Tire set up an account and they shipped them in in 3 days from Tennessee. Called Cooper and they stopped making their trendsetter a few months ago. Couldn't find any ww in 195-75-14, or in 205-70-14 either. None in the pipeline near Ohio. Happy so far. Put 2,000 miles on them in a month driving up to Michigan, and over to the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester. I love this car.

Raymond · « **Reply #17 on:** August 19, 2013, 20:41:47 »

I'm GLAD to hear that Cooper stopped making those tires. I have a set and they suck! They have very poor wet weather grip and aren't that great in the dry. In cornering, they accent the car's understeer. They look good when they are clean but that's the best I can say for them. I only bought them because of catastrophic damage to the tires I was driving through the West Virginia mountains 700 miles from home and they were the only set in the size available.

Bob G ✝︎ · « **Reply #18 on:** September 01, 2013, 16:31:38 »

Anyone have the Kolker tires ? what do you think I live in a dry area Southern Cal. I have five Michelin reinforce 185 TR 14 last ones they need replacing very soon. with all the talk I was wondering what to do. the German Michelins are too expensive. for me to buy I want to keep the same size tire on the car 185 HRR 14 if possible with the white wall as it was ordered new.
Bob Geco

enochbell · « **Reply #19 on:** September 01, 2013, 18:48:33 »

I put the Cokers on and have run into some major headaches. I expect the outcome will be OK in the end, but what a hassle. I drove the first set for about 50 miles, never over 50mph and was very happy. They look great and the handle OK. Don't expect a modern tire performance, that won't happen with the tread design. Original looking, but you will sacrifice some handling. But that is not my concern. I finally got out on the highway and discovered a lot of shake and vibration. Took them back to the installer and he tried to balance them (again) but discovered that 3 were out-of-round. You could see it on the machine and no, the rims are not the problem, they are within spec.
Coker sent me a new set and we found 3 of them OK and one out of round. Coker required that I go to another installer who had a high tech Hunter balancing machine. Same result. Out of round. That makes 4 trips to the tire store, 4 wasted Saturday mornings.
I will be sending the bad tire back and keep my fingers crossed that they send me a good one. Sounds to me like they had a bad run. Just be advised.

Greg

Paul99 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 03, 2013, 14:48:06 »

I was looking for white walls as well, found these: http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/195-75r14-hankook-whitewall.html

Only problem is the size, plus not the best make. but only £73 each. Anyone know them please?

mdsalemi · « **Reply #21 on:** September 03, 2013, 15:19:33 »

Quote from: enochbell on September 01, 2013, 18:48:33

I put the Cokers on and have run into some major headaches.

At this expense, nothing less than great should be acceptable. I did a story on my experience with Cokers, and discovered one not out of round, but basically not able to be balanced due to variations in tire mass. This was published both in the Star as well as Pagoda World.

To me, seeing a Hunter GSP9700 in action sold me on the process. http://www.gsp9700.com I was able to see and quantify the forces in action and optimize placement. The Cokers were not very uniform in their balance requirements though all passed but one. A modern production tire generally does not have these issues and are very uniform. Out of round is a whole different situation for which there is no real cure but return and exchange. I think they can be shaved into round but who wants to shave a new tire, particularly one costing over $300 each to solve a manufacturing problem?

Pedrocamp · « **Reply #22 on:** September 04, 2013, 11:05:50 »

I am a 68 W110 230 sedan owner lurking on your site and just wanted to share I have been quite happy with the Hankook Optimo 724 white walls I fit to my car over a year ago. Great price, about $60 each from DT. I have the 5.5" X 14" aluminum 240D wheels on my taxi. I pushed the car hard in the hills of North Carolina during the recent Moonshine Rally and was quite impressed by the grip and the warning "howl" as I reached the limit, not loud but enough to let me know. Easy to balance and run true.

News:

Author Topic: Michelin 185r14 Whitewall Tires (Read 32371 times)

KevinC

IXLR8

FRITZ68

magicman

KevinC

magicman

KevinC

Alan Smithee

KevinC

Alan Smithee

TR

Bob G ✝︎

enochbell

Pedrocamp