1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

[Phillip G.]

I purchased Firestone Wide Ovals from Coker Tire for my 69 Coupe. The what I believe is the original spare tire has nine ribs on the tread as shown in the JGM and Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval on the side wall. The repo tires only has 7 ribs on the tread with the same wording on the side wall. Is the seven tread correct, or do I have the wrong spare?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Lyndon S.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Those reproduction tires are not correct for a corvette as the tread is wrong and they are fiberglass belted and not NYLON cord as OEM. The only reproduction tire that would be close is a Goodyear tire.

[Bill W.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

I have the orig. spare out of my 70 .It is a Firestone whitewall and has nine . I also have a set of Coker repros with seven . I think if you look harder you will find other things not correct .

[Terry B.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Nine ribs are correct for your '69 and the fastest and easiest way to check that your reproduction tires are incorrect. Nothing made today, as far as I have found, is going to score perfect but Kelsey Tire http://www.kelseytire.com/pages/preformancetires.html has the closest reproduction tires for '68 / '69 Corvettes I have found. Terry

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Thanks much! I looked at the Goodyear this morning and they do look closer to what the JM states. I just wanted to use my spare which I believe is correct.

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Thanks much for the reply. I was just wondering if I used these tires with my orginial spare would I be better off than purchasing 5 Goodyear that are closer to the orginial

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Thanks for your reply. Have you had your car judged with the Coker tires,if so how many points did you lose.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

You will find the Coker Firestones say SUP R BELT on the sidewall. Original OEM 1968-72 said NYLON CORD on the sirdewall.

For NCRS Judging your spare tire does not have to match the road wheels. See the tire section of the NCRS Judging Reference Manual.

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

I know the JM says they don't have to match, but I wanted to have a complete set of tires that were the same brand. Now to avoid more point deductions, I may just return the tires and purchase the Goodyear that are closer to the orginial. It looks like Lucas Tires has the Goodyear tires that are a close match.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

I know the JM says they don't have to match, but I wanted to have a complete set of tires that were the same brand. Now to avoid more point deductions, I may just return the tires and purchase the Goodyear that are closer to the orginial. It looks like Lucas Tires has the Goodyear tires that are a close match.

Phil------


As far as original configuration Firestone tires for 68-72 Corvettes go, the only way to obtain a set is to find 4 more original tires (most likely from 4 original spare tires like the one you have). If you were to find them, you'll pay a king's ransom for them and they'll really not be suitable for driving----just showing ONLY.

Lucas Tire may sell the Goodyear reproductions but, as far as I know, the source is Kelsey Tire which has the license from Goodyear. For many years, the Kelly-Springfield division of Goodyear manufactured these tires for Kelsey but, if I recall correctly, they are now manufactured by another company for Kelsey under their Goodyear license.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Some years back John Kelesy's Goodyear reproduction tires were available from any Goodyear tire dealer. I suspect that might still be true, since I believe it is part of John's agreement with Goodyear. Most dealers didn't/don't know about this or the collector car reproduction tire market, so while it was/is a possible point of purchase some education was usually necessary.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Some years back John Kelesy's Goodyear reproduction tires were available from any Goodyear tire dealer. I suspect that might still be true, since I believe it is part of John's agreement with Goodyear. Most dealers didn't/don't know about this or the collector car reproduction tire market, so while it was/is a possible point of purchase some education was usually necessary.

Terry-----


Yes, as far as I know, they are still available from Goodyear dealers. As you note, though, most will not know about it until they do a little research. I had this happen to me when I inquired about them. Keep in mind, though, that the dealers will usually charge full list price for the tires PLUS the freight cost to get them from Kelsey to the dealer. The up side is that they are supposed to mount the tires for free.

Years ago I was told by a Goodyear company store that it was Goodyear's policy that any Goodyear dealer had to mount for free any new Goodyear-branded tire, even if it was not purchased at that store and was brought in by the customer. I don't know if that policy is still in place, whether dealers know about it if it is, or whether they will follow it if it's still in place and they know about it.

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Thanks, I'll try them tomorrow. Just need to see if Coker will take their tires back!!

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Terry, 4 years ago I purchased tires for my 82 from Sears, Not the orginal white outlined letters, but the Gt tires. I remember him saying that they could get repo tires. Because my car came with firestone I wanted to replace with the same. I guess if I use the Goodyear's on the four corners and use my orginal as the spare, even thou it is a different brand, I woud be better off???

[Phillip G.]

Re: 1969 Firestone Super Sport Wide Oval Tires

Thanks to every one, I don't post much to the tech boards because in the past I have had my cars done at the restoration shop. In doing a lot of the work this time myself, I can remove one item from my bucket list! As far as that list goes,I need to add one more car to have one corvette to drive each day of the week!!

Thanks, Phil