Original white letter tires

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Joined
May 26, 2013
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1,445
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Location
michigan
My Car
1973 red convertible 351 4 V
Just wonder what brand of tires would have came on my car in 73. It does not say on my window sticker other then  they where radial tires. I also was wondering if the white letter tires where radial tires or bias ply tires. Mustang by the numbers book said that 21,860 cars came with raised white letter tires in 1973. No mention of brands anywhere or type.

John J

 
Hello John J,

The info I have on the tire offerings for the 73 Mustang only shows one size radial tire offered. The GR78 x 14" radial tire was optional on all models and was only available as a black or white sidewall. The sole remaining white letter tire for '73 was an F70 x 14". A far cry from the days when white letter tires were available in several sizes. If special ordering a car and there were no availability problems at the assembly plant you could specify a brand. A majority of the white letter tires I saw on our 71-73's were Goodyear.  I had three '72 Gran Torino Sports over a period of time with OE Magnums and they all had Firestone Wide Ovals. Not sure what the Ford criteria were for selecting the default tire brand at each plant.

 
I ordered my 72 mach and I don't remembered if radials were available, but I did opt. whitewall that were Firestone wide ovals E70/14

 
The first-year for a radial tire option for the Mustang was 1973. In 1972 there was a Michelin radial tire option for the Maverick?! and Thunderbird. The white letter tires for the '72 Mustang were F70 x 14 and F60 x 15.

 
I ordered my 73 Mach 1 and you could specify brand of tire. My window sticker and order for state Goodyear. There was a reason for that. The Firestone tires of the era had a really bad reputation for blowing out at speed. So I specified Goodyear RWL and yes F70 X 14 was the only choice. 

When I got my car back out I ordered a set of the Goodyear RWL tires from Lucas. No Coker does not have Goodyear anymore he pissed them off and only Lucas sells them to the other places that sell. I went straight to them. I do not remember what they cost but not cheap. 

My car only has 12,000 miles but had 5 sets of tires in that mileage. I drove like a maniac sideways in every curve doing burn outs all the time. Broke the rear yoke three times under warranty.

I can state this from having them on the car. My second set was B.F. Goodrich radials. They sucked. I ran auto cross and when they broke loose you were gone. I slid into curbs twice almost rolled it once had to change ball joints twice from hitting curb. 

I keep hearing how great the radials are so I get Dunlap next and they sucked. 

Next I went to Gillette and they were almost as good as the Goodyear. The I put G-60 X 14 on the rear with Goodyear up front and Gillette in rear and did the best on autocross. 

Here is what the originals look like. That is a space saver spare inflated in front of them. The dirty tire is a NOS original I pulled off the car when I brought to the garage. Goodyear does make the tires not somebody else running the molds. I never even got the balanced the car will never be on the road. The 1970 RWL Goodyear was a little different so be careful you get the right one if you order. It did not have the tire size in white letters on the 1970 model. 

There is also a picture of one page of my factory invoice and you can see it specifies Goodyear.





 
OK so there are no Goodyear white letter tire available for my 73 vert. Would the Firestone Wide Ovals be more correct then the BF Goodrich radial TAs on a 73.  The Wide Ovals are pricey but you don't see a lot of them.  I currently have  the TAs but need to replace them soon because of their age.

John J



 
OK so there are no Goodyear white letter tire available for my 73 vert. Would the Firestone Wide Ovals be more correct then the BF Goodrich radial TAs on a 73.  The Wide Ovals are pricey but you don't see a lot of them.  I currently have  the TAs but need to replace them soon because of their age.

John J

That is the tire I hated. They might be different today but when they came out they sucked. Compared to original.

 
I had 3 TA's fail in the last 10 years. The first one about rip my driver side off in Sidney Nebraska on our way to Hot August night, but it didn't blow out. The other 2 just broke the belts. Needless to say, I don't do them anymore. The fender hangs on my wall of shame.

 
I like the wide ovals Jeff. I check Coker web site and there not in stock at the moment. I think buy them next year if I am still employed. 

To bad no one makes the Goodyear white letter tires anymore.

John J

 
OK so there are no Goodyear white letter tire available for my 73 vert. Would the Firestone Wide Ovals be more correct then the BF Goodrich radial TAs on a 73.  The Wide Ovals are pricey but you don't see a lot of them.  I currently have  the TAs but need to replace them soon because of their age.

John J

The Goodyear tires are available here is link to Lucas site where I bought mine. https://www.lucasclassictires.com/F70-14-Goodyear-RWL-CWT-E-S-CB5KJ.htm

They also offer a look alike in radial with the white letters like the original would probably be better ride.  Here is link to them also Lucas. They have pretty much all of the period correct for Mustang. https://www.lucasclassictires.com/FR70-14-Goodyear-Polyglas-RWL-Radial-FR7014RL.htm

 
I like the wide ovals Jeff. I check Coker web site and there not in stock at the moment. I think buy them next year if I am still employed. 

To bad no one makes the Goodyear white letter tires anymore.

John J
The Goodyears are available from Lucas Tire I posted link in another reply. Coker pissed Goodyear off several years ago and they pulled all their tires from him except a couple really old ones. Lucas has any period correct tire for any mustang including the Blue Streak that came on Shelby and Cobra. They also have a new release of a radial that looks like the RWL Goodyear I also put link to that in the other post.

 
My second set was B.F. Goodrich radials. They sucked. I ran auto cross and when they broke loose you were gone. I slid into curbs twice almost rolled it once had to change ball joints twice from hitting curb. 
Glad to hear I'm not the only one to dislike BF's. I've never had a set I liked, always seemed like they lacked grip and seemed downright scary in the rain.

On the other hand, I do have a PAIR of BF's that I really liked...

BF Goodrich HiTops.jpg

 
I like the wide ovals Jeff. I check Coker web site and there not in stock at the moment. I think buy them next year if I am still employed. 

To bad no one makes the Goodyear white letter tires anymore.

John J
The Goodyears are available from Lucas Tire I posted link in another reply. Coker pissed Goodyear off several years ago and they pulled all their tires from him except a couple really old ones. Lucas has any period correct tire for any mustang including the Blue Streak that came on Shelby and Cobra. They also have a new release of a radial that looks like the RWL Goodyear I also put link to that in the other post.
Thanks David for the link. I missed it in the earlier  post. I was not familiar with Lucas tire. I will check them out.

John

 
I like the wide ovals Jeff. I check Coker web site and there not in stock at the moment. I think buy them next year if I am still employed. 

To bad no one makes the Goodyear white letter tires anymore.

John J
The Goodyears are available from Lucas Tire I posted link in another reply. Coker pissed Goodyear off several years ago and they pulled all their tires from him except a couple really old ones. Lucas has any period correct tire for any mustang including the Blue Streak that came on Shelby and Cobra. They also have a new release of a radial that looks like the RWL Goodyear I also put link to that in the other post.
Thanks David for the link. I missed it in the earlier  post. I was not familiar with Lucas tire. I will check them out.

John
If you see Goodyear tires at a Mustang shop Like CJ they came from Lucas. Goodyear actually makes the tires.

 
You order the Goodyears and they deliver to your home. I have the Cooper Cobras on my driver 73 vert and they are fine. I ordered them from Discount tire online and they mounted local. I have the Goodyear tires on my Mach 1 going to museum to be correct to the window sticker. 

Lucas has the look alike raised white letter radials that I have not tried but would expect them to be good tires since Goodyear produces them.

I just had set of Goodyear tires put on my pick up on Friday. Run really smooth also Discount Tire. I like them because the last thing they do is torque the wheel lugs with a real torque wrench. Also got a $50.00 rebate. They were really organized I had appointment and they had parking lot set up so nobody was close. I drove my vehicle into work stall and out so they touched nothing but the tires and wheels. 

The Firstone tires have a really bad reputation here for belts separating and blow outs.

 
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