True to form, I just replaced my aged-out Cooper Cobra tires for my 79 Hurst Olds. The ones on it are 6 years old now, and that's my cut off. I bought a fresh set of Cobras, 215-70r-14. I know that's alot of tire for this car but they do not make a 205, only BF Goodrich has that size in a white letter. And since their white letters don't stay white very long, no sale. The 6 year old Cobra's letters stayed as white as the day I got them.

Anyway, as a heads up, it seems Cooper changed the font of the lettering a slight bit, the new lettering seems to be squatter and longer than the old. I'll post photos as soon as I swap them out.

No big deal, but IMHO they should have left it alone.

Next Stop: Changing out the 6 year old Uniroyal TigerPaw AWP II you see here in the avatar on my black/silver 79 Brougham. Choices for this size tire in a whitewall (205-75r-14) are getting more and more limited, but I'm going with the Hankook brand, the Kinergy. No more Uniroyals, the whitewall turned grey after a year and stayed that way. I've got a year old set of Hankooks on my 79 Blue Calais and the whitewalls are staying white.

 

I replaced the BFG's on my 75 with Coopers for the same reason. The brown letter problem is still an issue and BFG doesn't seem to care, this according to my tire guy. Cooper did change the font but I like it, very similar to the T/A's.

 

Personally, I think 6 years is a bit premature for changing tires based on time, I go 10. I put Coopers on my car a few years back and have no complaints with them.

 

Ten here as well. Can hardly wait for three more years to go by so I can replace my brown T/As with Cobras.

Hope somebody from BFG reads these threads!

 

Now if Cooper would only make a 205 series in this size................wishful thinking on my part.

 

I have had two sets of BFG TAs and one set of Cooper Cobras. They handle about the same on a GM A body.

 

I have Coopers Cobras also, happy overall. Had BFG's before with no issues with the letters turning brown/yellow. Was not going to risk it. I would kill for another set of Uniroyal Tiger paw Raised white had those for 13 years, just loved those tires. I had them in OWL on my S-10's from the factory. Always liked the paw print between Tiger __ Paw.

Pat

 

Six years?, Do you change your mattress’s out prematurely as well?? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a believer in tire safety but wow. How old are those rubber brake lines,fuel and coolant hoses? Nice car by the way😀

 

Gang,
To each his own. Is 6 years for tire replacement conservative?

Yeah, but if he sleeps better knowing he has fresh rubber under himself & passengers, possibly including children, why not?

10 years is fine too, depending on use. Around town, sure. 500 mile road trip? Well, you might want to carry a cellphone…

I just replaced my ‘66 Starfire tires with BFG (as white-walled by Diamondback) after 9 years and I feel safer on the road.

OP, enjoy the new tires!
Chris

 

That's the key right there, you nailed it on the mileage/use. I'll go longer than 6 years on the around town cars but the ones I know I will want to take a long over the road trip on, knowing I've got newer rubber on the road is a big relief.

 

Another thing I really like about the Cooper Cobra is Cobra on the black wall side. Since I have BFG's up front, I am running mine that way. Yeah 6 years is excessive but if it gives piece of mind, so be it. I changed the 9 year old tires on my Dakota. They were terrible, one wouldn't hold air due to side wall cracks. I have seen decent cracking on an 8 year old set. My 10 year old Winter tires for my Challenger have very minor checking. Other than price, maybe 6 years is the safest bet.