Diamondback Aurburn Tires

[pint4]

Does anyone know if Diamondback Tires is any closer to commercializing their line of new Auburn radial tires with the scalloped edges?  I need 7.00 x 16 for my car but heard that they only have 6.50 x 16's.  I think they have been working on this style for multiple years, further back than I can remember.   Their catalog on the web says 2015-16  so not sure if there is an updated version.  Thanks. 

[Bloo]

Call them. Last I heard they had only 600:16. That was a while ago.

[Matt Harwood]

I've been trying to buy these tires from them for more than three years. They don't exist and in my opinion, they probably never will. They've listed them in their catalog for nearly five years and they're always "next spring" or "next fall" but they never materialize. I very much wanted a set of their 700R15 radials for my 1941 Cadillac a few weeks ago. Again, these are the same ones they've been advertising since 2012 or so. Nope, not available, no idea when they're coming in. In fact, nothing available for what might be one of the most common applications for radial: a '40s GM vehicle with a 15-inch wheel.

I had to buy Brand X instead, which I vowed to never do again. My Cadillac went from being a trusted companion (on 45-year-old Denmans) to being a car I don't trust because I know the tires are dangerous crap.

 

Come ON Diamondback. Either throw money at the problem and solve it or stop pretending you will have them to sell someday. Bait and switch is still illegal in most places, by the way.

[Jack56C]

In the fall of 2016' I had Diamondback make me a set of 7:00x15 radials with a 3.25 inch whitewall and beauty bar for my 1947 Buick Super (it has Roadmaster wheels on it, so they are 15").  They used a Yokohama 7:00x15 truck radial, and looks surprisingly 'vnitage bias-ply'.  The car had those '45 year old Denmans' that Mr. Hardwood referred to.  The car went from driving like a dump truck to smooth and easy to handle.  If Diamondback can still get those tires, I highly recommend them.

 

Jack

[Guest BillP]

8 minutes ago, Jack56C said:

In the fall of 2016' I had Diamondback make me a set of 7:00x15 radials with a 3.25 inch whitewall and beauty bar for my 1947 Buick Super (it has Roadmaster wheels on it, so they are 15").  They used a Yokohama 7:00x15 truck radial, and looks surprisingly 'vnitage bias-ply'.  The car had those '45 year old Denmans' that Mr. Hardwood referred to.  The car went from driving like a dump truck to smooth and easy to handle.  If Diamondback can still get those tires, I highly recommend them.

 

Jack

Jack, would that be this tire?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=RY215&partnum=700R5215&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

[Jack56C]

Into iced that the original poster wanted 16", not 15", not sure if Yokohama makes a 16 that is similar to the 15".

 

Jack

[Jack56C]

Yokohama makes a 7:50x16 RY215 model tire that might be a good starting point for Diamondback for larger cars with 16" wheels. The 15" that I purchased were Yokohama RY215 model.

 

Jack

[Jack56C]

BillP's link is the correct tire that Diamondback started with, made up into white walls, a set of 5 was about $1,500.00.   I had them in about a week from placing the order, shipped to my door.  Running them without tubes, so eliminates that issue with poor quality.

 

Jack

[Bloo]

Matt Harwood: I have been following this saga for years as well, and can understand the frustration. After reading online somewhere that the Auburns were FINALLY here, I called. They said they had them in stock (6.00:16 only) and would have sold me a set that day. They are pretty expensive, but I might have done it if I had a second set of wheels ready to go (I don't). This took place about 2 months ago. I suppose its possible they could have other sizes in stock now, thats why I suggested calling, but I see you already have.

 

To be clear for everyone else following along, the "Diamondback Auburn" is a designed-from-scratch radial that looks like a vintage bias tire, pie crust edge and everything. AFAIK it is only a 16 inch tire, I think it was supposed to (eventually) be available in 6.50:16 and 7.00:16 in addition to the 6.00:16.

 

DIamondback tires in smaller rim sizes 15, 14 etc., as far as I know, are modern off the shelf radial tires that have a whitewall permanently vulcanized to the side.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Jack56C]

BillP's link is the correct tire that Diamondback started with, made up into white walls, a set of 5 was about $1,500.00.   I had them in about a week from placing the order, shipped to my door.  Running them without tubes, so eliminates that issue with poor quality.

 

Jack

 

attaching photos of the Yokohamas

[Matt Harwood]

I wish I'd known that. I called a few weeks ago and asked specifically for the 700R15 that they advertise for "40s luxury cars" and they told me it wasn't available. OK, so I asked for something else that would work, and they said they had nothing, so I'm wondering why they didn't try to sell me the Yokohamas, above--are they not available? I would much rather deal with Diamondback, I used them on my '41 Buick Limited with 16-inch wheels and I'm delighted with them, but their sales guy, Jim, flat-out said they had nothing that would replace the 700x15s bias-ply tires on my 1941 Cadillac. I would have taken just about anything but a fat-looking 235/75/15 to avoid Brand X.

 

So as a last resort, I bought these 760R15 radials from Brand X and I guess they look OK, but even though I went one size bigger than I thought I would need, they still look kind of under-sized:

 

I like the beauty bar and would have preferred tires that had them. These seem to ride and handle fine but they have Brand X's name on the side. When I bought my Diamondbacks for the '41 Limited, I got a warranty from Hercules, not just Diamondback. I like that. I'm pretty sure Brand X only warrants their stuff until it's off the loading dock...

 

 

[Jack56C]

Mr. Harwood, 

i just checked my invoice and it is dated 9/21/16, it is strange that Diamondback says that they no longer have that size available.  I must confess that the reason I went the Diamondback route for my car was due to your terrible experience that you had with your 90 Limited with new bias plies while you were traveling to the Buick National meet.  That story convinced me to go the Radial route with Diamondback. I have 2 other sets of Diamondbacks on other cars I have, but on the Buick I was going to go bias plies.  

 

When I had the tires mounted, my technician was amazed that none of them took more than an ounce of weight, and that they were round!  When I asked why he told me that the other popular manufacturer's tires took a significant amount of weight and they weren't always round.

 

Your Cadillac looks great with the tires you selected, I hope they perform well for you.

 

Jack

[billboos]

On 4/22/2017 at 8:53 AM, Matt Harwood said:

I've been trying to buy these tires from them for more than three years. They don't exist and in my opinion, they probably never will. They've listed them in their catalog for nearly five years and they're always "next spring" or "next fall" but they never materialize. I very much wanted a set of their 700R15 radials for my 1941 Cadillac a few weeks ago. Again, these are the same ones they've been advertising since 2012 or so. Nope, not available, no idea when they're coming in. In fact, nothing available for what might be one of the most common applications for radial: a '40s GM vehicle with a 15-inch wheel.

I had to buy Brand X instead, which I vowed to never do again. My Cadillac went from being a trusted companion (on 45-year-old Denmans) to being a car I don't trust because I know the tires are dangerous crap.

 

Come ON Diamondback. Either throw money at the problem and solve it or stop pretending you will have them to sell someday. Bait and switch is still illegal in most places, by the way.

Matt, sorry to other you with so many questions especially since you have been so responsive. Did you ever get the 700R15 for your Cadillac?  I just talked to Diamondback and they have the Auburn Deluxe in 700 15 with up to 4" wide whitewalls.  Do you have any experience or knowledge of these?

[Matt Harwood]

As a matter of fact, I did speak to Diamondback just last week to buy a set of 700R16 tires for a '41 Lincoln limousine. They did say that the Auburn was available in that size, but I was skeptical. They said early June for delivery, but they've been saying "any day now" for nearly five years. So I didn't buy the Auburns he swore he could deliver--I bought a set of BFGoodrich commercial truck tires and had them put the whitewall on those.

 

However, I think the Auburn radial, if available, is a great choice. It looks right and if it rides as well as other radials, it will be the best choice by far. I don't question Diamondback's quality, just their delivery dates. If they are producing a 700R15 Auburn radial that you can buy today, then that would be what I would buy. If they're telling you "it's coming any day now," I'd be skeptical and maybe ask them for alternatives and see what they come up with. It's been "in the pipeline" for so long that I won't believe it until I see it.