Hot Rods Excelsior Tires For My Roadster

I've been griping about the availability of Excelsior 700/18 radial tires for my new roadster with 32 Ford wires. I've had a pair on back order from Speedway since last March. Finally today I decided to dig into the problem. I called Speedway and they had no idea when they would be back in stock. I tried Jeg's and Summit and whoever I talked to gave me the same answer. I decided to go direct to the source and called Coker who said there was no back order on this tire and at this time they had 44 of them on the rack. Needless to say I placed an order and got this problem solved. Finally

 

That bullshit. I’m going to try diamondback classics for my current build. Hope there’s not a problem with them.

 

Coker went through some restructuring a while back or possibly still in the process, as the article elsewhere stated they have quit the parts business, not sure how all that equates on the tire side of the business, sounds as if they are not supporting the big vendors, quite the opposite one would expect.

 

I don't know how that sort of thing works in big business, but shouldn't the vendor call their supplier every once in a while to see if the part is available again? Especially if it's been quite a while?

 

Didja remember to use your HAMB alliance benefit? That really helped me when I bought tires from Coker.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that if a big company like Speedway has only one pending order, then 'backorder' is an easy way to defer processing and fulfilling until additional orders for the same product have been placed. These parts houses save by buying in bulk after all.

 

Or maybe Coker still has them because their dealers have had customer complaints and they don't want the hassle...

 

...You may have hit on something there.

 

I'd bet that is the most likely correct answer. I've bought a couple of things from Speedway that were drop shipped though.

A gent I visit with at one of the car shows that I hit every year has a Blower Bentley that he put Exclesiors on and he really likes them. Actually his and his buddy both have them on their Bentleys. They both wheel those cars on the highway too.
There shouldn't be an issue with them as they are a completely new tire with new molds and not restored old molds that are older than most members on here.

 

Coker just told me today that some OE wheels I was looking at are 6-12 month lead time. Off to Wheelsmith we go!

 

I'll give kudos when they are deserved . I ordered the tires from Coker yesterday at 4.30 pm central time. They were shipped from Chattanooga today and will be in Nebraska Thursday weather permitting.

 

I recently tried to order some door latches from a Model T parts vendor, but they were out. They did tell me who was the manufacturer, and said I should call them direct. I will continue shopping at both those places. Both very helpful, and not just out to make a buck.