Put Hurst "Super Cushion" fronts on my 65 Plymouth Satellite (w/ big block) and it just about flattens the tires at 35psi. I know most front runner tires run 45psi or more......so I put in 45. Not much better. Finally at 55psi it's better. SO the question is: I see this same tire on lots and lots of gassers with blown big blocks.......what psi are you inflating to? The tires are Hurst Super Cusions, 26 x 15...about 4.5 on the tread and about 5.5 on the section, maybe a little wider, not much. I think they are capped onto a radial case. I've had no luck reaching Hurst by phone for months and months.........now i want to drive the car. Thanks
Hurst is hopefully temporarily gone.... I don't run bigger cars so I can't give a definitive tire pressure off the top of my head. What I have done though was to carefully spray a bit of silver or white paint across just the tread of the tire, put a pressure that I think is close in and drive it a few yards. Look at the paint and see if all the tread is contacting, or just the inner, or just the outer edges. If just the center is worn away, drop the pressure and repeat. If just the outers are worn away put some more air in and repeat.
If you're still running torsion front suspension, cranking the bars will throw some weight to the rear. The painting the tread suggestion is a great idea, if scales aren't handy. Just a thought.
Thanks. The problem is not tread pattern.....the tires are clearly "squished". I need to know what tire pressures other guys run with these tires to support full size cars with big engines. I've seen this tire on many gassers and such........someone must be able to tell me what they (or thier buddy) has done.
You say they are re-caps so maybe the original radial tire was one that had a low load rating and was made for a comfortable ride, meaning a less stiff sidewall. I have come across this type of situation on my daily driver where the tire looks low, but has proper inflation. Just a thought.
This won't help much. I run Hoosier drag fronts on my 3000# delivery. Hoosier says 35-40 lbs & I usually run 45-50 depending on the track.
is there inflation/load information on the tire sidewall? That's where I'd start...also figure out how much weight you have on each tire. edit: and of course, we need pictures...
Sure it will...it will tell you how much load the tire will handle at what inflation pressure. Of course that will only be a start, if the capped tread is narrower than the original, then it's likely that you just need different tires for that car. example, I have some 165/80R15 tires rated at 1201 lbs at 44 psi. If you do the math, on a big block big car, you discover that it ain't gonna work.
In the old days were "VW tires" they were 25 or so tall and 5 or so wide........everyone ran 50-60psi with a big block. Next came 165/75 radials (about the same size) and nobody ran the typical radial pressure of 32psi.......45-50 psi was more the norm. I think the load rating of skinny tires on the front of hotrods has been somewhat ignored. Maybe the textbook answer is "oh no don't do that, you'll die".......nonetheless. also, it dawned on me that a big block is not the "game changer" I thought it would be. The difference in most brands is about 200-230 pounds (bb to sb). Thats not all on the front end. A car is about 60%-40% weight bias, It think. Lets assume an engine is about 90%-10% because it sets all up front. So that's 180 pounds of added weight from a bb....or 90 pounds per tire. So if a tire is rated at 1200 pounds then an extra 90 pounds is only 7% of the tire rating.............just not alot. I weigh 230 pounds..........if I lay over the fender to reach the carb I added 90 pounds. WELL I've overthought this and have a headache, need coffee....later beer. I'm going to start way up at 50psi and let air out until the point it steers weird or builds heat in the sidewall, then add a little and stop there. Anyone see anything deadly in that logic? Thanks for reminding me they are radials and will just look somewhat squished anyway.
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