I think those are Blockley Cross Ply tires (or Tyres) on that car. I have them on my roadster. They ride well, seem to hold up nicely, and look great. I talked to the folks at Blockley a few times before ordering mine. They are very helpful. Cost was (at the time I ordered) a bit less than Firestone's from Coker.
i like radials because i can score them for 300 bucks a set compared to 1200 for proper wide white bias plys. drum brakes for life.
I had a nice 47 Ford on bias ply tires and I made a trade deal to get my 57 T-Bird also on bias tires. I had the Ford a couple of years before doing the trade so I drove it quite a bit. It had been many years since I had driven a car with bias ply tires and I had forgotten the joy of driving a car that finds every crack or seam in a road and attempts to follow it. The T-Bird exhibited the same traits. In addition, both cars felt a little squirrely on fast corners. After a year or so of driving the T-Bird, I opted for some radial white wall tires. I couldn't believe I was driving the same car. The biggest improvement in handling on the T-Bird was the radial tires. I did other things to get it to drive more like a modern car such as large front and rear sway bars and gas shocks, but the radials were the big thing. Bottom line; if you are going to put some miles on it and want it to drive nice, radials are the way to go.
"Bias plys track all the grooves..." Probably because you have em overinflated. 50 years of radial pressure specs will do that to ya. And, be honest, how many puff their tires up to "MAX inflation" because it's on the tire? C'mon, it's ok. "BZZZZT! Wrong!" Look up old tire inflation specs, for what we're all used to in our daily their damn near frightening. On stuff like ours 28 in the back, 30 in the front, and if you think 4psi shouldn't make much difference, "BZZZZT! Wrong !" (I hate when it does that). So it's a lovely warm day and you drove 10 miles on your 34psi belted tires. Hop out and check em hot. 38? 40? No wonder they ride like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've said it before but it bears repeating. Belted tire? Less pressure, a lot less. And they heat up a little more and a little quicker. They're not the 17" radials on the soccer mom SUV. Good luck, happy trails...
I used to be a 'radial all the way' guy, but I've had 3 cars now with bias plys, and I like them just fine. They were round, balanced just fine and ran highways speeds no problem. They look right and don't have a shelf life like radials. And the bias ply "feel" helps an old car drive like an old car, which is important to me. After 10 years radials get dangerous regardless of how they look, bias plys can be really old but if they hold air they're good to go usually. I don't get all the bias play hate.
How many times do we need to rehash this on a forum that focuses on traditional hot rods and kustoms with a cutoff date of 1965? Pretty sure every time this comes up, there is no convincing either side which is better...
I don’t think there is a 100% “I’m right “ answer . its 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other . only reason I used bias plys is I wanted WWW and I have 0 issues with them . I’ve run radials and bias ply in the past with no issues either .
I have run both as well with no issue with either other than trying to run radials beyond what the newer tires seem to be able to handle. Heck, I am currently driving on probably 30 or so year old bias plys on my Buick... I do know that my Mercury will have a brand spankin' new set of wide white bias when done. And, my Ford will also get bias when the bias-look radials are worn out. Dang it...I fell into this whole debate...again.
I just spoke with our local wheel and tire guru (40+ years experience in custom wheel and tire) where I purchased the wheels and tires. He said there's no reason to replace my current radials. The tires look and perform like new even though they are 6 years old. He informed me that as long as the tires are not dry rotted then they are safe. But if I notice a change in the shape or the way a tire rolls then it may be a sign the tire is failing, especially if its older than the manufacturers max recommended life.
And this is a big part of the problem. Guys forget (or aren't really aware) that bias-ply and radials are two different animals. Back when bias-ply ruled the earth, the OEMs would fit a size and then give a 'recommended' inflation pressure, usually to promote a smooth ride, tire wear be damned. And the mount of tire flex was dependent on the load to a large degree. Pressures of 28 front and 24 rear (or even lower) weren't uncommon, and if you went oversized you could lower pressures even more. You could also adjust how the tire wore with pressure changes, common knowledge. This worked because a bias-ply tire carcass flexed everywhere and there weren't any 'hot spots' that caused failures; the heat was spread out though the whole carcass. If the tire didn't look low, it was usually fine. Bias-belted tires changed this dynamic somewhat, generally narrowing the allowable pressure ranges some but you could still get away with jiggering pressures for the best compromise between ride and wear. Enter radials. Now you have a tire with a belted tread area, and that belt's sole purpose for being is to prevent flexing and keep the tread area flat. Most flexing is now transferred to the sidewall, and specifically to the junction where the belt/sidewall come together. Inflation pressure is now much less important to tread wear. Unfortunately, the OEMs continued to play with pressures for ride quality which proved to be a bad idea. That whole Firestone/Explorer fiasco that brought about this 'tire expiration' nonsense proved in the end to be too-low recommended pressures for 'improved' ride quality (in the low 20s) that coupled with higher ambient temps in the sunbelt caused overheating that broke the rubber down over time and led to catastrophic blowouts. Basically, those low pressures prematurely 'aged' the tire, it wasn't just the age per se. The NHTSA analyzed three years worth of accident reports for all US states during this study and was unable to find even ONE documentable case of an 'aged' tire solely causing an accident. But the legal/marketing departments at the manufacturers/tire retailers saw an opportunity. One, they could limit their future legal exposure, and two, sell more tires. A win-win in their eyes. This was nothing more than a cautionary recommendation originally, but continual harping and lobbying on their part is now seeing this made law in some places with very little proof that it's a real thing. And before anybody trots out the usual antidotal 'evidence' (My wife's cousin Fred's friend... blah blah), let me ask this. Being who we are, how many have gone with bigger radial tires on one or both ends of our cars? And how many went 'old school' and lowered tire pressure to improve the ride and/or traction? Or used the original bias-ply pressures? While that was fine on bias-ply, it's not good on radials. That's why you don't see those low pressures on new cars anymore, they learned their lesson. We need to do the same if we choose to run radials... And I 'get' the appearance thing with bias-ply tires. On some cars, it does make a big difference. But for me, it's a safety issue. I'm already driving a car with shortcomings in the suspension, steering and braking areas, adding tires into the mix is a bit more than I want to do.
You're lucky to run into an honest retailer who isn't greedy. He's absolutely correct. The manufacturers 'recommend' that you have them inspected by a 'tire tech' which around here means the kid checks the build date only and then tells you that you need a new tire....
I like white knuckle driving. Not the fast “Thunder Road” kind but the please don’t let the car in front stop on a hill, omg the ruts in this road, I better stay back a few extra car links, oh crap a hill and I have vacuum wipers, the interstate minimum is 45 so I’m good at 50, did I bring my fuel tank checking stick, park on I hill so I can roll start if I have to, am I smelling coolant, lol look at all those cars behind me, I better turn on my lights when I stop because a cop is behind me, cool -the 4th middle finger salute of the morning, I’m glad I learn hand signals in HS - down is stop I think, please car don’t pull out no no…….ooohhh thanks kinda driving. so I’m good with bias.
At 1300 pounds and if the vehicle is stored inside I would not worry too much on the 6 years. Unless you make it a practice to drive 70-80 mph on interstate for extended periods of time I would stay with what you have. I continue to use 303 Protectorant every 3 months and have ever seen even a crack in any tire.
If the old tires have steel belts in them, they often age faster then tires with belts that are not steel. Doesn't matter if those steel belted tires are radial or bias-ply. Also, just because a tire might be a belted tire, that does not mean it has steel belts, there are several different materials the tire belts are made from, steel only being one of them. The tire sidewall will tell you what material was used as tire belts. The steel separates from the rubber faster then other belt material because the steel gets hot faster then the other material. The weight of the vehicle, the tire pressure, the environment the tires live under, and the time/miles the tire has been around all effect the tire life. Heat kills the rubber in the tires. Other then low tire pressure, rotation speed is the 2nd highest heat producing in tires. The more a car sees high tire rotation speed, the faster the tire degrades. Tire speed is as important as any the other things that damage tires when one is considering tire replacement. Any tire more then 7 years old (all else being good), that also sees high tire rotation speeds (burn outs, 80 mph), is a tire time bomb waiting to go off. You have no way of knowing the level at which the heat, caused by the high speed rotation, has degraded the rubber in the tire. Bias or radial is a different matter.
My '55 F100 has flattened springs, reversed eyes, and a '60 front I beam, dropping it another 1". Foster Dad gave me the 2 piece Romeo Palamedes wheels, so I opted for Uniroyal Laredos, (attractive sidewall but mostly the silent ride and superior 'gription' I came to prefer on my O.T. brand of German cars I specialized in) First ride was very different from the former reversed steel Merc wheels/buick rims and 8.20 rear with 6.70 fronts, suddenly it steered nice, ride was superbly smooth! Wouldn't go back, no siree. Only Bias Plies for my '27 roadster and '27 tub; but they are 'appropo'... I had lots of experience with different brands, from 'radial noise' to 'radial thump'. I recall MANY hot rods and mid-'30s to late '40s cars I had, all with Bias Plies. Rear tires on 3 different cars ('36 Five window, '40 Coupe, and '46 Coupe) ran 8.20 X 15 U.S. Royal Masters. I had a good friend that worked at Firestone store in 1958. He had access to used tires and 'blems'. (Blemished tires had a spot in a whitewall, or some were dark green instead of black...These were a tire option that didn't go over well, so into the Blem chute they went! Front tires were 6.40 X 15, a favorite size for the 'California Rake! Kind of rare size, but Scott would come up with them from time to time. Sooo... I had Bias for years. (you could say I was 'biased'.) My personal 'change' occurred in 1974. My truck was first. My advancing career had changed all that, but it was a slow process. I drove the most advanced cars on the globe, ('little German cars, not VWs, but the 'P' word, M-B, and BMW) so would NOT advise their owners to switch to Bias Plies. Not in a millenium.
It just depend ... for early cars 20s 30s in my opinion only Bias Ply tire look right. When i see radials on such old cars ...it destroys the whole look of the car. And even if the ride is not so perfect i just take it as it is. It`s just the old soul / feel. If you want feel like driving a modern car just buy modern car .
the truth? source your tires some place else. Save a buck. I run radials because I drive my cars and need a tire that I can source anyplace. You have a specialty car not a driving car, find tires that look right and shell out the bucks.
A popular American Motors Rambler tire size. I worked at Sears Inglewood thru my college years in the early 60’s changing thousands of tires and remember them well. We sold most going on Tri-5’s fronts along with 7.60’s or 8.20’s on the rear….
Yep. Up around San Jose, we were ALL going for the "L.A. Look"! One of the race team members (all older guys) said Johnny Perreira's Deuce sedan had a "Dago Drop". Johnny answered up quick: "No, that's a 'Portagee Dip'!" Much laughter...
There are cars at Bonneville running 50 year old tires..........................................................
Sure, and you can ask Bob Dalton what the effects of a tire going down at speed, on the salt feels like.
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