Hot Rods What bias ply front tires work best? 5.50 or 6.00? Balance issues?

I blew my beater 32 Fordor apart to change some things up awhile back and am slowly getting it back together. Been thinking of running a set of bias ply tires this go round and am wondering what set up works best. I have a new set of Gennie wheels still in the boxes, - 16x4 1/2 fronts and 16x6 rears.

I am thinking about a Firestone 7.50 for the rear but can't decide on the fronts.

I know a lot of people have had basketball problems with the smaller 4.50/4.75 sizes so I will stay away from those. I have heard good things about the 6.00 size riding like a Caddilac but they seem a little big for the fronts. Still, if they ride that good I may want them anyway if the 5.50's are more problematic. I'm leaning towards a 5.50 front and 7.50 rear combo though.

I also have heard it's better to buy the heavier radial type tubes. Is this correct?

All in all, I just want the car to drive as good as it can with bias on it but have never run them before and want to get it right the first time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

-Ron

 

I went from big 315/55/16 radials with 18 psi with great ride to cheater slicks, and most recently to 750 and 550 16's on 4.5's and 6's

The ride is worse but not that bad. It tracks and drives great. No out of roundness or hopping but one rear took quite a bit of weight.




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I run with 6.00 x 16 in the front on 4" wheels with 7.50 16 on 5 inch wheels in the rear. Significant big and little factor here as I think theres about 4 inch in diameter difference between front and back tires. If I had to do it again, I would likely go with 7.00 in the back as they have more tread width (go and figure?) and are about 1/2 inch in diameter smaller. Car goes straight down the road. Run on 28psi. Yes--I use radial tubes but frankly these are the most available tubes around at this point and the $ very close to regular.

Pete

 

That is a great looking car.

I may be fooling myself about my expectations with bias ply's though. I'm beginning to think I should stick with radials and call it done.

 

I have been 140 mph in my 5.50s with no
Problems.


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I never had any issues with either front tire size. The 7.50 x 16 rears are another story. I went through five on my A Sedan to get two good ones.......ymmv....

 

Yowza...

 

I have new Firestones (Coker) bias on my coupe. 7:50 x 16" rear 4" wide wheels and 6:00 x 16" on 3-1/2" wide wheels (V8-60's) and they are fine. The car rides nice steers great.

 

Tire balance issues does not come from size it comes from tire quality or the lack there of.

What you really want for a streeter is a tire large enough to handle the weight of the vehicle.

 

Re. the balance issue. I've run Dyna-Beads in my Firestone bias ply tires on my '34 Coupe for several thousand miles with no problems! I also like the fact that I don't have to install ugly wheel weights on my powdercoated rims. I recently replaced the tires on my OT '70 big-block Vette with repop Goodyear bias plys and installed Dyna-Beads in them. Again, no problems with balance issues or scratched rims!

Jim

 

So if you run the beads you don't even bother to balance the tires at all? What do the beads do to the inside of the tires or tubes?

Thanks for the replies...

 

I balanced mine myself. Put the weights on the inside. No big deal.

 

Buy the beads and follow the instructions.

What they do is roll around inside the tire and pool on the lightest spot to compensate for the heavy spot. There is a principal of physics involved but I don't know what it is.

 

size does affect balance issues, just because the larger diameter and heavier the tire, the bigger effect lousy construction will have on it, and there's more opportunity for things to go wrong when they build the tire. At least that's how I see it. I too have had more balance issues with larger tirs.

Bias ply tires require everything on the car to be "right", radials will cover a lot of handling sins. But only you can decide if it's worth the effort to make the car look right.

 

i'm not seeing a real difference in your two options, go with "look" on this one.

 

Ron,

I've had Firestones (7.50-16 rear/5.50-16 front) on the fordor for about 12 months now. In that time, I've put approximately 5,000 miles on the tires, and have not had any issues with bouncing tires or shake, and can run with traffic on the Interstate with no problem. The right rear tire took more weight than the others, but part of the issue may be that we are running original Ford steel wheels (4.5 inches wide).

We started with a stack of 12 original wheels, spun them on a Hunter tire machine, and picked the 4 wheels with the least amount of runout. The tires were mounted and Road Forced using a Hunter tire machine, and we only used weights on the inside of the wheel, although it would be best practice to put them on both the inner and outer bead of the rim. The Halibrands and radials will soon go back on the fordor, as I'm just breaking in the steelies and bias tires for our new project. Good luck.

-Ryan

 

Man... That car does it for me every time. I wish I could make mine that nice but it would take so much work to get my old "field find" body in shape, it's just not worth it. So, I'll just detail the chassis, block the body as best I can, run it in primer and call it done.

I'm just gonna order a set of the 5.50' & 750's after the holiday and call it done.

Thanks for the replies guys...

 

Very Helpful. And Perfect Car! Cheers.