Technical tire types?

i just picked up a '57 fairlane 500, and was wondering if i should put tube type bias plys back on it, or radials? i cant afford cokers yet, but i have found "light duty truck tires" that seem to be bias plys

 

Tubeless bias ply might be OK too. I have them on my Chevy II. I have radials on my 59 chevy pickup.

It's a tough decision what to use, there are a lot of things that might sway your mind one way or the other. Appearance, handling, life, cost, all play into it. We have no idea about whether your car is stock or modified, or how it's modified if it is. We have no idea what you intend to do with it. So, we can't really offer any useful advice.

 

I put Coker bias tubeless on my ‘51 coupe. I replaced the 15” tubeless radials. These were the original wheels. So tubeless tires should be fine on that 57. Likely a 57 has 14s or should have 14s. That’s about when 14s became standard for Ford full-size.

 

I will add this.
If you are going for a period look, wheels and tires more than anything, define that look. I don’t care what kind of paint job it has. I don’t care what’s been done to it, wheels and tire are the biggest element for the “ look”.
I put a set of Coker BF Goodrich Silvertowns with ‘51 caps on my Coupe. By far for “bang for the buck” this more than anything really makes the car look period.
Is this a driver or a non driving project?
Is it close to driving?
One option is to spread the cost over time. Say, order one tire this month, a couple more next month. That’s an option if the car is not quite ready.
Truck tires??
Man, I don’t know. If they are the STA truck tires....I’m going to say probably not.
If they are no name mystery tires ( Chinese)....I’m going to say Heck No.
Cooper has some good radials, white letters that look really good. They are not quite period but they look good. You can always turn the white letters in. They do have graphics on the black side. I think they look good white letter out. It’s a good look.

Pricing....I know they are sky high but.....
Have you priced a set of new truck tires?

With the economy, stuff is only going to get more and more expensive.

 

I went back and looked at your 57.....
Priorities man, priorities!
You have a long way to go before that joker will see the road.
Get the cheapest rollers that hold air, In other words, yard tires.
Depending on how fast or truthfully how steady you are.....you are at least a year out. You need something that the car can sit on and roll on without going flat. That’s it.
Get it roll.
Get it to stop.
Get it to run.
Get it to light.
Get the tag.
After all this, get the new tires you want when the care is remotely close to “ road ready”.
Right now you have several months of brake, engine and general repair ahead of you in my opinion, before new tires are in the picture.

 

Well, if you're trying for 'period correct bias ply' your only choice is the Coker 7.50-14. '57 was the first year for 14" wheels and remained the standard wheel size through '64 on full-size Fords; they switched back to 15" in '65. Ford had also made the switch to tubeless tires as standard equipment a few years before.

14" tires have become obsolete, with only limited larger sizes available outside of the 'specialty' tire makers. For a off-t******lf tire, a 225/75R-14 will be pretty close to the OEM size. It will be as close to the correct diameter as you can get, but will be wider than OEM. Good luck finding any bias-ply 14" besides the Cokers.

15" wheels were available as an option, but you gave up full wheel covers and these were very rarely seen. You usually found them on fleet cars, taxis and police.

 

alright, it already rolls, all the brakes are free spinning, and the parking brake works still somehow... and the tires i put on it have already gone flat, lights mostly work, getting it to run is a priority. and after that, it will be a lot easier to move it around and rebuild all 4 drums. i was just trying to think ahead, "he put brand new wipers on a busted windshield" is a quote i love. the biggest issue with "get it to roll" is that its so heavy i can barely move the thing without two or more people.

 

The question becomes do you want to drive it? If you want to drive it you put whatever your pocket book allows.

I have found that if you are looking for Bias ply tires affordable that a farm coop is the place to look. They still sell tube type bias plys to farmers and light truck tires work fin on a car. Tubes are not really an issue either.

 

I honestly couldn't agree with this post more. I too went back and took a look at the project you're referencing and agree with everything @F-ONE just said. I guarantee that car is going to need a whole new fuel and brake system, a fresh suspension rebuild, and likely a slew of mechanical work in terms of both repair and preventative measures so that things don't start breaking as soon as you start putting miles on. Only once that is done, should you really consider what tires you want to run.

FWIW, I don't like the look of 14s on a big 50s era car, despite the fact that a lot of them came that way. That was a design flaw from the factory, in my opinion. 15" wheels look much better. 205/75R15 on the '57 are a great size. After getting to that point in the build, don't cheap out on junk tires. They make a big difference in how the car drives and rides.

To keep this thread on topic, I'd just go and get a set of used tires that have some tread left and slap them on. Years ago I bought a '58 Custom that had a bad set of dry-rotted tires that kept going flat. I drove the car to some used-tire spot next to the housing projects in Newark and got 4 used Toyos for $35 a tire mounted and balanced. I threw the guy a couple extra bucks and was out the door for $150. They wound up long outlasting the car.

 

When I got a 59 Edsel several years ago, it had really bad 14" tires on it, and I needed to move the car around the shop a bit. I bought a pair of radials, and then I had 4 tires that would hold air. When I got the car running a few weeks later, I bought two more tires. I think the tires cost about $60 each, and were in stock at a local independent tire store. They were used on minivans, so there was still enough market for them to keep in stock.

The radials were a bit shorter than the original tires, but they worked ok for that car. The car was a mess, and pinching pennies as well as I could, I still lost several hundred bucks on it when I sold it. Paying a lot for the right bias tires would have been even more foolish.

 

got it, theres a tire shop not too far from me that has a bunch of old tires for cheap, and you get a free replacement if they dont hold air

 

My 2 cents.....
I don't care for the way that radials look on vintage cars. Even the "Bias ply" look radials. That's just me.
As has been stated. 14" tires are going the way of the Dodo bird. You can get them for trailers and that seems to be about it other then Cokers and a few others.
I wouldn't get new bias ply until you are ready to drive it. Ever heard of tires getting flat spots on them from sitting.? Its a bias ply tire thing.
Keep at it.
Torchie