Ugh, i know the ***le is confusing to all hell, but i'm wondering if gents would be able to shed some light on a question that's been brewing for me: I am collecting parts for my upcoming project and i've recently purchased a pair of old steel artillery wheels from a member here. they are from a 30's Dodge/Destoto/Plymouth. What i'd like to know is can i run a Excelsior radial, or Coker type radial tire on a non radial style wheel? It the bead seating pattern on radial rims different than bias ply wheels? Or would i have to change out the barrels? I will be driving this car on the highways and streets, and it's not going to be a parade cruiser so i'd like to make sure. Thanks in advance for the replies Adrian
Most modern tires are designed to work on a "safety rim". We run radials on the older style rims all the time. I am not a tire and wheel expert so I cannot say how safe it is. I do not know of anyone who has had a problem. I will say this if you are a numbers guy and want to have some doubts when you are driving if you go by the numbers a radial tire in theory would put too much stress on a wheel designed for bias ply tires. Like I said earlier I do not personally know of anyone who has had a problem but in theory you could.
I've never had any issues with running radials on older wheels, including non-safety bead wheels. I expect there are other aspects of the car that are less safe than the wheel/tire setup, too. It's an old car, after all!
Cool, thanks guys. There is a local wheel expert who was recommending new barrels for the wheels, but I’ve never heard other hot rodders doing this with their wheel combos unless they needed a larger width rim.
I’m new to the world of running skinny tires on 30’s vehicles, so excuse my ignorance. I was told that most people don’t advise doing any reasonable speeds with bias plies. No I know bonneville guys were racing on bias when that’s all there was… mom okay with bias as they are less expensive and I have a tendency to roast my tires, but will running bias plies be safe to drive at 80-90mph consistently?
What kind of cars are these people talking about? I've driven the car in my avatar enough miles to wear out a set of bias ply tires, 70 mph on the highway most of the time, and gets up to over 130 mph at the drag strip.
You might find that the older rims weren't made for tubeless tires(as in, they're not air-tight). So, I'd run a *radial* tube in whatever tire you decide on. & have done this w/o problem. You can use radial tubes in place of bias-ply-style tubes, but not the other way around. Radial tubes have thicker outer-walls than the constant thickness wall of bias play tubes. Radial tubes are also made to withstand flexing & friction better than bias-style tube. The only issue is that radial tubes aren't made for every size. So you get to decide what is acceptable & safe, although there are sizing guidelines - that I prefer to follow. FWIW. Marcus...
I like to drive faster than most, but I’ve factored in a safety buffer with those numbers. Like I said, I’m new to the skinny tire world of hot rodding, but no stranger to building hot rods and fast cars. I simply do not know many other hot rodders around area so I’m looking for ooonions from a wider audience.
I have no problem running 80 - 90 in my A with skinny bias ply Firestones. I talk to a lot of guys that get freaked out by the way bias ply tires follow the rain grooves on freeways; it doesn't bother me. Yeah they squirm around a little, so what? Just go with it and there's no problem. Was talking with a guy at LARS over the weekend, he was very p***ionate about how dangerous it was, and he drives a cement truck so he knows what he's talking about. LOL! Seriously, just relax your grip on the wheel a little, don't tense up so much, you know what's going on so don't freak out. Stay in your lane, and don't over correct. We drove 'em like this all the time in the 70's before radials became the norm. Speed limits didn't even exist in certain areas of the country, and we buried the speedometer.
Most race tires are still Bias ply today. As for running 80 to 90 MPH constantly, Bias ply's will do it all day as long as they are balanced good. My self and My club brothers Ran most of the way across the country from NC last year on the way to Bonneville at 80 to 90 MPH in a 39 ford, and two 32 Ford's. My 39 and Dels 32 with Bias plys and Bens 32 with Excelsior radials. Ben will tell you the Excelsior tires handle no better that a good bias ply. One this that can be a problem with the old wheels and tubeless tires, is the rivets that hold the wheel together. They and leak air. I have had great success with stopping this by having the wheels powder coated or putting on a nice thick coat of paint on the inside of the rim. Personally i weld all mine on the back side just be safe but you don't have to. Having old cars with both radial and bias ply's, you will find low speed steering like in parking lots easier with bias plays than radials. People say Bias ply's follow the grooves in the road.....they don't do any worse than my 29 roadster with radials on the front, and honestly the bias ply's might be better. Either will work just fine. the Bias ply's will look right, and just plain look better than the radials, but put what ever you want on it and drive the piss out of it.
I haven't had any problems with leaks on riveted 1940s-50s wheels. But the 1930s wheels might leak...depending on what they are and what condition they're in.
Thank you very much for the replies everyone. I am very happy that i started this thread as it has been very informative. Bias ply's will be the route i take. Many more options on styles and sizes and everyone's responses give me confidence that this will work just fine. I also like the fact that low speed steering will be easier with bias ply's than radials as there will be no power steering on this build. Adrian
Before you drop some dollars.......... Look at it this way............which choice is actually the safest when you consider the speeds you prefer to drive? Which tires are best at going where you want them to go at those speeds ? Which tires handle curves and changes of direction best at both high and low speeds? Which tires are easist to get balanced (less likely to be out of round)? Which tires are going to possibly be available quickly if you have a ruined tire while on a trip ? Which tires will best harness the power of your engine since you enjoy roasting tires? I have to say right up front that I'm biased.......but toward radial tires. Is that an oxy*****? I like the looks of bias ply tires, but lately have heard complaints about bias plys from Coker being problematic. There is a current thread on here where a guy returned his Coker tires because they would not balance. They replaced them with two more that he is having an extremely difficult time getting them to balance. At 80 mph that could be very much of a problem. The second thing is that the tires always want to follow whatever grooves the road may have. Some say thats not a problem for them......for me, it would be. For you ???? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/balance-beads-again.1267010/ So theres my .02 worth. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
I'm just going to say that you are going to find damned few cars that run Excelsiors That have wheel rims designed for radial tires or tubeless tires for that matter. I usually get to visit with the gent who owns this Bentley at the Maryhill car show in the fall. He had told me one year that he was going to try Excelsiors on it because his tires were getting worn and he didn't like the way it drove at speed. It's not a trailered rig, he blows up the freeway at freeway speed. Add to that he runs it in the Maryhill Hill climb. He did install them and said it made a world of difference. Obvious in the photo are the stock wheels built for bias tires.
Here's another possibility: https://dbtires.com/product/auburn-deluxe-radial-15-16-sizes/ Not inexpensive, but seem to be well rated by Rodders.
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