I know this has been covered in general before (correct tires for early customs), but I'm hoping you guys can give me some specific suggestions for a '48 Buick I'm about to buy. The seller has incorrect 60s-style whitewall radials with about a 1" whitewall: This Buick is big and heavy (4000+ pounds!)...it's pretty much stock (not lowered....yet)and has skirts on the back. I want to go with www bias-plies and flipper hubcaps (currently has early 50s Buick wire wheels). I'd like to get the car a bit lower as well. Cutting/torching springs is not an option for me. I've read a lot of previous posts on the HAMB about period-correct tires for customs, but considering this car's size and the fact I want it a bit lower, would getting smaller tires in the back be one way to get it a bit lower with minimal effort? Is that commonly done on taildraggers? Would a Firestone www combo of 6.70/7.00/7.10/15 in the rear with say 7.60/8.20 tires in the front work well? Thanks in advance for any comments/advice!
I prefer round ones. Smaller in the back would most likely look pretty goofy. Go with the same size all the way around with a 3" - 4" white wall. Lower it accordingly AFTER the new wheels and tires are installed.
Rubber ones for me... First of all WHY bias plies...they are dangerous on the highways...get radials if you do a lot of highway driving. Second, wide whites were en vogue when that car came out...and thru-out the fifties...you could do smaller tires, that is acceptable, but you'd be better off using lowering blocks in the rear...smaller tires, especially bias plies on a heavy car do not a good combo make...there was a reason the manuf. used a larger tire... Third, why not cut the coils...a ring or two is NOT going to affect the ride that much...and it can be aligned as easy...that'd be the way I'd do it... If nothing else, haul some concrete sacks (blocks) in the trunk...that'd lower it... R-
I'm not into radials on old cars-sorry. Lowering blocks are not an option either -the car has coils all around. I agree cutting coils is better than torching them, but I'd rather replace them w/shorter, aftermarket ones if I'm going to mess with them. But that means $$$, as does dropped spindles. I was just thinking that I possibly could accomplish two things at once with front & rear tires with slightly different sizes: lower the car a bit in the back and have new rubber all around.It's not like I'm going with big & littles on a hot rod; the tires I've mentioned only vary in size about an inch or so, and most of the rear tire will behind the skirts anyway. Others on the HAMB have mentioned doing this; I'm just wondering about my specific application. Constructive comments welcome. J.B./Rikster? Anyone else?
So RB...you're one of those guys that want your cake and be able to eat it too...eh...??? WHY NOT radials on old cars...??? I'd like to hear the "excuse" (ohhh sorry, the 'reason') on that one... Radials handle a thousand per cent better...(I've got ww radials on my ol' Stude...and 130,000 trouble free miles on the car...hold on, let me qualify that...only about 20,000 on the ww radials)...the rest were on black sidewall radials... Other than different tires...or concrete bags in the trunk, anything else is going to cost you bucks...just no getting around that... R-
R, Thanks for your input, but this posting is NOT about radials vs.bias-plies...it's been done a thousand times before on the HAMB and is quite boring now. I prefer the period-correct look of bias-plies on old cars and am willing to give up a bit on the handling side. Perhaps you're not; that's fine. To each his own.
Its ALWAYS about bias vs. radials!! I met Jacques Bajer (The guy who invented Radial Tuned Suspension! ) when I was in Detroit last summer. As he was checking out my '56 Desoto (I caught him pushing down on the fenders...), He told me NEVER to put radials on my car!! The car was designed around bias plys and would ride much better with them!! Who am I to argue?? Back to springs. on My '50 Buick I cut one coil in the front and put NEW '79 El Camino spings (from Napa) in the back. They were pretty cheap and dropped the rear 4". I didn't think this was enough so I cut the top pigtails off and now it sits perfect and I still have a bit of ride height. For the front you can get a lowering plate kit for the lower A arms which uses your original springs but raises the A arm. I saw it mentioned here before and thought it was pretty slick. Mark
Thanx RB...that's what I was looking for...YOUR reason for running bias plies... And you are correct: to each his own. I put on a ton of highway miles on my '40...and from 50 feet away, you can't tell if the tires are radials or bias plies...and neither can the average person that looks at it... And GreatBalls...what the hell does Jacques Bajer know anyway...??? (and exactly what is a "radial tuned suspension"...???) Didja ask him if ever drove a '40's or '50's or '60's car with radials...??? R-
These old Buick Roadmasters only interchange ch***is and components with the 41-48 Caddys and Olds 98 and are on a larger wheelbase than the Specials & 88's. Having a set of period wire wheels could be a plus if they are in good condition and may actually look better with a set of wide whites . The rest of the lowering questions will be answered by " How much do you want to spend and low do you want to go?". You're only going to be able to go down so far without bottoming out the suspension somewhere. The safest and least expensive lowering options will be new rear springs and dropped spindles. You might be able to flip the spindles but for the time involved in bending things to get the right suspension angles, it may be cheaper to replace them with the new dropped ones. Cutting coils in the front can cause issues with the upper shock/control arms as they will not be centered for proper shock/suspension travel . These cars had a front shock absorber that was integral part of the upper control arm. If you lower the rear. Remember to reset or modify the shock arms and panhard rod so the differential and shocks are centered . Bias ply tires can actually be taller than a similar sized radial. Pay close attention to the series of radial ( R75 has a taller side wall than a R70). Don't forget to send the pics of it in your driveway.
fill the spare with fluid the shorter rear coils are the ticket save the stockers and cut some others up trust that the extreme lowness you seek will only be done correctly with bags as everything starts hiitting and un aligning when radical cuts are made ... drivin it is more fun when you can get home safe
My dodge has a tail dragger stance (lowering blocks and cut coils) and it had all the same size tires on it. Well one day I had a blow out so I put on two smaller size tires in the back that I had laying around. About an inch shorter if that. Looked like ***. Ever walk up to a car and just say to yourself "There is just something not right about that but I don't know what." Yeah don't do it. Personally, I would go with whatever size it came with stock and drop it abut 5 inches and a little more in the back. .
Jaques Bajer (see the link in my previous post) was head hunted by Lincoln in 1955 away from Michelin France (the tire company...). From 1955 through the 60's he designed their (Ford's) suspension systems. He then started his own tire research company and ALL the auto manufacturers use him. What's your credentials??? Radial Tuned Suspension means the suspension of the car is designed around the type of tires used. The older king pin based suspensions don't move the way the more modern ball joint systems do. Radial tires are designed for these modern systems and the systems are designed with Radials in mind. Jaques told me all this himself. He said " You can still get bias ply tires for this, I hope?! Because you should never use radials!"
Palosfv3/excellent info.-thanks! If you were putting bias-plys on this car, what size would you go with? I'm thinking 7.60/15 all around now... Gr8ballsofir-thanks also. Any idea if the El Camino springs would fit a '48 though? You have a '50... I know some like the look of wire wheels, but I prefer steelies w/hubcaps.
Couldn't say for sure, but it would be real easy to take yours off and take 'em up to Napa. I payed like $80 or something. On mine the lower pigtail bolt is reverse thread... Another point about big/littles is smaller rear tires will raise rpm's. Going from G78's to H78's/7.60 made a huge difference in Highway speeds for both my '56 and '50.
This little advert is horribly transparent, and it's getting a little bothersome. P.S. customtire.com doesn't even work, it's for sale. Did you forget to pay a bill or what?
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