What year did radial tires come to market and the big three start using them instead of bias? I am asking because I'm wondering what year car would not be corret to run bias tires. Building a 50's custom with bias tires certainly looks better, but not if it was going backwards technologically for the year, ie. 1959 Impala, etc.
1974-75; The 'ol man bought a new '75 LeMans that had a small plaque on the dash that denoted "Radial Tuned Suspension"....
Michelin championed radials in the US. They started campaigning in about '64 as I recall. My old man bought a '67 Country Squire that had radials on it from the factory.
Do you want an excuse to run radials or an excuse to run bias? If the former, then Michelin started selling radials in '48 But their patent kept it a European car thing for way too long a time.
I remeber riding in my uncle's new 69 Pontiac Gran Prix that had radials. He was sure they were flat so stopped and air them up. Then the ride was rough. He hated them.
My dad bought a new Toronado ( for 5K ) in 1969 and it didn't come with radials. It's first set of new tires ( 2 at first ) were radials...so I'm guessing 70/71 they came out. not sure when they started putting them on new cars, as Mfg's might have waited awhile ? They had some problems when they first came out as I recall. I remember that at first he just put two in the rear and it was squirrely.
In the sixtys they introduced a ply-glass tire,,,the years between the bias and the radial tire,,,Coker has them and they ride great! HRP
I appriciate the bias for the look, but didn't want it to look wrong on too late of a model, although that doesn't sound like it's going to be an issue.
Here is a pic of an early Michelin radial circa mid 50's. Its not low . Its the Hemi that weighs too much. I know that they were standard on the Facel as early as 1953. While the patent dates to an earlier time . They were rarely used as standard equipment.
Detroit started using radials as standard equipment around '74... kinda used as a "gas saving" ploy after the Arab oil embargo. I worked at a Chry/Ply store until '72 and all of our new cars had bias ply tires.
As a kid into cars in the 70s, I remember that most cars were still running bias plys then, except for imports. Our Volvo 544 had radials as did the new cars purchased about 1980, but we didn't put them on the other older cars until the early 80s. Most hot rods were running bias plys well into the 80s
74' was the first year for "standard" radials on GM cars. 73 was still poly glass and radials were available on some models
DeLorean actually campaigned for making Michelin radials standard on the '64 GTO, but the old farts vetoed it.
My Dad bought a '72 Caprice four door sedan demonstrator and that car came new with radials. He disliked 'em as he thought the car felt too squirmy. He ran 'em, though, 'til they wore out; he isn't one to throw even OK stuff away. I'm pretty sure he replaced 'em with Roadhandlers from Sears (my Mom worked there, got a nice discount), which were made by Michelin. Those OEM radials were good for burnouts, tho. That Caprice had a 400 in 'er and would spin those tires all day, if necessary. I witnessed plenty from the front passenger seat.
The Michelins on my old man's Country Squire were like 80+ percent aspect ratio, real "balloon" tires, and you could shove on a fender horizontally, the whole car shook like a bowl of jello. They rode like a dream, tho.
i got a new 74 caddy and they had some on the lot with radials and some with bais tires so i,d say the switch was 74 maybe mid year?
If you're restoring a mid 70s American car, then yeah, it might be important to know just what year they started showing up on new cars. But if you want to see what guys were actually running on their hot rods, look at pics in old magazines....
In 1963, my dad put a set of Semperit radials on his MGB roadster. When he bought it new in November of '62, it came with bias-plies. The radials were an improvement in every way. The Lotus Elan he bought new in 1969 came with Pirelli radials. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Michelin first introduced steel-belted radial tires in Europe in 1948. In 1966, Michelin struck a deal with Sears to manufacture radial tires for sale under the Allstate label, and within four years Sears was selling one million units per year. In the mid-1960s, B.F. Goodrich embraced radial technology as a means to win market share from its larger rivals, and the company introduced the first American-made radial in the mid-1960s and supported the launch with its "Radial Age" advertising campaign of 1968. First making their way into the automobile manufacturers' lines in 1965, radial tires quickly became the standard tire design. By 1973, all U.S. automobile manufacturers had standardized with the radial tire, mostly due to its fuel-economy benefits.
I got a 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass with a Turnpike Cruising package option. That was the only model of Oldsmobile in 1967 were you could order radial tires... On all other 1967 Oldsmobile diagonal was mandatory...
In probably '68 or '69 my old man took our '64 Plymouth Fury to Sears for new tires and came home with a set of Sears branded Michelin radials. I'm thinking they were nearly twice the cost of bias ply tires at the time. They were a bit noisier at higher speeds and they always looked like they were low on air. When a well meaning stranger would pull up beside him to warn him that his tires were going flat, my dad would initially try to explain to them that they were radials and that's just the way they were supposed to look. Mostly, I don't think they believed him and after a couple months he'd tired of trying to explain the theory of radial tires. So after that when someone would tell him he was getting a flat tire, he'd just thank them and promise to get it looked into. But he never regetted buying them. You got used to the "highway hum", the car handled and rode beautifully and they were guaranteed for 40,000 miles, at a time when bias plies might last 20,000. He finally had to change them out after 60,000+ miles when one of them blew out. It looked like the sidewall just fell out of it but still had probably 1/3 to 1/2 of its tread. He didn't think twice about going back to Sears for another set of radials.
Thanks for the information. So the next question is...for a mid 50's size car, what make/model ride, handle, drive, etc. best?(Bias for me, or Radial if you wish)
I recall when everyone would note how radials appeared low on air. I'm guessing my dad bought his first set sometime around 1970. Our 68 Cutlass didn't have radials when new and that was the first replacement radial my dad bought. He put a good many miles on it so I'm guessing around 1970. Good question. I can't believe that nobody has asked it before.
Actually, the glass belted bias ply tires were much better tires then the "cheap bias ply" tires. A few years later, steel belted bias ply tires came out, if taken care of, the steel belted bias tires would last for close to 40K miles. When the radials came out they were so much of an improvement in the handeling that we were advising (I worked at a full service gas station from 72 - 77) not to install the "new" radial tires on cars older the late 60s. After the radials were around for a few years, it was proven the radials would not harm the older suspension, as first was the concern. This concern was from the auto manufactureres who were concerned the improved cornering ability of the radial tire could put undue stress on suspension systems not designed for the extra load. Most wide tires or any racing tires were bias ply through well into the mid/late 70s. Early BF Goodrich tires had some issues of coming apart at speeds over 80-85 which was an issue with the performance cars of the days. By the mid 70s those issues were resolved and radials became more popular. Gene
My dad bought a new Impala in '73; it came with bias ply tires. He bought a '76 Corolla used in '77; it came with radials. He bought a new Dodge Diplomat in '78; it came with bias ply tires. He bought a new Grand Prix in '83; it came with radials. Most cars came with bias ply tires until after the oil embargo and then the big switch to radials began, as has been mentioned above, but bias ply tires were common factory tires throughout the 70s, as radials were still an extra cost option.
The Jalopy Journal
