hey everyone. Ive never ran bias ply tires before only radials, Ive heard alot of bad things abuot bias ply's in the past but notice alot of you are running them, I found a set for a good price but Im not sure whether I should hold out for radial WWW's, whats the pros and cons on bias
I've been running them on my roadster for seven summers. I just went from 15 inch bias to 16 inch bias. I love the look and the ride isn't bad at all. I drove 600 miles over last weekend (3 days) and enjoyed every mile.
well what I've seen between the two is not much, to me on my old pick up the radials made it move around on the freeway like a fish, but they might work better with a late 50's early 60's car because of the independent front ends but on my straight axle with leafs it didn't handle as good as it did with bias, from what my dad told me it rode better because the suspension was made for bias plys so yeah, to me they both slid in the rain just bias slide a lil bit easier in the water but hey it's easier to do burn outs then well at least it was for my old 50
i have had both on my cars..the bias undoubtedly looked way better!!!!! but with my cars being so radically altered to be very low the bias plys swam all over the place they would just follow the ruts in the highway and i would fight the steering..i just put radials on the 51 merc and it feels like i just sub framed it.. but it looked alot better before
It's simple...radials perform better than bias. Bias has a better look than radials. On a fendered car it's not that big of a deal and I would run radials. On an open wheel car I would run bias just for the look. On a light car they are not as bad as a heavy car. Clark
Ok maybe it doesn't matter but the biggest advantage the old bias tires have is lower road noise. When I built my A fenderless coupe I started out with recap slicks on the back (radials) and radials up front. The noise from the front tires was bad at speed. I changed to Firestone saw tooth bias tires up front and for the first time ever my wife says what did you do to the car it's so much quieter. The handling is as good except on certain roads it pulls right or left like crazy, a couple of times at first I thought I broke a suspension part, but later found out it was just the way the tires follow the crown or road surface. I don't think I will ever go to radials on the coupe. This year I went to Louisville 800 miles each way at an average of 75 MPH and had no problems at all and now I have bias all around.
My 54 Chevy had radials on it when I bought it. On the drive home it swayed like a rope bridge. Even at stop lights it would continue to sway on the tires. I switched to Firestone Bias plies and threw a set of Sensa-Trac shocks on it...what a great ride! Yes, the car does like to follow grooves every once in a while, but I've only noticed it on a road just outside of town where they repaved a strip halfway across the lane. You get on a decent road and it goes like a new car...couldn't be happier.
I think Coker Tire has a "New" radial that looks like a bias ply. I think they only make it in 16" though. You could have the look of the bias and the handling of a radial. It is on their site and I also seen it in a magazine. In time, they will probable make more sizes.
ya theres no doubt that bias tires look way kooler than radials, but my car is really dropped also and rides a little harder then Id like, Im just not sure if I should hold out and shell out more dough. The guy gave me a deal 300 bucks cheaper than the cost of a set of radial wide whites, plus he's throwin in a set of clean matched rims also. I just wasnt sure if they were really a safe tire or not
My car had Bias Plys on it when I got it... The bias plys regularly yanked the steering wheel outta my hand when they followed a rut in the road and they overall handling was awful. They also got flat spots whenever I drove the car after it was sitting for a while, which was loud and rumbly to drive on. I put a set of Diamondaback wide white radials on and the difference was dramatic. It really felt like I had a new front end on the car. The car drives MUCH BETTER. The bias plys look cool no doubt, but since I have my little girl in the car with me much of the time, I went with radials because they are much more stable. I'm sure this varies from car to car, but on my 51 I would never have bias plys on it again. That's just my experience... I have heard other people say that bias a better and safer. Stacey
Search under Bias vs Radials and you will get tons of info. This is an ongoing debate never to be resolved.
I drive the poot out of my cars. Big heavy cars too. I hated the bias plys, all over the road. Someone said: if you want the look- bias. If you drive a lot and go fast - radials. I plan to use radials on the roadster project, but I'm keeping an open mind in case the lighter car does better in bias plys. They're cheaper by a lot and reduce the unsprung weight, but they sure made my old '56 handle like crap. Just don't mix radials and bias on the same axle. That's a recipe for disaster. " whip-whip-whoop. Ground- sky- ground- sky- Ground- sky black. (sound of ambulance arriving). I learned this one the hard way. I feel fortunate to have lived to tell the tale. CP
bias vs. radials = looks vs. performance. If you have any friends whose cars have bias plys, you might try driving one to see what they feel like. My Riviera had bias plys when I got it and I hated them. They handled like total shit & had no traction what-so-ever. But then, I prefer driving fast to looking period correct. However, I agree with some others in that radials look stupid on a traditional fenderless rod.
I have fenders. I had bias www's. (cokers.) They wore out. They are fuggin expensive to replace. They rode like shit, and wandered. I got the cheapest Pep Boys tires (radials, duh) possible. $34 per tire. so the whole set was cheaper than ONE Coker. Ground them to make "medium whitewalls." The whitewalls are not perfect. I dont care. They still look fuggin awesome 10 feet away. They ride like a DREAM. Fuck bias plys. Unless you're fenderless, then you're screwed. [ QUOTE ] But then, I prefer driving fast to looking period correct. [/ QUOTE ] Amen, brutha. -J
fenderless model a's should never have radials, if ur car is really low and u could barely see the tire u might as well go with the radials. i dont really mind my bias on highways it gets a little scary sometimes but i think thats also due to the large amount of play in my steering. but locally its fine
Radials or for gays and blind folks. Just kiddin.......sort of. Bias plys in my opinion are a compromise. I personally make the sacrifice. On an open wheeled car it's worth it. Wide white radials still just don't look the part. I always hear "well Im gonna drive it everyday and want it to be as safe as possible". If that's the case you should have bought a Honda. If it's fendered run radials. If its open and you can deal with it go bias.
I have bias plys. I've never drivin the car with radials, so I wouldn't know the difference. I figure I can't miss what I don't know about, right? They do pull and like to follow grooves in the road, so you need to pay attention to what's on the road agead of you, (but you should do that anyway). If you go with bias plys make sure you get them properly balanced, I had un-balanced ones on the front, then got the new set balanced, let me tell ya, what a world of difference!! Basicly it's really a matter of preferance, (and your pocket book, bias ply WWW are more expensive). I've allways lucked on on getting nice used ones, so far for practicly free. And basicly I just perfer the look of bias plys as oppossed to radial WWW, they just look at home on my car to me.
I've driven this car with radials and bias (currently bias) and I think it drives just fine with the bias. No problems in the rain driving down to the Pileup on Friday. Of course I did slide through a stop sign almost sideways, but it kinda snuck up on me.
Surely, this whole debate is about how trad do you want to be. The same as alternator vs generator, drums vs discs, bias vs radials. If you want your car to be era correct, then you use bias. If period-perfection isn't that important to you, you can compromise.
From most of the responces I'd say it seems to depend on the car. Probably how it's set up. I've had radials on my car since i owned it and it's pulled right since. I want to try some bias plys just for the hell of it.
Years ago, my brother had a stone stock, '56 Ford F-100 pickup. Every so often it would make a wild dive for the side of the road for no apparent reason. Scary. Didn't seem to be triggered by bumps or anything else in particular. After trying everything else, my dad wondered if maybe if its old stock suspension just wasn't happy with radials on it. Switched to bias ply and never had it happen again. Years later, I have a basically stock '51 Ford pickup. Had cheap radials when I got it, replaced them with decent Uniroyal radials. With either set of tires this Ford truck never drove as wildly as my brother's F-100 did at first. Hard to say what was really going on with my bro's truck. But I do like the way my F-1 drives with radials. No, they don't look as cool as bias though. I agree -- more obvious, less excusable on some cars. Dave
[ QUOTE ] Ok maybe it doesn't matter but the biggest advantage the old bias tires have is lower road noise....and had no problems at all and now I have bias all around. [/ QUOTE ] I'd have to agree with Oldspeed i just ordered fronts and backs from Coker ( ran me $600 total w/ shipping and tax ) for my model A coupe and i love 'em and they look sick!!!!!!! haven't ridden them in the rain yet, but not sure if i'll even drive the car in the rain much this winter. also want to include that i run fenderless and i wanted the car to look period correct CAB
I have never run anything but rag tires on my open wheeled car. The new firestone repops from coker drive much better than the old ones did. on my wife's car though, we put radials on it. it's a big heavy `59 and it drives much better now.
Im running a set of sear allstates from about 1959 all bia-ply. the car rides and stears great even at high speed. And we are not talking about a little car. 3 years ago i came back from Indy ( about a 3 hour drive) in the rain at around 90 the whole way and didnt miss a lick.
Had the Firestone/coker big 'n littles on my A. Followed every rut in the road and if you stabbed the throttle, you would do an instant lane change. Road hard and handled like crap. But man do they look good! I'm running www radials now and I can actually drive my car to work without fear of driving into a guardrail.
I'm in the nineth year and second set of Coker WW Bias tires. I drive all over, no problems. I've tried other wheel/tire combos but they dont stay on long coz the car begs for the W/W. I've got fenders and stock radius rods, 40 spindles and the car handles just fine. It's just a little tricky going downhill, fast, on a curve, in the rain.
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