I need some pics of fenderless hot rods with radial tires.I like the looks of bias ply but I want the ride and handling of radials.I don't want to start a shit storm so if you don't have something positive to add don't respond.
I just posted pics of my 5-W today under title of Just replaced my 36 -3-W. the wait is over with NEW Wide Wall Radials. They are Diamond backs and I wouldnt have anything else. Larry.
Probably going to catch shit for this because this is a touchy subject here,but here goes.Sorry about the girl shot it is the onle side view i have worth a crap
A picture of a hot rod that includes pretty girl in a pink bikini is hardly ever wrong. My car in the avatar has always had radials; currently 165R15 front, P245/75R16 rear.
About 18 months ago, after thousands of miles of driving, I decided to replace the aged bias ply wide whites on my roadster with a set of Diamondback blackwall "smoothie" radials. In my opinion, it changed the appearance of the car from '50's style cruiser' to 'Hot Rod'. Appearance-wise I liked it either style. More importantly, the radials dramatically improved the tracking and overall handling, so much so that I then replaced the tires on my fenderless A Tudor with Diamondback radials. In this case, they didn't look as good as the Bias ply tires they replaced, but again, the new radials improved the tracking and driveability dramatically. Most casual or uninformed observers don't notice or don't care. I know that many HAMB'R's would chose not to sacrifice traditional appearance, but to me, it was worth the compromise, because to me the driving experience is more important and the radials are clearly superior, for me on my cars. If I didn't drive a lot, I'd probably go with bias-plys. It's a personal decision that doesn't need to be debated. To each his own. Here's what they look like on the roadster with small cycle fenders. For some reason I can't upload a pic of the Tudor but it's on my profile if you're interested.
If you drive alot....radials hands down. Around here the roads will throw a car in the next lane on bias crap. They look good thou.
x2 on the "What car" quote. I've got radials on my car because i already had the rear tires/wheels & i got the NEW front tires for free! I've been around long enough that one of the first things all my buddies did was get radials for their cars. most of them drove OK, but radials just covered up so many sins, that it was the first thing we did. we thought it was such an improvement because we wanted to DRIVE our cars. that being said, I LOVE! the look of some of the current "re-pop" cheater slicks being produced. as soon as my (limited) budget will allow, I'll be buying some "Hurst Cheater slicks" as made by "Adams Hot-Rod Rubber" in oregon city. these guys are close-to-home and have a rep of taking care of their customers. I remember picking up a set of old-school "cheater slicks" on chrome reverse wheels for my first car @ a local wrecking yard. paid 40.00 and thought i was king-shit! 6 inch shackles and all!
Why can't radials be made that look just like a bias ply tire? I don't mean close, like the cokers and others now out there. I mean exactly.
Diamond back beet you to your thoughts.There are a few threads on here about them.Check it out,it's amazing,but very costly
I find any body running radials tend to mount the rear tire on a wider rim.I don`t see too many running radial on the back on a 5 inch rim. Like myself most have them on a 8 inch rims
Just a couple of questions to think about before you commit to purchasing tires. How much driving are you going to be doing? Driving cross-county vs. going to local shows. What will be the overall look of the car? "period correct" vs. modern. How hard will you be driving your car? Sunday drive vs. Driving her deep into the corner. Conditions of the road you will be traveling on a majority of the time? Smooth vs. rutted and patched.
personally, I am willing to sacrifice some ride quality for the good looks of some pie crust bias plies.
I've always run radials. Back in the day, bias plies were all we had so we didn't know any better but the radials drive so much better. At speed ya can't hardly tell and nobody has ever said anything about em when parked except what size are your tires.
Diamond Back are what I put on my Family's roadster. Sorry for the poor quality pic here, but they do have the look of a bias ply from a radial tire. More history and photos of car at...http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=430371&highlight=kraft+bronson
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