For a 50s Caddy i know you all will side with bias for "the Look". What about ride characteristics? I want a good ride! That's more important than "the look". But, i'd like to save money if possible. "IF", I were to get bias fat whites what brand do i AVOID? What brand "DO" i buy, and how much should i spend? ALSO: What size bias would replace the 225X75X15 that's on the Caddy now?
Man search the archives. This one should have tons of previous posts. I know that's not the answer you wanted........
Hey bro, go with the goodrich silvertown radials....cant beat em for ride and handling..... I went with those on the '41.
DON'T RUN BIAS! Especialy if you've got a big, fendered car. You don't want the car following every little imperfection iin the road; it will with bias ply and it gets exhuasting. So it's not just the "ride" it's the "squirm"--or lack of it. And the safety of better braking. And higher levels of grip. And so on and so on.
Oh come on......I drive a 4000lb, 400hp car with bias tires and its no where near as bad as eveyone says it is. I cant stand radials on an old car. Safer-yes, but now where near as cool overall. Just my $.02 -Dean
my friend drove his 60 caddy big ol boat for a LONG time on bias plys... doin 90mph like its nothin...friends all run em for the most part... i love my bias plys on my 51 plymouth, thats no little car either... i wuold NEVER run radials, just doesnt look right, and bias plys are EASY to get used to... i do easy 75mph (3 on tree means tahts limit, LOL), ride over bad bumps, grooved roads, ANYTHINg, daily driver, on bias plys taht are from the 60s that were sittin aroung... go for G78 bias plys man, you wont regret the look... and as far as better braking, its actually been shown taht bias plys stop better on all drum brake cars, and disks stop better for radials... they DONT follow every lil bit in the road, i think they ride FINE, and im in wisconsin, where the salt truck F*CK up roads... some of our roads i dont even think i will be able to drive my hot rod down when its done cause of all the potholes and dips... but rides FINE with bias plys man.. if u want em, GO FOR IT!!! NOTHING looks better... how do all these bias ply haters think people got around back then??? they were fine for cars for how long?? i mean geeze.... even up til late 70s people drove on em cause they were cheaper...
I got bias plys on my 58 cadillac. I can double check on what size they are. I know they were pricey. I like the way they ride for the most part...its a smooth ride, I think the weight of the car is the reason. The only thing I've noticed is while conering they don't handle like a radial at all, you can really hear them trying to grip the road even at low speeds. I'm glad I went with the bias plys simply because they look cool and I don't drive the car long distances ever really anyways.
Radials= Safer, Bias = Cooler looking ...... What it comes down to is whats important to you ! I have run both and I like the handeling of Radials so I 'm willing to give up the Cool Factor.....Louver Dudes $.02
just make the car lay frame, put some skirts out back, and then you'll only see half the front tires...nobody will know the difference...
The big decision maker for me when I bought my last set of tires was the ROADS I drive on. Central Illinois....ah hell...the whole damn state....has shitty roads. i had bias plys on my old Pontiac Tempest with a good front end under it and with bias ply redlines it sucked. I put radials on my 53 Chevy and haven't looked back. Now when I build an open wheel car.....it's gotta be bias plys....I'll deal with it then.
yeah! anymore the look of radials don't look too bad. for what you'd have to give up having to left-right your car down the road its a good tradeoff...especially with a fendered car you just want it to sail
I'm puttin a set of 215R15 on the Merc in the A M. If they work out good I'll spring for a Big money WWW set.............OLDBEET
I'm guessing there's no radial that looks quite like the old as the stock size tires on my '50 Chevy? I was wondering what to run on there. Might go to some later 14" rims to get a little lowering for a mimimal effort, I have to get some wider rims on it anyways up front because the hub sticks out too far for a lot of the caps I might run. I have some '62 Pontiac spinners here that look kind of nice but aren't worth anything, was thinking of running those.
NO I've got Diamondbacks on my '53 and love the drive. It cruises and rides great! Got Bias (Coker Ribbed Tread on front, Mickey's on the back) on my open wheel and it follows every crack in the road. It'll wear you out if you gotta drive it very far. No matter how bad you think the radials look, you'll be glad you got 'em
For ride,handling,saftey,and mileage --- RADIALS !! I know 'the look" means a lot to some guys but if yer gonna DRIVE it ...Radials win HANDS DOWN !!!! Quick story ... i bought a 51 Victoria custom in Pa..... rollbacked it to within a few miles of my house... took it off and drove it the rest of the way ( 2-3 miles).... it had BIAS white-walls and the car SCARED me it handled SO BAD ( just a tar strip was almost a lane change )..... it sat for MONTHS ... my cousin said 'put radials on it ....so ... 4 MIS-MATCHED,DIFFERENT SIZE radials later I drove it about 50 miles I was SO suprised how much difference radials made !!!! Chopped merc owns it now ( the 51 )........ as everybody else said.....just my .02 ( and REAL-WORLD experience) ........... jersey Skip ( PS ...diamondback seems to be the way to for wide-white radials)
I ran the Diamondback radials and liked them fine. I keep my front end and wheels in alignment and got very good wear from them.
Okay, for the less intelligent among us I'll state the question differently: There is no radial that has the same look as the older bias ply tire?
First of all, YOUR question as you put it, is NOT a question. Really, a question doesn't start witht the word there. My question however doesn't refer to Bias LOOKING like Radials. But, thanks for playing.
Ahaha, Man i've followed your posts for a while and man, you are a grouchy cunt! I run bias plys with no effort. They certainly are not the horror story some people have made them out to be. You have to be awake when you drive with them though but its not like your driving on ice or constantly battling the road. I have also run radials on the same car and to be honest its roughly the same ride quality either way. They do have a tendancy to follow ruts in the road more, but you just just a bit more "ahead" of the car. Rustynewyorker's post does have merrit - Coker have put out a radial tyre that's very very close in appearance to a bias ply - you wont have to ballance up that form Vs function question if you pop on a set of those. Danny
I don't start out grouchy. But, when i use my best fucking english, and get these FUCKING stupid non related responses, i guess yeah i am a grouchy cunt. But, maybe now you know why. I went to school (twice), and i practice good grammer in the mirror, and still the non related responses. I used to ask my ex girlfriend her favorite color, and she'd say she was thinking of having Pizza for lunch. MORON. Oh yeah, thanks for your response. That, (after 2 dozen responses) is closer to what i was looking for. Long as the ride itself is decent i don't mind the car following the lines in the road a little. That to me is acceptable. Oh yeah, no response to which Bias to avoid if there was a bad brand out there. I thought i wrote that one in english as well. Signed the Cunt. Who wants to know what CUNT stands for?
Hey Man, Your a champ! I cant offer any advice on which ones to avoid. I've suffered wallet wise and gone with the Firestone Delux, and havent looked back. Great tyre. I know first hand of people useing the Coker Classic whitewalls without any trouble here as well. One person used on the Classics on his early 50's Hudson and loved the ride quality. This is on a daily driver and used in the wet without any problems at all. Think the biggest issue with bias plys is perhaps people using hard old crusty tyres which handle like shit. Make sure you get them ballanced well (mine ballanced perfectly on my orginal 40's steel rim. Took a bit of lead but got there) and I'm sure you wont have any trouble. Danny
the reason that car handled so bad was it probably sat for awhile on those bias tires. i've had that same thing happen. all in all i won't go back to bias tires no matter what the look. bottom line is are you going to park it in the driveway and look at it or are you going to put it out on the road and drive it?
(The reason I like them) They have the fattest white wall (perfect for a early custom look) and the 670 is the size they ran back then. As for radials, iv yet to see any that were the right size (to short, to wide) and none of them have a white wall wider than 2 ½. If I remember correctly the BFG from Coker has a 3 5/8 ww. I took some radials off a chopped 40 merc and put on the BFGs, the difference was amazing.
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