I used to be all about bias plies, until I got in a wreck. Now I'm convinced that looking period correct isn't worth it when safety, handling, longevity and ridiculously over priced tires are the trade off. Unless you are building a fender-less car, screw bias plies. (I know my avatar is a bias ply, but I love steelies and redlines so get over it! Ha Ha!)
I have ran both bias and radials on my car, and to be honest it was downright scary with bias at speed. I would only run radials, but as Ryan said...its a personal preference.
And if anyone should know about driving a hot rod or custom A LOT.........it's this lady. I am a believer in radials, too. Totally makes or breaks the enjoyment factor on a long ride, as well as being a whole lot safer @ highway speeds. I know bias-plies look more the part, but it's funny, I seen tons of "traditional" cars with bias-plies, but also 12v, a electric fan, an alternator, a stereo system, electric wipers, etc. I bet most guys today won't build their cars using only oxy-actylene welds, and coat hangers for filler, 'cuz "that's the way it was done in the day". I guess you just need to decide what traditional stuff is more important.
I like bias plys for the looks on my mercs, and my pickup. I could never find a whitewall radial that had the right sidewall appeal. A lot more tires available now that look good and even some that look bias but are radials. I'll probably always run bias on my stuff, but One thing is sure my wifes merc is getting radials
I just don't understand how people say bias ride so bad, I've driven many cars with bias plys (stock 32 ford, 41 buick, 50 fords, 53 chevy,55 buick, 56 ford, 60 buick, volkswagens, etc etc.) and i haven't felt unsafe in any of them. Yes, once in a while you can feel a groove in the road but I've never experienced anything so frightening that made me want to sacrifice the look of bias plys with god awful radials. The only thing I can think of is that all your frontends are shot and you use radials as a band-aid or perhaps you are brainwashed by other radial users with the idea that bias plys are evil. Using bias plys is not about being hardcore or whatever. I aint about being a hardcore tough guy. I just think they ride fine and radials ride slightly better, but look like pooze. My advice: throw your radials in the trash and ask santa for some firestone 6.70x15s for your custom.
It all depends on where and how you drive. If you're a cruiser, yea, those bias ply look and work like stink. Me, I cruise, but I like to get into it often. I have taken corners and know for a fact that a bias ply would have sent me to the curb. Plus, a lot of the streets here are shit. I'll be going down an unfamiliar road at speed and WHAM! a damn road berm! Bias plys tend to follow the grove that runs down some hi-ways. I don't need that shit at 70mph+! That being said, they do LOOK good on certain cars. Mainly, fenderless and pre '36. Otherwise, get yourself some radials and embrace the tire technology.
Can anyone answer me this question,why do bias ply tires not handle as good. Back before steel belted tires were as popular I dont remember them being that crappy,maybe because they were all I could afford and just never payed attention but I dont remember the cars I had with bias ply tires being all over the road like the ones I have driven lately. I put many miles on vehicle with bias ply tires but you could not pay me enough to use them today.
It's all in the eyes of the beholder, if you like bias tires run them and if you like radials run them. I don't think either one looks any better then the other one. As long, as it a cool white wall on the right car that's all that counts. Here's a custom that runs radials and it's one of the coolest Chevy's around, the radial tires don't take away from it what so ever. CRUISER
Hey Cruiser, how ya doing man. Thats actually one of my favorite Chevy's right there. I dig the suicide doors and body mods. Kool car and you're right about the tires.
Well, this debate is running two to one in favor of radials, where do we go from here. Let's debate hub caps styles.......................... CRUISER Hey, James my friend.
I'm a bias kinda guy, and I put alot of miles on them, my galaxie is the only car I own with radials, and what I like about bias plies are when and if they blow out they don't shred your fenders and wheel wells and tear the hell outta everything . heres some pics of the cad, on its third trip to cali on bias plies, after we went to austin3 times, detroit in the winter,and all where ever else I drove this thing....
and more bias plies.... I have drove them thru the desert to bonneville on my hot rod, dialy all over in my 59 el camino, and my stude to cali 3 times, they have served me well, And I am one who agrees they are a must to look right. but this life aint for everyone........
Radial tires handle better because their construction makes the tread stay flatter on the road during cornering. A radial will develop more cornering force than a bias ply for equivalent size, but if the bias breaks loose it will do so more progressively than a radial. IOW, the radial holds longer, but when it breaks loose, it goes all at once. I'm talking about standard passenger car tires and not the current crop of high performance radials. Radial tires don't groove-track because the big tiremakers have spent tons of money on tweaking tread designs to stop groove tracking. Back when radials first came to the US and encountered grooved pavement, they would track grooves and dance around every bit as bad as bias ply tires would. I think your memory of bias ply tires not jumping around all over the road back years ago is spot on. I put a lot of miles on these cars back in the last half of the 60's and early 70's... 56 Chevy w/ mildly built 327 & 4 speed, 65 Corvette 327-300, 69 Z/28, and 69 Vette 350-350. None of them required a fight to keep 'em in the road and none of them had ever seen a radial tire. People running bias plies today say they're running a Firestone 500 or a Goodyear Cushion Miler, or a BFG Silvertown, or whatever, but it really ain't so. What they're running is a generic bias ply carcass that may or may not be well designed, that's cured in a mold that makes it look like whatever brand and model of tire its supposed to imitate. The way a tire handles is at least 80% due to carcass design, and none of the big tiremakers have spent the price of a Big Mac on passenger car bias ply development in the last 35 years. They've spent the money on radial development pretty much exclusively because that's where the market was headed. So, when you take that generic bias ply carcass and apply it across a range of tires with significant differences in tread design, you might end up with some tires that handle as well as what Firestone or Goodyear made in the 60's, or you may end up with no tires that equal the performance of what was available back then. But its a sure thing you aren't going to end up with good handling tires across the board. There's just too many variables at work for that to happen, and the chances of any of the novelty tire producers spending the money it takes to design, build, and test tires that perform well is somewhere between slim and none. Any big tiremaker like Michelin or Goodyear or Bridgestone/Firestone will produce more tires in one 8 hour shift than all the reproduction tire people combined will sell in a year or more, and that's the kind of production levels it takes to support R&D operations capable of designing, building, and testing tires with a good balance of handling, braking, wet traction, and ride comfort. Way back when, the tiremakers spent that money on R&D and testing of bias ply tires because that's where the market was, and improvements meant improved sales. Those millions of dollars in development money shifted to radials 35+ years ago, and the mere fact that some repro tire maker buys the rights to produce tires having the external appearance of tires from the 50's and 60's doesn't mean they're making tires whose performance will equal the ones made 50 years ago. I spent 10 yrs in R&D at Michelin, and learned a fair bit about what it takes to make top performing passenger car tires. Also learned about the kind of money it takes to support that R&D work, and there's no way any small tire producer can even begin to afford it. The repro bias tiremakers are in the business of making a product with a certain look that fits a certain period of time. Based on the experiences of people here, some of them turn out to be pretty good tires while others don't seem to be worth a shit. When "the look" is the primary driver, anyone familiar with tire manufacturing wouldn't expect consistent high level performance from the finished product. Personally, I ain't got a dog in this race since I happen to hate any form of whitewall tires, be they radial or bias or made out of round rocks like Fred Flintstone's tires. Just my opinion of why a lot of the repro bias tires may not be as good as the tires they're imitating from 50 yrs ago.
What HotRodFreak said. The only difference is that I do run radials. Better handling at high speeds and I put a ton of miles on my rides every year. I am not interested in wasting money on early replacement of my tires. Run what you want and don't worry about the masses.
Ive had both radials and bias ply on the 50. Certainly the radials gave a smoother/better handling ride, but i settled with firestone's bias ply's couse of the look.
Well, Christmas came early for me this year and I got a set of these good year radials from Santa Claus, and I'm happy. Paul
The Jalopy Journal
