I am looking for some pics of hot rods with Radials,not looking for wide rear tires but something that looks old school but has radials.I want to do alot of driving and I don`t want bias ply tires on it for the long hall,I have a few sets of 16 bias plys for shows and such but tring to get something half close to the size and width.I know the pattern will be no where near the look of a bias ply but that is ok. All I can find it pics of wide radial tires.
You are so right Larry!! I dont know why people are so scared to drive with good old WW's or even BW's if thars your choice! I've been driving everywhere with my Chevy and even raced it a few times. I would never consider using Radials, exept on my '92 Saab. If you want to use radials get a new car!! Klaus
If you drive around Southern California......you need radials on the freeway. One drive down the 405 on biased plys and you'll see what I mean. Here is our radial equipped "non-traditional" rod.......it is a daily driver. ...at the Primernationals this year
this car has radials...165r15 in front on a 5 X 15 inch rim and 215/85-LT16 in the rear on 7 X 16" rims. those rear tires are light truck radials
Man, I'm in the same boat, I want/need decent handling. ****, I'm building a 427BBC for my coupe, I'm a recovering adrenaline addict, and I have a bad habit of going into corners way too hot.....if I run bias-ply tires I'll kill myself. Plain and simple. I'm not smart enough to take it easy. At the risk of ******* off the rest of the Hambers, this begs the question: why can't a tire mfgr make a radial tire in the exact shape and look of the good ol bias-plys?? It would be the best of both worlds.
I must be an old man, or a little girl, because here's my non traditional street rod. I don't have any pictures of my other rear tires, which are Coker radials. The good news is, the guys with bias are usually so far behind me that I can't hear them. They're either calling me names, or whining because they can't go fast or hook up "because I have these skinny bias plys". Doesn't matter what you decide to do, the holier than thou's will try to knock you down if you let 'em.
Well, it truly is a dilemma. Nothing looks better on a traditional rod than bias ply, but as Buzzard said "I must be an old man", at least I'm old enough to remember how it was before there was radials. Brand new muscle cars were slower back then cause they couldn't hook up, and down right dangerous when the road wasn't straight, or you needed to stop in a hurry. I lost a lot of friends in car crashes back then, and I think a lot of them could have been prevented if the tires had been up to the task of handling the power and speed of those cars. Maybe it has to do with where you live too, here in south western pa the roads **** big time, and if you want to drive a lot, bias plys would get old fast, I mean, there's more to owning a car than just how it looks, there's also the joy of driving it without a constant battle. It's hard being old sometimes, as long as I can remember, it's been about making the car better in as many areas as possible, now things seem to be going backwards in some areas, it's a delicate balance I guess. Now with all that said, I'm building a 36 open wheel truck right now, and still don't know what choice i'll finally make, I'll probably have a set of both. Do what you feel will make the car more enjoyable for you, no matter what you do, some one will criticize you for it. Funny how it's ok to upgrade some things and not others, but I know I'm not gonna run mechanical brakes on my 36, hope the "real rodders" won't be too hard on me. 36-3window, that don't look too bad imo.
Radials are perfectly "traditional" on a hot-rod with the right target era... Buzzard's car is traditional but I think with the 15" chomies, I woulda gone blackwall or pinstripe... Cool 60's style...
I agree about the white walls. But until I get around to doing the body work and painting it, I think there'd be too much black. The whitewalls break it up a bit. Blackwalls after the paint, but that could be years or decades. I'm ready to build a fast car and that'll take up my time and money for a while. So it is what it is, for now.
I'm a big wimp, too. My biggest fear is buying some set up that I'm afraid to drive. I want to be confident when I set out , even if it means using radial tires and conventional breaks.
Another opinion thing... This is a battle that can't be won by either side, so it's not necessary to flame... Just give your opinion and be cool with that. Mine? I wouldn't run radials on an open wheel car. The first and most obvious reasoning is the look. Bias tires are so much more presentable. But there is also the stance thing... Stance makes a hot rod and it is very tough (in my opinion) to get a proper stance with the proportions of a radial tire... they are just so short and wide looking in most cases. As for driveability, I've run both radials and bias tires on my '38. I am currently running bias (obviously) and don't think I will ever consider going back to radials. The difference in ride quality and handling just don't make up the visual difference to me personally.
Wierd... I'd have gone the complete opposite on this one... I think WW only look good with paint... It kinda gets back to the "Traditional" thing... Guys back in the day wouldn't have wasted build money on WW untill they had the car painted and DONE... They were just to expensive. I like 60 style hot rods with loud paint, pipes, and whitewalls...
I hate tires...they are what cause me the most grief on any project. It shouldn't matter but it does. My common sense tells me I need a radial for economics, but I hate the way they look. Now if you wanna get even more confusing we are building my son's 30 with a mid 60's vibe......now what tire? L78's? My head is starting to hurt again.....
I think if you HAVE to run a radial, the Coker 16" is the least offensive looking of the bunch (kinda tall and skinny-ish). Still just wrong though!
Stance is key in this.. I am running WW radials ( 165R15 & 235/75R15 ) and almost mirror image what my bias were ..http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125013 Most guys who change go too wide & fat..They look like a truck
This is the way I look at it: Traditional Hotrod + Radial tires = Street rod. Traditional Hotrod + Bias ply tires = Traditional Hotrod. What it comes down to is: Do you REALLY want a traditional Hotrod.. …or not.
Solution.....two sets of tires/rims.....traditional wheels/tires for when you don't have to drive on SoCal grooved freeways.....radials for when you have no choice but drive on this stupid surface. I'd prefer driving with no restrictions I guess, just have to loose some points in the prcess.
I WILL say that I hit some really nasty grooved roads coming back from the pileup, and it beat the **** out of my car with the bias tires. That was 50 miles from home, contrasted to the 2400 mile trip to Austin and not a hint of trouble the entire time.
Sweet JESUS! Haven't we been through all this at least once? Why would someone even start another one of these posts? I'm gonna go start another "Did cars run primer in the 60's post". I just can't get enough of those either.
Hey root, We had michellins and pirrellis in the '60s. I don't recall that they came in wide but they did come in tallish (by todays standards) and skinny. Ya know funny thing, Scarliner's T coupe has radials on it, they ain't american tires and you would have to be pretty sharp to notice it if I hadn't told ya.
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