Bias worked for 50 years !!!??? They did blood letting to. They did elec shock to you want some of that to? How about some leech's? You Grandpa used a candle in his house full time you do that i am shure. And this comp is running on a gen you have running off a bike to? And i know you use rod's for braking not that new fingled brake fluid stuff. If you dont use just the stuff that was there when your car was made it's just a CUSTOM!! Now let me have it. about all the bad speling and how i am not a car guy. And i need to get a life. I am ready
Just cuz they're bias doesn't mean they're gonna be good looking. Like anything else, there are good looking bias-plies and bad looking ones regardless of size or stance. I like radials . . . for a lot of reasons, but that's neither here nor there. Choose what's right for you and let the hate for another's choice go by the wayside. That said, here's my 31 on 32 rails roadster sitting on radials. Front: 165R/80-15 4 ½" tread width 25" tall 5" x 15" wheel Rear: P235/75R-15 6" tread width 28" tall 6" x 15" wheel Nice thing about the 75, 80 & 85 series radials is they don't seem to sell too fast so you can probably cut a deal on them at the tire shop.
Boy did I open a can of worms!!! So this might not be a good time to ask about 22 inch Boyd wheels on my traditional rat rod!! To those that posted pics and the info I needed.thanks.
I just want to say run what makes you happy, On early open wheeled cars I think they should have bias plys, but that is just me, your the one that has to be happy. I don't have a problem running bias plys and I go fast in my 32 pu. --TV
I have less of an issue with what tires someone else runs than I do with the term "old school" did they say "old scholl" back in the day? did they say "back in the day" back in the day? who cares, just put something on that fits.. food for thought, not saying one is better than the other, but here is my old car first with radials, then with bias I like them both to be truthful, the bias tires rode like **** but they looked more like what I had in mind...
I'm still a newb myself and this is getting old! All of you would be hard pressed to tell the difference on a car at 50 mph as it goes by, or even in the lane next to you for that matter! There is one HUGE difference between the two. Radials are safer in adverse conditions. If today's tires had been available back in the day, they would have used them. Yes, I know, it was about a look. Guys traded off performance for appearance then, they'll do it now. So what? I can't see my tires from behind the wheel, but I can tell if they are hooking up in the rain. If I decide to pose more than drive, I might make that same trade. Enough already. If you think you do it better, be content believing that. Anybody that wants to call me a ***** isn't someone I would stop and fix a flat for. I promise I'll be the first to offer a hand to a guy like Ryan because it's clear he is secure enough in his own designs that he doesn't need to trash mine. Believe it or not, it really is OK to disagree. In my rant, I almost forgot... here's my favorite open wheel car with radials. http://www.customcl***ictrucks.com/featuredvehicles/0604cct_1944_chevy_highboy_pickup/ By the way, B*** showed us the difference at the drags the other day. He didn't have time to put on slicks so he smoked the bias plys all the way down the track. If you want to run horsepower, you need the best tires available.
I saw a set of the new Coker square edged radials on a very traditional '32 roadster recently and thought they looked good. I had to look close to see what they were. I, myself drive the hell out of my cars and find the difference between bias plys and radials is with bias ply the car drives you but with radials you drive the car. I'm considering mounting a set on some spare wheels for the long hauls and don't give a rip what anyone else thinks.
Actually, I don't think this thread got too out of hand... Mostly smart people expressing opinions and that is good. A couple of things: 1. It's hard to think less of a guy with radials if he is driving the piss out of the car. I mean, that's what it is all about right? 2. I think a lot of guys write bias tires off before ever trying them. In some applications, there just isn't that much of a performance difference. 3. Imagine you own a perfect '65 Cad - the first year that you could actually get a radial tire on a Cad from the dealer... What do you run? A radial? A bias? I'd run a radial for sure... What does that tell you? 4. Now, imagine the Doane Spencer roadster. Now imagine that same car with radials. Hurts your feelings doesn't it? In the end, it's all personal preference.... and that preference changes between applications...
Well said. (I know you're the boss, but a little ***-kissing never hurts.) Hot rods have always been about performance and individuality. Imo and the opinions of many others. Strange to me how so many self-labelled hot rodders want to make us - or have us - fit a preconceived notion. Far better to search for a few more horsepower than get PO'd or even opinionated about what some other rodder is doing with his/her car. Lookin' at taillights pulling away in the dark has a strange way of changing the things we worry about far as hot rods go. Bias Plies? Radials? Screw that, how much is that blower in the window? How much is that blower in the window? The one with the real shiny case How much is that blower in the window? I do hope that blower's for sale I must take a trip to California And a single carb won't do it well If I had a blower, I'd be happy.... (With apologies to Miss Patty Page.) Ok, I'm getting a little weird here . . . off to parts house for the latest go-round on finding gaskets. Damn things are like gold. Hard to find and cost the same far as I can tell....
not to re-open old wounds and stir the pot up, but I saw a write up on these in the newest truckin' mag and I thought about this thread. these look (at least from the pics) like a pretty good middleground for this issue. Unfortunatly the actual manufacturers website doesnt have info up so i did a google search and found this write up: http://www.hotrodhotline.com/pr/06diamondback/
I play on both sides of the bias and radials fence,,,radials on the roadster,,,that I drive hard and bias on the mor-door that I drive even harder,,,, HRP
I have had several cars with Bias Plys in California and it was not a problem.. sure they got cought in the grooves of the 405 but thats the thrill of driving a Hot Rod ,,,the danger...Radials are for SUV's and DUbs...But to each is own... I think its just as bad a putting a tilt wheel and 79 monte carlo seats in you car... My 2 cents.
Another thing about the bias plys is that thier are easier on the suspension parts becouse they have more "give", old suspensions are built for bias and wear faster with radials, Bias plys are also softer and more quiet on the road! And there´s a big difference in handling with different brands of bias plys! I´m not saying bias plys are perfect, just pointing out that there´s more things to consider then handling and looks!
Looks a lot like this, but Moon's got 'em for $139 instead of $239: http://www.mooneyesusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=198&products_id=1318
36 3w, the coupe looks KQQL, are those rear tires like the ones they run on "new" dually pick up trucks? Some "new" dually pick up's have LT16's and they seem quite tall, but at the same time quite narrow and have a squared off shoulder, as opposed to the normal radial car tire with rounded off shoulders. The more you drive a car with radials, the better they seem, and the more you look at a car with bias plys, the better they look! You can't have your cake and eat it too!
so true we do this **** for the LOOK if ya want drivabillity buy a new cadalac if ya dont like how yer bias trac get the **** out the lane with the ruts in it. i wouldnt put radials on a 50s custom much less a HOT ROD in my opinion raidial tires our what separates a hot rod from a street rod
Here's my Roadster with radials. I figured with it weighing 1600 lbs. and driving the back roads all the time radials would be a better choice.
How do ya do that? I live in Pa, and the lanes with the ruts are the GOOD ones! I wish all I had to contend with was rain grooves. You just have to see our roads to believe them I guess.
this may be up your alley: only reason we went radials is cause they're cheaper. When it comes down to the handling, believe me, radials don't make any difference on a suicide frontend! This thing wandered and weaved quite a bit at speeds over 80 My worn out Model A coupe with pizza cutters and stock A steering tracks just as straight, only difference is the zero return and ease of steering. The bucket had the advantage (only due to the steering box) Bias vs. radial ain't that big a difference if you compare SIZE- a skinny little radial will handle just as bad as a bias, the stigma of "being caught in ruts" is because the bias is available in such narrow sizes that it falls into ruts easier. Radials are just generally available only in wider sizes compared to height Shoot, a lot of my trucks still ran bias when I owned them, and comparing my '78 Chevy with bias to my '73 Chevy with radials back to back, they handled nearly identical!
Coker wide whites on my oldT (now Lees car ) My 30 on Radials. Yes, the rear cheaters are radials. Close-up of the motorcycle tires
motorcycle tires, now that's a good idea. I've seen it the other way around where guys with Yamaza Warriors were using 17" car tires but this is new to me. very cool idea.
I've posted the before but it's for all the guys that say that radials always ride/handle better than bias plys... My 49 ford... stock front end. posi rear. 327/350 combo. Came with BFG radials... Rode like ****, handled worse, scary in turns, hard to steer, and wouldn't hook up if loaded with fat-***es in the Mojave desert (DRY!!!)... Switch to BFG bias WWW... Ride drastically improved, better feel in turns, easier steering, better braking, would hook up to the point it was HARD for me to break it loose... I mean the thing turned into a rocket off the line... Your results may vary but this was a DAILY DRIVER... My only car. It had lots of miles on both combos. I personally think a lot of guys running bias plys don't match their air-pressure to their car... I think that's a major factor in their handling issues.
The Jalopy Journal
