Hot Rods Running older good condition bias ply tires

radials come apart when they get old, bias plys don't. At least old American bias plys don't....I don't know about them foreign ones.

 

i've seen tires sit in the tire rack at service stations for more then 5 years before they sold.

 

note - tubes should be for bias ply - not radial tubes...also yes run them! loved the old polyester cords - they'd run FOREVER - the radials blow...and when they do...they tear up ALOT OF SHT...that's why car companies love them.... I....just saying....

 

There is a lot of reasons that bias tires are no longer produced by most tire manufacturers for use, aside from a few specialty manufacturers for the hobby market, Now I know I will catch it for that statment , I do run bias tires on my 40 coupe , but i know it would be a lot safer with radials and ride smoother too,,,,Sam

 

While I buy parts of your statement, I don't buy all of it. These bias are indeed a smooth ride and makes for easy steering. My Plymouth was seriously heavy with those radials. They feel just great now.

FG.

 

Okay, ignoring the value of life, ie. your wife, kids, and the folks coming down the road toward you...just compare the cost of the tires against the value of the car and/or a towing/retriever bill....it is simply called insurance. We all have comp and/or collision on all of rides (don't we?) so why not a little additional for the tires so you can avoid answering alot of questions?
Maybe if I was a twenty or thirtysomething I would let my balls do the talking, but since I've made it this far I'll take the cautious road.
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Yup. I have said it before, and I will say it again. F'ng lucky is not a survival strategy.

I am fully supportive of any everyone taking every possible risk that he or she wants to take, up to and including suicide. Placing others involuntarily at risk is a whole other story.

Tires are cheap, when compared to a life. Casual advice is free, and can kill you.

 

ok so i'm not to old, 50 but i have worked at a service station when radials really came into play, so i have installed alot of tires, my home town had a michlin tire facrory, what makes people think a bias ply tire is less safe then a radial, to be honest i say its the other way around, i think i still have scars from removing 521 firestones after the wire came out of them everywhere, true that was many years ago, but i still see lots and lots of radials fail long before the tread wears out, a bias ply tire is tougher then a radial, no has noticed how much more rubber from truck tires is laying along the highway now days?

 

And Just how is it more dangerious when a Bias goes bad than when a radial goes bad? And Those radials do come apart very frequiently.

 

Radial tires are constructed with steel belts in them. Rubber and steel do not naturally want to stick together. With normal use (continuous heating and cooling cycles, etc.), they will most certainly seperate after afew years (3-6 years). That's why an older, used radial may externally look just fine, but come apart with very little use. It's also because of this phenomenon that many tire shops have a policy that they won't mount tires more than 2 years old (even if they have never been mounted before).

Bias ply tires do not have this problem. If the look fine externally (not weather checked, not cracked all to hell), they most likely are fine.

 

Run em,bias is for Hot Rods,radials for street rods with air,cruse control,2 pedals and fenders.

 

I got a set of 20 year or so old NOS bias plys cheap. They roll just fine, and the car never felt better.

 

...Not saying that one is more dangerous than the other. As to frequency, there are probably a 1,000,000 radials, maybe 10,000,000 radials to 1 bias ply, so naturally we see more evidence...not to mention the percentage of uninformed drivers with overloaded/underinflated or plain worn out tires going down the road, probably headed toward you or your wife...

My concern, and the rules that I live by are that old tires do not go on my rigs. Yes, I stretch the industry's 6-year old advisory, but really, 20 year old rubber?
As soon as the tire leaves the mold the petrol based aromatics start to evaporate. Are we to assume that tire chemistry has actually devolved over the years and 1966 was the high-water mark? I don't think so.

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Your question was whether you should drive on 6 year old tires your mechanic said were fine??? Are you joking? Of course you should use them, regardless if they are bias or radial. When they are worn out, replace them.

 

I assume that building a radial tire that lasts is a lot more difficult than building a bias tire that lasts. It's not a matter of the chemistry, it's a matter of the basic tire design. I have old bias tires that have been inflated for decades, they are still in great condition. I have some radials that have been inflated for 10 years or so that are visibly splitting.

There is a very basic difference in how the tires are made, that causes radials to fall apart after a relatively short time.

 

I had a set of L60-15 ProTracs that lasted about 3 months over the summer of 1979....but damn that 4 speed was fun behind the 396. Burned them right thru to the cords.

 

I know my ratio of bias to radial tires is probably 70/30 with most of them being radials, but as far as failures go in my own personal inventory, I have had a lot of failures, including 2 radials blowing the sidewall out in the same day. I am however still waiting for one of my bias tires to fail.

JW

 

Nothing wrong with bias ply tires.... run em!

 

Nobody is saying that anything is wrong with bias ply tires.

What some of us are saying is that there might be a safety issue running an ancient set of bias ply tires.

Run bias ply tires, just go get some new ones, you cheapskates.

 

I wish radials would last as long as bias plys,just had to replace two on my o/t beater truck that had over 50 percent of the tread left. Its always a belt going bad or the sidewall giving out but the ride is so much better,buying tires more frequently must be the price for a better ride. If I could find a bias ply that would ride nice my 37 Chevy p/u would get them on the next tire change since if a radial would blow out there would go a fiberglass fender and I dont want to think about that.

 

Hey FG.,

I wouldnt be overly concerned with the age of the tire as much as the condition. With the tires umounted, flex the sidewall. If cracking or perishing is evident throw them. If not you are good to roll.

I have used Nankang 5.60 x 15 bias ply tires for the last 8 years on the front of my roadster (fenderless a-bone). Even in this relatively light car they wear pretty fast. I imagine that on your ride they will wear even quicker... so really don't stress too much about them because they will be worn out soon

Adam