Do you guys think a set of original 56 wheels would be OK to use? That also leads to my next question bias ply or radials? My car will see less than 3500 miles a year and the longest trip is usually around 25 miles one way. I like the bias look but wonder about the drivability. I realize I may be opening a huge can of worms but would like to hear everyones opinion.
I just put a set of Diamondback wide white radials on '55 Merc rims. No issues so far. There's a lot of mythology out there about running radials on pre-radial rims. I've done it with several cars with no problems and I drive'em like I stole 'em. They make a vast improvement in handling and ride quality.
Man I have bias ply tires (Coker) on my tbucket. I swapped to radials (coker) and they rode smoother but they did not steer any better. I eventually put my bias plys back on because the look was not right with the radials. I think for the amount of miles a typical hot rod puts on in a year run what you want. Edit: what the hell is a pre-radial rim? It is a steel hoop. I have not heard the term before.
I run Michelin radials on the OE steelies. Not my tires of choice but I'm forced to (€). But longroof's first question was "Do you guys think a set of original 56 wheels would be OK to use?" What do you mean? Will they look good? Sure.
I have read a couple articles that rims that old have the possibility of being fatigued and might fail (?) if radial tires are used on them. I will add that one of the sources was a manufacturer of radial whitewall tires. I take that with a grain of salt. That's why I asked the question here. I trust real world opinion over a manufacturer trying to sell me something.
Rims for vehicles built before radials were common. According to the lore the bead contact area is a different shape and may not hold the tire bead as securely as a modern rim.
I drove my deuce pickup thousands of miles with Coker bias plys and never had any problems,I actually like the feel of the steering, HRP
I had 30 YO 670 Firestones bias on my '50 - rode great looked great - 150 mile trips several times - got worried about the aged and bought a set of cheap radials narrow WW - I didn't like the ride or the looks with them.
Anyone run the Firestone zig zag tread on there rod? I was looking at them on Coker and liked the look of them. Plus at $188 a tire the price is as attractive as the tire.
The bead seats differently on the newer wheels. If you see a naked old one and new one next to each other, you'll see the difference. I ran radials many many miles on old wheels, never a problem.
I'm sure a large majority of the population did back in the days of the transition to radials. I'm old enough to remember looking at ads for tires in the mid 60's, when I believe is when it occurred. Tire companies would advertise both types in the same ad. It's posible there was a warning about not using radials on older wheels, but I'm not remembering it.
I run radials on my 56 wheels (56 Bird) . Drove the Bird to CA and back (from NJ) twice with zero tire/rim problems and didn't lose any hubcaps. In excess of 12,000 miles
I worked for Sears in the Automotive dept in the late 60's when radials first came in to the picture so many of those early Michelin radials ended up on 50's cars and there were no issues with them except people that were not familiar with them would pull along side of folks and tell them their tires were going flat
check e-bay motors for both wheels and tires, if you know what you want there are some incredible deals on new tires and wheels.
I think I have narrowed it down to either Firestone bias www or the BF www in 670.15 and vintiques 15x5 smoothies. What bias are you guys running and how do you like them?
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