Will I regret if I switch to bias plys on my 56?

my brothers 60 buick lesabre 4 door hardtop daily driver has bias plys on it and it drives awesome...cant get a car much bigger and heavier than that...

and i dont understand when people say "if you're going to drive it alot, use radials"

the tires will ride the same if you drive the car 10 miles a week or 100 miles a day!

dont make the mistake...get bias plys

 

I used bias plies for 6 years and I will never do it again, they slide in the rain or around corners, they grab every nook and cranny on the road causing way more effort to go straight when at speed on the freeway. If you drive hard get the bf goodrich radial wide whites, the difference is HUGE! No way anyone can tell they are modern from ten feet away or when car is in motion. They may be pricey but its worth it, for performance as well as safety. Look at my avatar picture and honestly can you tell they are radials?

Coker Tire is an alliance vendor here by the way, thats where I got mine and they rule.

 

I don't notice much of a difference , but then again , I take my half out of the middle mostly anyways. LOL

 

Let me put my 2 cents in here. Your enjoyment of the nice bias ply look will be directly related to how worn out your front suspension is. The squirlyness of the bias tires will be amplified by a loose front end. If everything is tight up front, you will be cool.

I drive my 55 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer everyday. I have radials on it. I won't even think about putting bias tires on it until I have tightened up the front.
Tim
MBL

 

I really dig bias ply tires! I run them on my Model A, my Corvette and my Mustang. Very nostalgic to me; reminds me of the way it felt to drive a car when I was a kid. Modern bias plys are greatly improved though, with a much softer ride.

 

I really don't care what people run. Run what you want, but I have to note. If the above is your idea of how to do things, why are you even driving an old car to start with?

Times have changed, buy a new Honda. Just saying. I understand the argument that radials are likely safer.

 

Buy them, if you don't like them someone on here will buy them from you. No worry's

 

I ran WWW bias on my '51 Plymouth for years and really never noticed that big a difference. They do roll a little bit in high speed curves.

 

-

 

I had them on Big Olds for one summer. Rode and handled like crap.

They are now made into a coffee table in my living room.....after I burned them bald. Thats about all they were good for.

You plan on driving you car or looking at it?

 

both!

 

While we're at it, those dual-reservoir master cylinders and newfangled disk brakes are for pussies.

Where are my scissors? I need to cut the seatbelts out of my car- They're a commie mind-control tool.

6 Volts rule!

 

yeah you can...

the only negative thing about bias plys in my opinion is that thet aren't so good in the snow...so in the winter time get some cheap radials from the junkyard...

 

Well, you don't have a open wheel ride so I would use radials. Definitely if you plan on a lot of miles.

 

To each their own. I bought my car so I could do stuff like the Power Tour.

 

Thanks Evel!

I always defend bias tires. If you want to drive your car while playing with your iPod, talking on the phone, weaving in and out of traffic while your dog has his head out the window, then stick with the radials. If you want to "drive" your car and feel "one" with the car while looking incredibly good doing it, then bias are the way to go.

And yes, they really suck ass in the snow.

 

I'll also add that they also suck in the wet and dry too.

And I might as well add that they suck going in a straight line, when making a turn, have morning sickness, etc., etc.

BUT .......... I have to agree, they look good when parked as a static display.

 

Well, 56Kustom, there you have it, an overwhelming consensus to answer your question.

 

When you quoted me, you forgot the important part...

Static huh? My car has been to Austin from Chicago, to Cleveland, Indy and all over IL and WI. And I'm getting ready to go to Austin again... in my parking lot sitting, only good for parade type car.

 

On a full fendered car you have alot of options when using BIAS PLY tires. Tread design is important. There are crappy Radials that shed more than a dog on a Hot Summer day. On an open wheel, you want (IMHO) both good looking tread design and tire, the whole package. There are lists of differnent makers of BIAS PLY tires that sure to fit your car. Lucas Tires and Coker will have something to fit your ride.

Ken

 

Man.....

So much traditional Talk on this board & it seems the majority of people here are more worried about ride of there tires than anything else.

If you want the ride & control of a new MBZ... Then buy one !!

Oh Wait..... You prolly already have one, For a daily cus you dont want yer Work Mates to see you in that OLD CAR !!

Ya Know, The type you all Bitch about at the office cus they are only doing 65~70 on the freeway and you cant do 90 in yer MBZ with the phone on yer neck, playing with the radio, reading your stocks & adjusting yer neck Tie....

Hot Rods & Customs Are for driving & lookin Cool doing it, Thats why we build them ... Right ?

Not for weaving thru traffic at 90, Or trying to do a mountain pass as fast as your car will go.

Hell, Im gettin off track here..............

Bias tires for your rod ........... Radials for your MBZ

 

Sounds like weighing the appearance vs. the handling issues.
I've never done a fuel mileage test between the two types, it would be interesting.
The early and open wheeled cars certainly feel right at home on bias plys. In the early 70's when radials came in, they offered some changes in performance or handling that changed the driving feel of my coupe remarkably. It was both IRS and IFS. I'm probably in the camp where handling means a lot, and would look for a more traditional tread pattern.
Hard to please everybody.

 

Can't we all just get along?

Doesn't somebody make a radial that looks just like a bias and if not, why not? I haven't done a lot of research on the subject, but seems to me that radials wouldn't necessarily have to look like radials. On my '53 truck I put bias on it because I didn't even think twice about it and just assumed that is what should go on it and have never been unhappy about that and would still never consider putting radials on it. It just wouldn't look right to me and I wouldn't want to drive it around with radials. It s an old truck, it rides like and old truck and that is just the way I prefer it. Still has the split ring wheels too and not getting rid of those either.

On the other hand, I just got another "newer" '64 truck that I would have swore it had bias on until I looked real close to check the wheel size and I noticed it said "radial". Surprise, oh well, looks ok to me, just plain black with clunky treads like a bias, guess I'll keep them for now.

 

WOW!Great response!Thankyou.

 

FWIW I just switched my '51 Ford from bias to radials, but I've only moved it in the driveway a little (engine prob). That said, the ultra low speeed turning felt like power steering compared to my bias plys. I used to have to crank on that wheel like I was trying to spin the flywheel by hand. This time it was nothing.

JIMHO, the radials are fugly compared to the bias. At the end of the day I'm really cheap though and the radials(Coopers) were $240 out the door mounted and balanced, so f-it, they're good.

And I have 4 practice tires for grinding my own whitewalls!!

 

If you have a few cars, and this will not be a daily driver, then put bias ply's on it.

If this is your only car, then put bias ply's on it. Because without going back and forth you will get used to them and they will feel "right".

As a side bonus, they will automatically look right.

Just my .02

P.S. I've never noticed the "uncomfortable or unsafe" characteristics mentioned earlier, but if it is true then you will naturally become a better driver as you account for the shortcomings of the tire.

 

This is as bad as the stupid disc brake on the rear axle argument that pops up every year.
Radials tyres have been available since 1946. The US auto makers never took advantage of them because of the cost factor.
So cars built before 1978 by any of the big three are not really suited to be used with radial tires.
Radials are available in any configuration to suit any car ,they are not all rubber band low profile ricer items.
But to say that bias plied tyres are safe is just so much bullshit ,if it wasn't bullshit Ford and GM USA would still be using them .
My own preference for bias plies are Dunlop racing tyres, not those shithouse things that coker sells,but then I drive a lot and I drive hard.
The dunlops run to $500 each,but my arse is worth more to me than some 1930's over priced style victim tire.

 

Michelin, at least for a while, put out a radial tire that looked the most like a bias I have personally seen.

 

Since 1946 ......