Hey Guys, Its seems to have died down...but a little while ago there was quite abit of talk on radial Vs bias etc. Most loved the look of bias plys but hated the performance. I was wondering...what about those narrow high profile light truck/van tyres. The look more like bias plys but im guessing the handling would be better. with some porta walls they may look ok...or be a tolerable compromise at least. anyone ever seen someone do it or done it themselves? i hate the chubby radials that came when i bought my ride..yet dont want to kill the safety and handling that comes with radials. Let me know your experiences or opinions. Danny
I'm a poser I've never run bias. Radial WW Diamonbacks preferable they ride nice n look nice in my opinion but I wouldn't run um on a fenderless rod.
Porta walls and radials don't mix at all. The portawalls will simply fly apart at speed because the radial sidewalls flex much more than a portawall will. The bias plys seem to work better on a light car than a heavy car. I ran bias plys on my 33 ford pickup..prolly weighed 1900 lbs tops but when I bolted up a set of old, hard Goodyear Double Eagles [bias plys] on my 49 ford coupe, the car was actually dangerous to drive. A good set of radials made it drive just fine again. I say give those little truck radials a try and take photos for us...then, do a drive-test and get back to us with the results.............thanks!
[ QUOTE ] Porta walls and radials don't mix at all. The portawalls will simply fly apart at speed because the radial sidewalls flex much more than a portawall will. The bias plys seem to work better on a light car than a heavy car. I ran bias plys on my 33 ford pickup..prolly weighed 1900 lbs tops but when I bolted up a set of old, hard Goodyear Double Eagles [bias plys] on my 49 ford coupe, the car was actually dangerous to drive. A good set of radials made it drive just fine again. I say give those little truck radials a try and take photos for us...then, do a drive-test and get back to us with the results.............thanks! [/ QUOTE ] Hey rocky, Yeah im checking it out tonight...price wise. if they can fit into my budget i'll try some out. danny
C9, Thanks for the pics...mine on the front a very similar..perhaps not quite so tall...its mainly the rears i have issues with...something like 255/70/15s - are like steam roller tires. I want something basically that is tall and narrow...but most radials seem to get wider as they get taller. here are some pics of some light truck tyres i found on the net. a couple even remind me of dirt trackers danny
One thing you want to be careful of with the light truck tires on a light car, it's gonna be tough to get a good ride out of them. The first go-round tire-wise on my 32 I had 185/70R-14 up front and 31.50/15 light truck radials in back. As shown in the pic below when the car was first running. Fronts were about 24" tall and rear about 30 1/2" tall. Even with very low pressures in the rear tires - 12 to 16# - it still rode a bit harsh. I replaced the light truck tires with 285/70R-15 passenger car radials and the ride is quite a bit better. These tires are usually run at 20#. The 285's are just about the same size - height and width - as the earlier 31.50's. The 31.50's used because ten years ago, that was about all that was available in a tall reasonable width radial. The 32's front tire you see in the head on view of the 31 is a 195/70R-14. The change made to get the front axle up just enough so I can get my jack under it. This tire is about 25" tall. The front tires on the 31 are 165/80R-15 (25" tall) and the rears are 235/75R-15 (28" tall). Right now I'm liking the looks of the tires on the 31 and will probably run them for a while. It will be interesting to see how the car handles compared to the 32 with it's wider tread width tires. I think it will do ok. 'Sides, you can always steer with the throttle....
Appoligies, but I have to be brief...... My friends tourer, rides great, handling is ok. I'm using the same tyres/rimsize on my 28 A r/p/u...... Front: 165/75R-15 (on a 15x4.5" rim) Rear: 7.00R15 (8 ply) on a 15x5" rim (only Toyo makes this size, as far as for the trucks....) These tyres are hard to come by, will be going to a 'more common size' 7.50R16 on a 16x5" rim Cheers, Drewfus
[ QUOTE ] Appoligies, but I have to be brief...... My friends tourer, rides great, handling is ok. I'm using the same tyres/rimsize on my 28 A r/p/u...... Front: 165/75R-15 (on a 15x4.5" rim) Rear: 7.00R15 (8 ply) on a 15x5" rim (only Toyo makes this size, as far as for the trucks....) These tyres are hard to come by, will be going to a 'more common size' 7.50R16 on a 16x5" rim Cheers, Drewfus [/ QUOTE ] Hey Kat, thanks for the info...i'll see if i can track down some. yours look exactly like i want...chased them up through a local dealer...still available and at $170 a pop..not cheep but half the price of bias plys. How tall are they overall do you know? Danny
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