Bias front radial rear give me some real life stories

I just ordered a pair of whitewall slicks which are radials and I'm running front bias. I know there are some posts discussing this but would like to hear from guys that are running this package hopefully with some success. I'm wondering if car weight makes much of a difference.

 

Not a prety picture. Stu

 

Good luck. Hope ya have good insurance.

 

Bring your barf bag.

 

I bought a car back in '83 that had front bias and radials on the rear (unbeknownst to me). I kept wondering why the car felt like it was floating all over the road. When I bought new tires, the station informed me of the mismatch. It sucked!!!

 

Any other options.....I see coker makes a radial whitewall front that doesn't look like complete shit, I have never run radials but needed a tall skinny slick and the only one I could find was a radial, does it matter that this is only for going in a straight line.....is speed a issue?

 

I have bias M&H front runners and Radial Hurst 30 x 10.50s on the back. Seemed to drive fine. I only have a few miles (less than 200) on the combination, but what i have experienced wasn't weird.

 

This should help:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3

 

bias tires and radials on the same axle is bad... bias front, radial rear or vice versa, dont believe the hype.

 

This is probably like a death wobble or AFB Boost reference thread or issue. Everyone has their own ideas and no one will listen to anyone

 

I'm not dead yet.

 

Two things - contradictory at that. Back in the VW days (read eighties) I had a bug with 5.60's on the front and 165's on the back, temporarily..... Ground loop in one lane at 30MPH..... twice. Two months ago- Leaving for L.A. Roadsters, one of my friends in our group of six cars says that he replaced his front tires, could only get radials on short notice. Bias rear. Hmmmm. Ya know what - I followed him for over a thousand miles and never saw that car wiggle. I haven't driven the car myself, but it seems to work well. It would seem to me that weight is a factor at some point in this. That said, you still couldn't pay me to run a mismatched combo like that. Scary memories are always the most vivid! Hurst is making a radial front tire that is a pretty close approximation to the old U.S. Royal Masters that so many cars ran in the sixties. They're not cheap, but Hurst's stuff is great. P.S. with that bug- next paycheck bought a pair of 135's, problem solved!

 

Doing it now on my T. Works just fine.

 

years ago I got an early 50s chevy car cheap, and sold it right away. But first I took it for a short drive, it was almost undriveable. I looked at the tires...radials in back, bias in front. I switched them, put the radials in front, bias in back, and it drove like a dream.

weird

 

This may not help - when I was a 17 year old punk kid, I curbed a rim and cut the side wall one of the rear tires on my OT 66 mustang fastback. I had gillette bias ply's on the front and a friend offered me a pair of used off brand radial "cheater" slicks. I was always broke and too dumb to know any better, after the old-timer running the local Vo-Tech mounted up the tires, he said it was going to be a little squirrely but it may hep to play with the air pressure in the rear. I think I ended up taking about 8-10lbs out of the rear radials and it made a big difference.

Would I do it again.... No

 

i had bias on my 64 caddy from candy classic and i had no troubles with the tires at all the old bias tire that your dad and you dads dad had on there car didnt have a lot of tought put into them there is alot more technology in the bias tires today

 

That only works because YOU ARE JOHN EVANS!!!

 

radial front/bias rear always works, but the opposite is not safe. Don't try it.

 

when we were @ the rust revival show a few months ago. my car which has radials got a flat and my spare was a bias. on the way back to the motel it felt like it was wanting to dirt track itwhen i went around the corners

 

Maybe, but I doubt this thread's got that kind of stamina.

 

I've got Hurst radial recaps on the back and some Vintage 6.00-15 Goodyear Super Cushion Bias ply's on the fronts and it drives just fine. It's never given me any problems. It drive like it has bias ply's on it so if that's a new experience for you, you may not like it, but it's not unpredictable.

The weight distribution on my car is 50/50 and within 20 lbs at each tire and it weighs 1796 lbs. The weight distribution may help it's stability, as it's pretty neutral even when I'm pushing it hard.



Gus

 

It's pretty good already, people aren't reading the subject line at all and providing great unrelated information .

 

Drove a late 60s Ford pickup from Little Rock to Cedar Rapids Iowa on that combo. Felt like it wanted to turn over while cornering. It was scary.

 

Since the thing that makes bias ply one end radial the other feel wierd is caused by the differing slip angles, good weight distribution will reduce the effect, probably makes enough diffrence to take you from scarey to perfectly driveable, hence why some cars will be worse than others.

 

Bought the wife a modified with Bias fronts, radial rears. That thing was waaaay scary to drive. Put OLD ASS bias drag slicks on the back and it drove considerably better. Just my .02 cents.