I would like to put 4 inch white walls on my caddy. It is a daily driver that in drive in the city and also take on long distances, including doing 70-75 on highways. The largest white wall I can find for radials is 3 1/4 inch. They have 4 inch for bias tires, but are they safe/practical for the type of driving I do? Any thoughts and personal experience are appreciated.
Diamondback Classics may be worth a try - they can put an optional 'beauty ring' on a www which gives you and additional 5/8". I use their 15" radials on a 4000lb car - great tires and look good with the beauty ring for a more period feel. The 235/75/15 ends up with a whitewall at 4 1/4". I would always run the radial tires from a pure driveability and safety point of view - others may disagree, in which case look at the DiamondBack Auburn de Luxe Radial - looks exactly like a bias ply but is a radial. I will be using these on a couple of ongoing builds...
Diamond backs are radials with a added whitewall,,they don't always stay put! These came off a friends car and I don't know anyone as anal about check there tires as this guy,,every single time we stop he checks his tires. Nothing wrong with bias ply,,,I have hauled arse with mine and have accumulated thousands of miles. What do you guys think they used before radials? Use what you want. HRP
I ran bias plys on my '40 sedan and had no problems. I'm running bias plys on my wagon and haven't had any problems. Plenty of freeway driving on both cars. Don't be scared of bias ply tires. Radials handle better, but bias plys get the job done.
Bias ply were used for a long time. I've ridden in a car with bias ply and my friend driving tended to stay away from the cuts in the freeway. I drive almost daily in my T Bucket and also faster than I should, so I'm a radial fan for safety reasons. The big BUT on all this is the look. There's no denying the better science, but an older car LOOKS better with WWW bias ply. Maybe a heavier car like a Caddy would ride safely on them.
DiamondBack II is the wider white model with 3 3/4 inch whitewall in 235/75/15 plus and extra 5/8 inch for the beauty ring....
Never had any problems with Diamondback in fifteen years of using their products on several different cars apart from a browning problem in 1998. They sent me a brand new set of tires and paid the freight with no questions asked. Service has been exemplary in every way....
What year caddy? These a 3.125 on my 63, IMHO I think its a max id go on it, but I have no idea what year yours is.
Bias plies drive fine if you know how to use them. I drive my '46 with BF Goodrich bias plies over 1000 miles a month, often at 70-80 mph. Just dont follow people too close and watch for big grooves in the road.. ....There are also many good reasons why car manufacturers switched to fuel injection instead of carburetors... but we're driving OLD CARS. Just go with some nice big bias plies that would have come on your car.
Your car ran bias when it was new. Bias usually grab the grooves in the road more than radials do. And they usually don't last as long as radials unless you constantly rotate and keep air pressure consistent. If you are really wanting that extra 1/2 inch in your whitewall then go for bias tires. You can't beat the look of them. They look way better than radials in my opinion. Plus they are period correct if that matters to you. I'm not sure what the going price is now but they used to be way cheaper than radials so it maybe worth trying and see how you like em If you don't like em you can resell them, take a little hit on the price and know that radials will handle way better. I've driven with bias on all my old cars and its defiantly a fun ride but you get used to how your car handles and don't think twice about it. If you are a bad driver the. Don't get em. My two cents-- Go for bias!
OK,Since your opinion is that I have some sort of vendetta and I am bad mouthing DB. Ken,,my "FRIEND" was running the recommend Michelin tire are pressure,,I assure you it was not run low. Ken drives the crap out of his car and it is a Deuce 4 door,,,this separation of the whitewall happened on the All Deuce Run just a few months ago. From what Ken told me they offered to adjust the price when he bought replacements tires,,with the tires being a little over 2 years old Ken opted to buy Coker Classics,,which are radials. BTW,,I am entitled to my opinion whether you like it or not! HRP
bias plys will occasionally change lanes without your permission. Other than that you'll be fine. I don't think your caddy would look bad with radials, just FYI...
When I posted my thread on this subject, I did some research on the difference between Diamond Back and Coker Classics. Both radials. In the end, the Diamond back add on whitewall couldn't compete. It's an after the fact add on to a radial tire. As I said in my thread, it sounded like a well done Port-O-Wall. Diamond Back even says they recommend running the pressure on the tire and it's usually 32 to 41 PSI, depending on the tire. Sometimes higher. My present blackwall radials are rated for 32 PSI. In a T Bucket, that's like having stone wheels. I tried that pressure and was easily spinning tires when I didn't want to, like pulling away from a light or making a sharp turn. So, I keep my fronts at 28 and my rears at 26 PSI to get a nice ride. It doesn't take a scientist to see that the amount of flex in the wall of a Diamond Back would promote separation of their add on side wall. There's no way I'd risk trying it and voiding the warranty. So I chose Coker's because the sidewall is manufactured in the tire. My other question is why do Diamond Backs cost more than Coker's, if their WW is an add on? Maybe to pay for the secret glue formula they have? I'm not sure, but I know that having a white wall crack or peel off would make me mad, even if they did swap it out at no cost. It would still be a pain in the ass. I like to avoid problems, by not having a problem to begin with. One other thing, "bias plys will occasionally change lanes without your permission" does not seem like something I'd want to add to my driving experience, yet I read it in a bias thread all the time. When your tires can possibly do whatever they want, driving skill is out of the picture.
I guess the decision you have to make is between aesthetics; do you want the look of a bias ply WW - or the improved ride of a radial. I personally opted for the bias ply for my 59 Galaxie. I didnt think it would look right with radials. As far as handling is concerned - its a 50+ year old car and the suspension/steering was designed for bias ply tires. I know guys running Coker WWW's on thier old cars and I have driven cars with bias ply and it's really not that dramatic. Personally, I would opt for the bias ply's.
For anyone who lives in the Portland Oregon area, (which I did for almost 40 years) and have driven on Sunset Highway or I-5 could not possibly enjoy driving on Bias tires. For some reason, the state allows you to run studded tires from November to April, snow or no snow. The rule was made for people living in Eastern Oregon but the Portlanders are allowed to keep them on "just in case it snows" The roads are like water skiing and crossing the wake behind the boat.
the widest diamond back tire white wall i saw was this tire with 3 3/4 band..im in the same boat as you..i was looking at a coker bias tire with a 4 inch band..but after all my research im leaning to radials...i want more ease and comfort while i drive..i will get a extra set of bias later for shows..
Diamond Back Auburn Deluxe radials and they list them in 16" sizes up to 7.50R16 - that's wide enough for my restorod. Linkee.... www.dbtires.com/2013_catalog/hi/22.htm
What is seen is this picture is where we splice the whitewall after the rubber is added to the tire. This particular method of splicing was abandoned by us over four years ago after we put forth some R & D to improve our product, which is something we constantly do. Our new splice is much simpler and is much more effective. Did we start off perfect; of course not. Have we improved our products over the years; of course. Will we continue to do so; YES.
Have had DB radial ww's on 4 40's--no issues thus far other than keeping em clean. Just my 2 cents-I inspect them and ck pressure regularly as HPR says to do.
So have Diamond back solved this issue do you think? Or is Coker the way to go because the WW is not an add on? How about AMERICAN CLASSICS? How are their's? Anyone know. I'm in the U.K so not up on all these but I do know my last pair of Coker's were milky rather than white right from the get go, the tyres on the rear look whiter and are 4 years older!. Also my car weighs in at around 4990lbs, is that something I need to consider regards add on WW or integral? Thanks.
my diamondback whitewall started to come apart at half tread and I was told they would do nothing about it. I am now trying cokers, so far so good.