I have been looking at the towel city cheaters too but I noticed they are made of radial construction. I’ve always heard not to mix radials and bias. Are you running bias on the front? If so any issues?
Great looking car! Since you asked about aesthetics, if it were mine Id put a set of 4" wide Ford v860 wheels on the front. I think it would really tie the look together. Either way though awesome car!
In the days before most of you were born, a tire made by "Esso" (know Exxon?) was the absolute hot setup. Known as the "Atlas Bucron" it was made of butyl rubber, soft, gripped like gorilla glue, and wore out in about 5-10k miles. Not sure, but i think it was the forerunner of cheater slicks. NHRA didn't allow slicks on a lot of the stock classes but did allow these. My buds and I used to go to a used tire warehouse and for $5. buy one that was about 1/2 gone, hell of a deal. They did have grooves. This image is similar to them, but i don't think they had the crust. Def. not rain tires.
I will have to do some experimenting unless someone else speaks up. I have 9 inch Towel City tires in the rear. (there is no way my car is going anywhere even if there is a hint of rain). No inner fenders and louvered hood, what a mess. LOL. I bought my 4 inch Cragars with Mickey Thompson Sportsmans on them which are bias.. They were new and I've left them for now. I don't particularly like this looks so............................ anyways. I only have a few miles on the car after getting it on the road. It's not been to the alignment shop (will go next week) but there is some wandering out of the front. Is it the tires? Is it the alignment? Maybe it's both, I'll find out next week. Anyone make a good looking skinny radial that would look right? Is Towel City slicks even a true radial?
if you're running radials on the back, might want to run them on the front, too. We had Michelin X radials on the Citroen in the mid 60s this is close https://www.cokertire.com/tires/165sr15-michelin-xzx.html
439912.jpg by bowie posted Jan 13, 2013 at 8:23 PM 439911.jpg by bowie posted Jan 13, 2013 at 8:23 PM Hepme: Yep good ol’ Bucrons. They do have a small crust to them. This pair was NOS sitting with the nubs on them for about 25 years when I got them in the early 80’s. Mounted them up in the early 90’s. They are that soft , you can stick your finger nail in them!
I've done every combination you could think of, and not ever had any weird handling issues. bias/radial front/back, back/front, and no problems. I even spoke with the guys at Radir recently when I was considering their pie crust slicks, and he confirmed there was no problem using theirs mixed either. I have got radials up front, but since the Towel City pie crust slicks are such a different, and heavier sidewall, they don't act like the usual run of the mill radial passenger car tire. I just got another pair yesterday, and they're the latest from Towel City built on brand new radial casings. They look fantastic, and I'm having them mounted up this morning. Since it's raining here this morning, I guess they'll get the rain test on the way home in my '39 Chev gasser.
Man, those are rare-in new condition also. Just seeing them brought back some super memories (and stupid ones also). I think i'd just mount 'em on a pair of painted wheels, sit 'em in the garage on a perch and have my buds over for a cool one or six.
I run the Towel City pie crusts on my 55 and I love them. Great looks, great traction (for what they are) and with the optional grooving they're really not too terrible on a wet road. They hook like a decent drag radial, but are definitely not a modern wrinkle-wall slick. Good company to deal with as well. As was stated earlier, stat off the highways and drive gently in the rain and you'll be fine.
hepme : I did exactly that with them for a few years, till my son said “you’ll be dead and gone and the nubs will still be on those”. So… I mounted them on a spare pair of magnesium’s and proceeded to fry the nubs off of em’. They give off a pretty nice holler banging second , as well!
I got the same answer when I asked about mixing radial/bias fronts with Radir cheater slicks. No problem. I think the wide square shouldered tread keeps the radial casing from squirming like a regular radial does. I’ve run cheater slicks and regular slicks on the street over the years and it boils down to common sense - drive appropriately for the conditions and in the rain, go easy on the pedals…. Very easy. As for the look; I’m not a fan of Firestone cheaters or wire wheels but it ain’t my car. My sedan with vintage 10.50-15 M+H slicks.
Back in the 60s and 70s we ran Pirelli fronts radials (skinny’s) and cheaters slicks no handling problems.
Got mine mounted up this morning! Switched out my center caps to flat center blank plates. I like them better for the rear wheels.
My great uncle owned a Standard Oil station from 1927 - 1974. Atlas tires were made by Kelly Springfield. As a little kid I hung out there as much as I could. I wish I had a picture of that place. The lift was 2 rails attached to a hydraulic cylinder. And it was outside in Whiting Indiana. Talk about cold in the winter time.
Hell yeah! you're so right on the shifts-they had a great sound. Took me a while to have a motor with enough beans to do that-but a 292 chevy 8 in a 55 210 accomplished it. and your son spoke the truth-the young ones wouldn't know what they were anyway so fry 'em up!
Towel City sells a tall 8", and that's not much bigger than the 7" you want. Do you have clearance issues, or just want a 7" look?
I love the pie crust slicks on a hot rod but never thought the Firestone version looked good on anything. The pie crust portion of the tire just looks overdone. Radir or Towel City make much better looking pie crust slick.
Yep, gospel. 1964, I bought a '51 Olds Coupe from this S.J. State student, Sarah something... Nice white Olds, I slipped in my 371 Olds J2 with B&M Hydro-stick, 4.11 rear, and slipped on a pair of Atlas Bucrons, slightly 'used'. That Olds came outa the gate at Fremont so strong it broke the right hand Traction Master. I was impressed...Bucrons were THE 'cheater Slick'! Worked like a charm.
First, I'm not a wide whitewall kind of guy, especially on slicks, sorry, it's in my DNA. To me the W/WW slick/wire spoke wheel combibation seems like a "mashup"of themes. Edit I see the rear wheels are solid steel, still looks wonky to me. You dìd ask!
I used to have a bunch of canvas banners Atlas used for advertising. My parents and I used them for covering up carpets when painting in the house. Those tires would get sticky just sitting in the window on a hot summer day. When I touched them then my hands would get sticky and my aunt would get mad. I was always mad he retired before I could work there.
You could consider these tires from Diamondback Tires website link here: Auburn Deluxe Radial - 15 Inch White Wall Tires - 16 Inch White Wall Tires : (dbtires.com)
with the uncertainty in your voice, you knew the answer before you wrote the question. As a lot has already been written, this post is more a vote and reasoning than adding totally new aspects. It‘s not meant rude in any way. I‘d vote for „Lee van Cleef“ (the ugly). You‘d either buy another pair, make a dually and drop a cummins in your Coupe, or get rid of them firestone cheaters. Now a little less abrassive: the sidewalls of the firestone look awful, guess this is why a lot of posts are offering good lookin alternatives. you got some whistle and bells on the car. In my opinion the wheels should bring in some calm rather than telling their own stories. so yes big‘n littles suite the car well, but same style, no mix. radials or polys ??? I‘d go for polys to underline a more classical look (what you already started by using www), but this is a narrow vote for me. If you‘d go for cheaters, dont use wires. Yes, hot rodding and customs is about going new routes, being creative. But sometimes there is a reason nobody has done it in 60 years. Get yourself another set of wheels to put some decent ones on and you might end up with a totally different set up in the future. your car, your choice
Thanks for the lead. I like the subtle pie-crust. 5.60 and 10.00 would look right on my Falcon build.
I have the Speedway Motors dirt track tires like slicks cut with an airgun and chizzle, they slip and slide in the wet as well, hydroplane on top of the water. These. They look right, the ones on your car are just too odd looking
I have cheater slicks on my 31', always loved the look. The look great with a lot of wheels but maybe it's the spoked front wheel that is throwing you off a little. Imagine them with a different front wheel it i bet it will feel more right to you.
Looks like you have enough power to justify having traction type rear tires. The pie cuts are traditional. I ran a set on my 1956 Plymouth with a hemi motor and 4:10 gears year around in Oregon back in the early 1960's.
The Jalopy Journal
