I had a new 73/ 74 (can't remember year) Chev with them, first one, blow out at 1000 miles, said I hit something on road, about 2 weeks later, another blow out, both times, middle of night, was traveling, racing 2/3 nights a week. Take car to dealer, same story, must have hit something on road, my answer was BullShit, took car to Goodyear store, put 4 new tires on and no more problems. Sometime later got a recall on tires, so went to dealer with junk tire and other 3 not mounted, guess what, they could/would not help me as I took the tires off, to this day, have not, will not buy a Firestone tire. The OP asked about bias ply, been running bias ply Coker wide whites on our 51 Buick Roadmaster without any problems, radials are superior in handling qualities IMO , we've been putting on only 2000 miles or so locally per summer on the Buick as it's a restored stock classic type car, not really a 75 mph freeway cruiser, the wide whites look good on the old cruiser's. I have offered this advice in past, if you are going to drive it, Radials, show car, low miles, Bias ply.
I just pulled the bias plys off my 57' Ford sedan yesterday. I still drive a lot. It was a toil when hitting grooved sections of the interstate. I love the look of the bias plys(7:10 and 8;25x15 Firestones).
You don't put bias plys on your car for their superior slot car like handling. You put them on because they look right. It's a matter of aesthetics..(for me).
Pulled radials off and put Firestone ribbed piecrusts on. Sure it catches every line in the road and I have to pay more attention but the look is so much better. They run out great.
running bias for years, cokers, firestones etc. Never had any problems with out of round etc. like some folks have. Terrible Boston roads never seem to be an issue. When you gotta have "the look", there's just no question which way to go. When we all drove on bias plies from Boston to Bonneville a few years back, 6000+ miles round trip, there were no complaints...other than the fact that @Pete and @gonzo never took a shower.....
The worse you smell the faster everyone else drives trying to get away... and everybody knows when @Pete is trying to get someplace there is no time to re-lacks. When we drive back to B-Ville again it'll be on bias plys. There's no question that when your running a full fendered car over grooved pavement the seas can get a little rough but on a smaller car I don't think you can even tell the difference.
Neat! I ogled Your vette at the Drags this year. You live just down the road from me! (We’re in Lawrence.)
went from radials to bias ply on roadster, drives the same. Both 36 and 32 coupe have bias ply and drive very well.
When Dad got into his 80s he started having difficulties steering his '31 coupe. My brother and I figured it was finally time to install an F-1 box. But first, my brother pulled the bias plys and installed a set of radials. That did the trick. Dad was comfortable driving it again. I gotta admit, those radials look terrible to my eye. But Dad's happy, and only a die-hard car guy would notice or care. Everyone else just sees an old guy with a grin on his face tooling around in a neat old Ford. Good enough for me.
My 53' will end up with bias ply white walls when its done. It won't be driven daily by that point, so the millage/tire life thing will be in my favor. Now the 54' I'm undecided on as it will be for show and a daily driver. I'm going with the bare red rim look on it so bias plys would look good, black or white walled. I'll probably drive through a few sets of tires and see what's best.
Back in the day the tires that came on new cars where very poor. My Father bought a new 66 ford. It had 2 ply uniroyals on it. They didn't last a month before they failed. I remember he had new firestone 500's on the rear and goodyears on the front. They where s larger tire than the original ones.
Sir, I noticed you did much more than switched from radials to bias ply... You also ditched those stupid aluminium alloy wheels, which were "cool" in the 80's but which actually always looked ridiculous on all pre-1970 cars and you changed the tire size, aspect ratio and width... That's what made your car look better, not the manufacturing technology of the tires... -Thanks & Sorry-
Ditto on all of it. I was so happy to get rid of the "ridge wobble" and instant lane changes on uneven roads. (production 1950s car, not homebuilt) My first set of radials cured that in a dramatic way. I do miss the ability to "get rubber" in all 4 gears however. The radials grip too well to break loose easily. I started losing hubcaps due to rim flex, so I had to switch to later thicker steel wheels from the 1970s Fords. Someday I would like to use those bias tires on a lightweight 4 speed car again just to thrill to the very controllable 4 wheel drifts, bark the tires in every gear, and make it dance just the way I want. I miss that fun. I agree you can't do THAT in an easily controllable manner with radials. Bias were much more fun I miss the 4 for 100$ recaps too WHY BE ORDINARY ?
Yes, the wheel difference is a big change Captain Obvious but a lot of guys run those Halibrands today. I chose the piecrust sidewalls because they have a look all their own.
when a bias rag tire 'disassembles' it is a pain in the rear. when a radial 'disassembles'... besides being a pain in the rear... a chance of body damage from the radial belt. my preference obviously is bias.
ADDED- Long ago this below was true, I believe it still is true today... and long ago I used it to my advantage for having fun Radials grip better, but bias drifts better. When a radial is at it's traction limits, it has a narrower window between Gripping, Slipping, and Gone. A bias ply tire, although it was slipping sooner, was more predictable in that you had a wider window where you could control the slipping and sliding in a much more fun manner There was a wider "window" area with a bias tire where you could slip it a little, slip it a lot, recover, and then do it again without "losing it". That was the most fun combination long ago when I was a leadfoot kid. Compared to the old bias tires, relatively speaking of course, when you reached a radial tires limit of traction, a little bit more and it was gone. A bias tire was more fun if you were like me and enjoyed controlled drifts and slides that were easy to recover. Too bad I wore them out so fast. WHY BE ORDINARY ?
^^^^ Very true.....also applies for appropriate hot rod sized radials too. Tall and skinny radial tires are disappearing fast. Most tall rear sized radials are only available in load range E.
My Packard had fat wide radials on it when i got it, drove it for a bit and swapped bias www's onto it. Did the swap for looks, noticed it does pull the car into road ruts more but it's also much easier to park and steer at slow speeds. Big radials on a big car without power steering is a pain to deal with when parking. Sent from my LG-M153 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
On a custom,dealers choice. Bias have wider whites,than radials. If you're running a "modern" suspension radials may work better. I run bias,G-78 Coker,was goin for a look. Wider whites are better,mine are 3 1/4. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Those polished Halibrands look completely proper on that machine. Also, Halibrands have not been produced since the early '60s, so your pre 1970 comment is a bit off base.
I don't see the problem with bias plies, year round... ...just remember what they are and you'll do fine. I find that 90% of the people that have problems with them just put way too much air in them. Go with the factory recommended tire (that mean bias ply), at the factory recommended air pressure, and most people will find that they handle and track well for what they were designed for.
Ryan ADMINISTRATOR from Austin, TX Staff Member Bias ply. Nothing else should be considered no matter the circumstances.
Got tubeless radials on all my rides 'cept the '55 which are bias with inner tubes. Don't mind the ride with bias. Only cons are punctures which happen more often than you would think due to hurricanes and careless roofers. I can sometimes plug a tire in ten minutes without even jacking the car up. The '55 is a different story. Have to wrestle the tire off the rim to get at the tube, then put it all back together again. That's my only bitch. At 68, dancin' with a 950x16 Firestone dirt track tire is an all day job with lots of rest periods, beers and cigars.
I use Bias Ply on almost all of my builds. People think radials are the end all-be all. It's like lipstick on a pig. Bad suspension, worn parts, etc will still ride and handle like crap, regardless of the tire construction. Stick to bias ply, they look better.
It is hard to find good bias ply tires these days. They can be found, when my Willys pickup left the building it was running excellent bias ply tires. But they were interco mud and snow tires and not firestone repops. If one is willing to search glass plys and Kevlar plies can be found. They are a superior tire and most of those are pretty round as thy are a premium tire. I wouldn't go through the trouble myself as I am a cheap bastard but it is a possibility. @Old-Soul I will never be one to say that radials are superior, just different. The problem is that radials are cheaper these days. Its like drum brakes V disc brakes. Both are brakes, one has different characteristics then the other and both will stop your car just fine.
Bias plys are good tires. Drum brakes are good brakes. There's just a bunch of effite snobs in rodding today that badmouth anything that isn't the hi-tech best.
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