History Rader - M/T (now Radir) Wheels - how did people run them in the 60's?

My recollection is Raders were used mostly on Fords and were ( justified or not) considered kinda cheap and uncool.
THE wheel was the cragar S/S, at least in Portland Oregon where I grew up. Slotted Astro types were Ok, as were chrome reverse, Americans were second to the Cragar.
I allways thought Ford guys liked 'em because several Ford race cars, I think Hubert Platt, Gas Rhonda and some others used Raders.
I do remember they were thought to be weaker than Cragars, I don't know if this was true, but that's what I remember.
Oh yeah, Keystones were a cool MoPar wheel, again, I think 'cause Sox & Martin used them.
Then as now, everything went in trends, makes sense or not, that's the way it seems!
I might add that "traditional" hot rods were few and far between, maybe the Oregon weather had to do with it, but full size cars were THE thing. From early 50's to "new" 60's.
My two cents.

 

They were used on almost all the factory backed T-bolts and Comets. Not saying they CAME with them, but thats what wound up on most of them, hence the Ford guys liking them.

 

They were considered cheap and cheezy in So Cal, in the '60s. They're are sure in style now, though.

 

As I understand it Rader made flat spoke wheels exclusively for Sears, single rib and triple rib for general sales. I don't know if he made doubel ribs, those might have been only been on competitor's knock-offs?

 

Grandpa ran them on the Dragula of course!

 

I bought my '65 Chevelle in summer of '66 and immediately took the wheel covers off and put "baby moons" with trim rings and stock tires. That's all I could afford to do after making down payment on car. Saved a little money and bought a set of Raders. I really wanted Keystones but could get Raders at cost. $$$ very scarce then. I managed to buy some wide rear tires along with the wheels (worked at a service station that sold tires). Of course I thought my 8" recap cheater slicks were the cat's meow until the cheater slicks, a Louisiana rain, and a sharp curve all met at the same time. Cost me a rear quarter and 65' of fence. Got the quarter repaired (lots of bondo and a little bodywork) and about had the money saved for the Keystones and new tires when I got an invitation from Uncle Sam offering an unforgettable experience. While I was gone, parents sold car.....never knew what happened to it.

So, my experience with Raders was newer car set up for Super Stock look and were my third choice (None of us could afford Cragers and we didn't want those GRAY wheels//lol)

 

Did some work for Dick Radar in the '60's and it was a bitch to collect for services rendered. He did a lot of private label deals. I'll give him credit though, he saw a need for a reasonably priced mag wheel and filled it.

 

Not sure about calling answers to the question "negative" comments. The question was "how did people run them in the 60s" and the answer is they didn't unless that was all they could afford. They were a cheap looking rim and was the bottom of the list for most people. If you could afford better you went with better most of the time. That is not "negative", that is how they were run in the 60s, but the folks that had no other options cost wise would run them. At least that is the way it was in my part of the country. Personally I would run black rims before I would run them, but some folks thought they were better than nothing.

 

Im my area[red river valley of north dakota]the rader wheels weren't very popular,mostly seen on the "custom" type cars rather than the performance guys.almost always seen with the same size tires front and back.The car I remember most was a pink[when pink wasn't popular]'57 chevy four door[when 4 doors weren't popular]car had rader wheels and was always spotless.didn't like the car in 1968 in high school,but it's also a car everyone remembers when we're talking about the "old days"

 

Were 4 doors EVER popular??

 

Pink ones were, George. Remember that pink...

 

When I met my wife-to-be in the mid 60s her folks drove a pink Rambler station wagon. That's about as bottom of the barrel as you can get I rekon.

 

Wonder if it was a Mary Kay car??

 

Yup....... had a pair of 'em on my '62 Impala. On the front only. Had painted rims on the back with a big white wedge painted on to check for "wheel spin". Just a kid tryin' to look cool. Had these rims for about 4 years, then the chrome went, and electrolisys set in and corroded the aluminum centers. Never failed, but did manage to look like crap. Loved 'em anyway. Oh yeah, I knew these as Mickey Thompsons, not Raders.

 

I put a set of Mickey Thompson's with new tires on my '64 Chevelle SS (283 w/4 speed) in the summer of '65 just before leaving Fort Bragg for Viet Nam. Drove the car back to Boston with my wife, 2 yr old son & 1 month old daughter. They were a big hit. Two of my friends with GTOs had them so I naturally had to have a set. I had the straight spinners w/red outline "M/T"- two types were offered.

 

Mary Kay used only Cadillacs

 

Well, this is a thread that really gets me going...in all the right ways !! For the longest time, my favorite picture of all time is my dad's 1959 yellow paint, white top Impala convertible. Loved that car. It had these wheels....that for the longest time.....my father bought them as Mickey Thompson five spoke wheels with a M/T center cap. I can't tell you how many times I looked on Ebay and various other sites for those wheels. Raders, Hurst, E/T's every one of them others would pop up. No M/T's !! It was almost a revelation of stupidity...when I finally/FINALLY!! read that they were one and the same.....from this HAMB site. I can't tell you how many great deals I passed up through the years. Found 3 Rader NOS 8" wide rims once for $300...hell that was 5 years ago. Can't remember if they were 14's or 15's. Should have bought them....but I didn't....they weren't Mickeys!! What a dumbass, huh?? Oh well. We are all dumbasses sometimes...some less than others. Next time I go home, I'm gonna' scan my pop's pictures....and post some stuff here. Love these wheels. Wish they made sizes for my late model stuff........yeesh.....yeah I know....but 18 inch Rader alikes would look great on my slammed '90 Suburban. Support vehicle guys....what the hell right?

 

I thought that Radir was always spelled this way, Correct me if im wrong.

 

I started the thread using just Radir, but this post taught me the original wheelmaker had a different spelling:

 

I always preferred Cragar SS or the grey spoke types. The Raders have flattened look of something stamped in the Orient to me. However I love the full polished 59 Buick drums in the pic. I thought I was the only one anal enough to do that anymore. I think the one in your pic is a copy of the rader look or modern Radirs. Don't remember them with the ribs on the spoke edges back then. There were lots of cheap copies of the Cragar SS, Torque Thrust D's and Ansen Sprints back in the later 60's early 70's too. How many of you thought like me that J.C. Whitney was the equivalent of Speedy Bills for the common teenager's minimum wage budgets back then?

 

these were fentons circa 1963-4

 

Love the pic of the '58 above. I don't think slots, torq thrusts, or even Cragar S/S's would look nearly as "right" on that car.

 

Learn something new every day

 

62hotcat... do you remember what size rims (diameter & width) and tires those were on your '58 Pontiac?

 

I ran a set on my 63 chevy front wheels, rear wheels had chrome reverse. I think that was 1964 or 1965.

 

Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers...

 

I do not know. 58 was my dads car way before me.

 

This rail job spelling........thats one cool pic!

 

Saw this wheel set at a swap meet a few years ago....

 

This is the way I'm running mine now. They had already been blasted when I bought 'em, likely due to peeling chrome, so I just painted them with cast aluminum paint.