Thread: My next move with hiboy's metamorphosis

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I can guarantee that you will hate bias plys after running radials. My first rod started out with bias plys. The switch to radials turned it into a different car--unbelievable the way it handled so much better. Period correct is not worth it in my opinion.

Originally Posted by SBC

Excuse my ignorance - but what is different about the 'look'.

Higher sidewalls?
Tread pattern?

Why hasn't someone made a bias looking radial?

I think you've answered your own question.
A little squarer at the transition from tread to sidewall as well.

I doubt if there would be much of a market for a bias looking radial.
When you get down to it, there's not really that much demand for bias-plies and if it wasn't for Coker and a couple others, the bias-ply troops would be out of luck....

Here is what Coker Tire says about it

http://resources.coker.com/tire-tech...ial-tires.html

mike in tucson

A lot of folks on this thread are speaking of "the look" as if there's only one "look." "The look" is a matter of personal preference. Some think a car doesn't have "the look" if it has shiny paint. Others think it doesn't have "the look" if it isn't 2" off the ground. Others think it doesn't have "the look" if it isn't chopped. Others don't think it has "the look" unless everything on the car is CNC carved, polished billet.

I guess Foose's latest Riddler winner doesn't have "the look." And, what does "period correct" with reference to tires on a '32 roadster really mean? Does every '32 have to have a certain "look?" It isn't right without the "politically correct" tires?

Frankly, I am more than amazed at this thread in total.

By the way, terms like L78/15 are way too new for the original context of this thread. If you're not talking about 670-15 or 750-14, the tires are too new for "the look."

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

A lot of folks on this thread are speaking of "the look" as if there's only one "look." "The look" is a matter of personal preference. Some think a car doesn't have "the look" if it has shiny paint. Others think it doesn't have "the look" if it isn't 2" off the ground. Others think it doesn't have "the look" if it isn't chopped. Others don't think it has "the look" unless everything on the car is CNC carved, polished billet.

I guess Foose's latest Riddler winner doesn't have "the look." And, what does "period correct" with reference to tires on a '32 roadster really mean? Does every '32 have to have a certain "look?" It isn't right without the "politically correct" tires?

Frankly, I am more than amazed at this thread in total.

By the way, terms like L78/15 are way too new for the original context of this thread. If you're not talking about 670-15 or 750-14, the tires are too new for "the look."

Ya tell 'em Henry. I agree 100%. If you're building it for youself, then do what you want, not what someone else wants (unless they are willing to pay for it).

Jack

Joey, to answer your question, my front wheels are 5 inches wide. The 6 inch might cause the tires to bow out a little, and generally you want them to look sort of square. I think my fronts are US Royals and the rear are Commanders (?) but it has been a while since I ordered them, so I will have to look and get back to you. (my rear wheels are 7 inchers)


Originally Posted by SBC
Excuse my ignorance - but what is different about the 'look'.

Higher sidewalls?
Tread pattern?

Why hasn't someone made a bias looking radial?


To me, radials just look too "new". The sidewalls are too rounded, instead of squared off like bias plys. I know I live in the past, but we all build our cars to achieve a certain look and feel, and bias plys do that for me. I've looked at some of the radials that mimick the bias ply look, and they still don't do it for me.

As for life expectancy, the tires that are mocked up on the rear of my kids T bucket are the original L78's I bought in about 1990, and ran on my '27 for 7 years. There is still half tread left, and I did one or two smokey burnouts during that time. They will never see the road again because of pure age, but they could.

Don

Yes, the "look" can be many different things to many different people, and every style of car has different things that help give it "the look"... Would Chip Foose's Riddler winners have this "look" if he threw bias ply tires on them? Of course not... and i'm certainly not saying every car needs bias plys to look right. Hiboygirl's car is not a Chip Foose car, its a basically traditional styled/themed car, which is the perfect cantidate for bias ply tires IMO. I think a big part of "the look" is to try to not clash themes... not to say it can't be done tastefully and successfully, but generally speaking, a traditional/nostalgic style hotrod with radials brings about the same analogy as a Chip Foose car with bias plys. The tires don't fit the theme of the car in either case. I do agree that everyones car should be done the way they like it, not they way someone else likes it, I just never understood why people get so up in arms whenever someone says they want to run bias ply tires.

I wasn't getting up in arms, I just sincerely hope that anyone putting bias ply tires on a light rod know what the handling charachteristics of a bias ply tire are, that's all. They drive and handle completely different then the same car with radials. Someone mentioned the "square" transition from tread to sidewall. Think about what that will do to your cars handling in any high speed manuevering in traffic, whether playing around or avoiding some idiot on a cell phone and DRIVE ACCORDINGLY!!!!! Anyone who has grown up driving on nothing but radials and switches to bias ply has to relearn a lot of driving tactics that by this time are probably instinctive.

Anyway, have fun with your "correct look" bias ply tires, but be sure to try some manuevering, starting, cornering, and stopping in a non-congested area before you go out and play in traffic. Ask any road racer or autocross guys you know who have gone from bias ply to radials on a race course what the difference is....

PS--Should I ever get a Camry or any other new car, it will have low, wide radials on it.

Personally, I'm far too performance oriented in my driving style to ever consider going back to a bias ply tire. In the handling department it is a giant step backwards!!!! As with many aspects of building and driving a hot rod, guess we all have to decide just how much comprimise we are willing to make.....

If you don't understand how to achieve a certain look, you must run bias tires, then one could try to explain it for days and you would never get it.

The cars below would look better with radials?

My Tudor has about 20k miles on the Firestones - driven from FL to Indy, to Louisville....no problems at all. They are about half tread now -

Having a LARGE car with Bias ply tires on it, I can safely say that the handling is well below average (close to the point of being dangerous). The alignment and suspension on the car are in good shape, but the weight of the car itself tends to work against the tires roadholding capabilities.

To go around a corner in a 1951 Frazer at 30 miles an hour you better have your insurance company and wrecker company on speed dial (after a quick conversation with God)! You will most likely end up on the other side of traffic, or on your lid!

Now try the same thing in your 32, and things will be drastically different. Your car doesn't have near as much weight working against the tires. The body sway is dramatically different. You can whip you hot rod around the corner and probably not scrub off that much speed.

And I have driven cars with Bias-ply, and radials for years. I remember the Firestone 721 issues when the steel belts would seperate from the carcass after just a few thousand miles. What I am trying to say is that make the choice that makes you happy. If it looks good to you, To H#LL with what anyone else says about it.

Originally Posted by SirSpeedy

If you don't understand how to achieve a certain look, you must run bias tires, then one could try to explain it for days and you would never get it.

The cars below would look better with radials?

Yup, in my opinion they would all look better with radials. Bias tires look like a big black block of rubber that couldn't go around a corner fast if they had to.... That what you wanted someone to say??? The old tires look like old technology that wasn't any good in the 60's and probably isn't much better now.....

Now you can flame me.....

here's one of the best examples of "the look" I was speaking of... IMO radials would kill the overall feel of this deuce.

Boy, reading all this erudition makes me think I'm lucky to be alive. Spent most of the 60's and 70's wheeling a half a million miles at mostly illegal rates of speed in everything from a Hemi-powered IHC to a 69 440 GTX, and all on (GASP!!) bias ply tires! Many were rejects from the local Ford dealer, when buyers opted for radials on their new trucks.
It wasn't until we got a 72 Camino that radials entered the picture. It was uncontrollable with bias plys. A Duster was the other way, radials turned it into a killer, it went every direction but the way it was pointed.
My point , I guess, is that a car built for bias plys will work with them. Some older cars get harsh and noisy with radials. My 54 Bel Aire will chip the enamel off your teeth on a gravel road with radials, but it's okay on pavement. Go figure.

Then run your bias ply tires. Maybe you can convince yourself they are better on ANY car in ANY situation, but to me they will always be old, outmoded technology... I fail to see anything that even looks good about them.... I will never see the day that I will give up the ride, handling, and safety of a radial to go back in time 50 years and run a bias ply. Many of us drove on old discarded junk bias ply tires at at least twice the legal limit....but that certainly doesn't mean that I would be dumb enough to do it again just so I could have "the look"..... I just must not be artistic or trendy enough to understand it, what I do understand is that a radial tire far exceeds a bias ply tire ON A PROPERLY SET UP CAR when it comes to handling..... None of you seem to want to talk about what works better, only what is more "the look". Well, you go look good, I'm gonna go fast!!!!