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miker98038 · 12-07-2019, 10:50 PM

I don't remember a lot of radials around on factory new American cars until the late 60's. My first set of radials was on a 68 Swedish car, I'm sure many foreign cars used them prior to that.

All my old cars have radials, sometimes stock sizes, sometimes larger/lower aspect ratio, one set of bias look Coker radials.

My 32 is an odd case, 5.60 front, 8.20's rear. I replaced the bias plies with the Coker radial "look alike" a couple years ago. On a close look, you can tell, and the tread (mimics the bias ply) isn't as efficient as modern tread patterns. But they are a great improvement over the old bias plies. Steer much better, brake better (not that 5.60's do much with a Y block up front). I'll never go back.

On another OT car, I replaced the worn out radials with "correct" bias belted tires. I gave those to a buddy who only drove them to judged shows, and ran radials when he was driving for fun. Horrible.

Couple thoughts. I don't know how Ford set the tire pressure, but likely for a loaded wagon. You might look up the sedan pressure and see if the rear is lower. That might help explain the rough ride.

So I'm a believer in radials.

My buddy has a 56 Nomad, 14" radials, little wider and lower than stock. He runs in the 26-30 range when he's just cruising. All rebuilt except the springs (which were probably replaced by the PO) and it rides nice. I'd think yours should be similar

12-07-2019, 10:50 PM	#2
miker98038 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Kent, WA. Tucson, AZ Posts: 1,397	Re: Radial and Bias Tires. I don't remember a lot of radials around on factory new American cars until the late 60's. My first set of radials was on a 68 Swedish car, I'm sure many foreign cars used them prior to that. All my old cars have radials, sometimes stock sizes, sometimes larger/lower aspect ratio, one set of bias look Coker radials. My 32 is an odd case, 5.60 front, 8.20's rear. I replaced the bias plies with the Coker radial "look alike" a couple years ago. On a close look, you can tell, and the tread (mimics the bias ply) isn't as efficient as modern tread patterns. But they are a great improvement over the old bias plies. Steer much better, brake better (not that 5.60's do much with a Y block up front). I'll never go back. On another OT car, I replaced the worn out radials with "correct" bias belted tires. I gave those to a buddy who only drove them to judged shows, and ran radials when he was driving for fun. Horrible. Couple thoughts. I don't know how Ford set the tire pressure, but likely for a loaded wagon. You might look up the sedan pressure and see if the rear is lower. That might help explain the rough ride. So I'm a believer in radials. My buddy has a 56 Nomad, 14" radials, little wider and lower than stock. He runs in the 26-30 range when he's just cruising. All rebuilt except the springs (which were probably replaced by the PO) and it rides nice. I'd think yours should be similar Last edited by miker98038; 12-07-2019 at 10:57 PM.