Firestones, Coker Radials or Excelsior Radials

[Ziffer]

I'm getting ready to spend some serious money on vintage looking tires. I think we all agree the old Firestone Dirt Trackers look great but the Bias Ply tires make driving a challenge (my wife will also drive the car.) What have you all experienced with any of the Coker Radials or Excelsior Radials? No matter which way I go it looks like a set of four will be around $1100.00

Thanks

[ford38v8]

Ziffer, I honestly am at a loss to imagine what the challenge is to bias ply tires. They have been used for these many years by men, women, and small boys without uttering the word "challenge". If your car handles poorly, the change to radials will not cure the problem, but rather, will exaggerate the problem.

[quickchange34]

Diamond Back radials have a great look and give a great ride.

[turnpikecrusier]

I have both bias and radials I honestly can't tell the difference between the two. If the road is grooved out the car will wonder with either one. Go with your check book and or looks you will be fine. An old car will never drive like a new one,no matter what tire. my honest opinion. Kenny

[Fibber Mcgee]

I have radials on my 49 and bias on my 41 and the only difference I see is the bias do seem to follow the rutts more but seem to be easier to turn but that could be due to different width.

[J & D]

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I love my Excelsior Radials.

[31chevy]

I have Uniroyal tiger paw 215 70/r16 radials on my 34 pickup & am pleased so far. Bought them at a local tire shop mounted & balanced $412.00 for 4. I don't believe they are available in white walls.
Gary.

[01aford]

Let me start by saying I'm a purest and want a correct and original 40. I had both on my 40. I stayed with the radial. For me driving down grooved/crowned roads they made a huge difference. I would never go back to the bias tire. (the radials are not correct but they are much safer).

[SSsssteamer]

I went to the Coker 600X 16 radials on my 1946 Ford pick up two years ago. Our radials steer with better control, drive in a straight line (no wander) , stop better, corner better, and get better gas mileage. The radials really give better traction on our wet roads. The only down side was that radials cost more than bias ply tires. I would never go back to bias ply tires. I have driven our '46 truck for 30 years with bias ply tires and now I have driven radials for two years now. It has been plenty of time to tell the difference. I expect the radial tire tread life to outlast the bias ply tread by at least 5 times. My spare tire is still a bias ply tire. I probably will never need it.

[Tom's36coupe]

I have Coker ww radials on my 36 coupe, really like the way the ride is and they look very nice too. A little pricey but imo worth it!

[TomO]

Ziffer,

If you are putting radials on a pre-1949 wheel, you will need to add the cost of radial tubes and balancing to your estimate.

The pre-1949 wheels did not have the safety hump needed to keep under inflated tubeless tires on the rim. You may say that you will always have the proper pressure in your tires, but a road hazard, like a pot hole, can change that in a hurry.

[Dale S. Watson]

Radial tires are new thats why people think they handle better, put fresh bias tires on and they will handel as well . The old tires are as hard as brick from age thats why they don!t handel well .

[Krylon32]

I used Coker/Excelsior radials on my deuce highboy roadster, 7.50/16s and 500/16s. More of an appearance thing plus I wanted a tire that drives better at speed???

[42guy]

I have the Diamond radials on my 42. I ran bias ply for 3 years and notice a big differance. We have really crowned back roads in upstate NY, I guess to channel the water off to the side. Any way the car handles better with the radials as I stay off the flat interstates. I did go for newer wheels.

[felix37]

Ziffer, If you plan to drive your car regualary you definitely want to go with the radials! Those who say they can't tell the difference between the biased ply and radials either don't drive there cars at today's speeds or don't drive there cars enough to tell the difference. driving in the local parades or a car show 30 or 40 miles away,you probably won't tell much difference, but if safety is a concern and you really plan to use your car, I can't say enough about Coker's radial's! I have a set of Coker's Firestone wide white's(bias ply) as well as a set of Coker Classic radials. I love them both!! I prefer the looks of my bias ply's but enjoy the drive much better with the radials! I drive the interstate in my 37' every day, A few weeks ago I made a panic brake on wet pavement going 65 MPH with the bias ply's and they just skidded out of control! I came within inches of hitting the car in front of me. I have had similar circumstances with the radials and never had a problem controlling a skid and they just drive better! My bias ply's love to dart around when hitting expansion joints, going from pavement to black top,etc..
Not to be biased Ha,Ha but I work for Coker Tire/Honest Charley Garage, so don't buy Diamondbacks! depending on the look you want, Coker or Excelsiors are the way to Go!

[41panelmark]

I use the Coker radials and tubes and they seem to preform very well.

[Fibber Mcgee]

Originally Posted by SSsssteamer

I went to the Coker 600X 16 radials on my 1946 Ford pick up two years ago. Our radials steer with better control, drive in a straight line (no wander) , stop better, corner better, and get better gas mileage. The radials really give better traction on our wet roads. The only down side was that radials cost more than bias ply tires. I would never go back to bias ply tires. I have driven our '46 truck for 30 years with bias ply tires and now I have driven radials for two years now. It has been plenty of time to tell the difference. I expect the radial tire tread life to outlast the bias ply tread by at least 5 times. My spare tire is still a bias ply tire. I probably will never need it.

Do radials really outlast bias by a long time?The bias I have came on car and I was wondering what kind of life I should expect.

[Steel 35]

Not the type of reviews I read here a year ago, when I bought bias! what would I buy now Radial; (because of the flat spots every morning)

[49r]

Love my radials on my Toyota, love my cross-plys on my F1 ...

[sturgis 39]

I have had both radials and bias tires on my "A". I got the Coker Firestone bias tires. I like the bias tires ride and looks better than the radials. A few years ago on the Early Ford v/8 site, all of the experts were warning people not to use radial tires with the old stock rims. They said the old rims were not designed to handle the different forces the radial tires applied to the rims. These discussions were heated more than discussions about converting to 12 volts and alternators. These folks that stressed the warnings about radials must have given up or died.

Advertising sells and they can not sell something that is cheaper to manufacture and newer without bad mouthing the old stuff they are trying to replace.

Complaining about flat spots is not a good argument. The flat spots are gone in a few hundred feet unless it is way below zero and then they are gone in another 200 feet.

It is like mechanical brakes and hydraulic brakes. One company develops something new and they bad mouth the competition because they want to sell their cars. Then the other companies follow them with their new and improved. I have had a 38 Ford with mechanical brakes and a 39 Ford with Hydraulic brakes and I can not tell the difference except I always good pedal with the 38 mechanical brakes. The mechanical brakes never needed bleeding and the master and slave cylinders did not have to be rebuilt because there were none.

I friend stopped by for coffee the other day. He installed a v/8 Pontiac engine in a 41 Chevy pickup. He mentioned that it heats up a little bit. I asked him if he took the old radiator to a shop and had it rodded or cleaned. He said he bought a new aluminum radiator because they are better than the old copper radiators. I had to tell him that the "R" value of copper is about half of aluminum. This is just another example of flashy advertising selling to the mentally challenged masses.