tires

[red carr]

Will putting radial tires on my 50 ford sedan wo power strg? Want to replave bias plys but afraid my daughter may not be able to steer it in parking lots etc

[Alaska Jim]

Steering effort will be a little greater at slow speeds, and standing still. It will be easier or the same at speed. the worst will be if you try to parallel park. This has been my experience with my '51 Merc.

[red carr]

Thks Jim. That is exactly what I thought. The car is 1/2 my daughters so I best stay with bias ones. You know anyone who would have some 670-15 or thereabouts?

[Alaska Jim]

red carr, I do not know of anyone with any bias ply tires looking to sell, although I may consider selling the ones on my avatar, but they are 16". I , personally would never go back to bias ply tires on my Merc. the radials made it handle so much better. the bias ply tires seem to gab every rut in the road, and jerk the car around. don't know how I drove all my old fords before radials, and I drove them at high speeds. the car in my avatar does the same thing, plus I think that they are out of round. this is a fairly common problem with the old style bias ply tires, seems no matter who makes them, out of round tires are common. lots of complaints about them. I am still trying to decide if I should bite the bullet and get the radial tires that Coker sells that look like the bias ply tires. The only reason there are bias ply tire on my avatar, is because I like the "look", and I don't put a lot of miles on it on the highway. hope this info helps. maybe get your daughter to start lifting weights. lol. by the way do I know you? I see you are from Alaska. I live between Palmer, and Wasilla.

[red carr]

Yes,I have a red and black 54 merc 4 door.met you at the show in Palmer last yr. Live on Fairview Loop road.

[miker98038]

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I replaced the bias ply’s on my 32 with Coker radial bias look likes. It’s a different car, and big and littles, but the steering is lighter unless your parking. They drive so much better I’d never go back.

Diamond Back has a new radial bias look called the Auburn series. I haven’t heard anything about them, but I’ve got 2 sets of regular radials from them that have been first rate.

[dmsfrr]

Quite a few folks on another web group I belong to have recently been very critical of the declining quality of wide whitewall Coker tires and have had much better luck with Diamond Back tires. They also have the 'bias-look' tires.
https://dbtires.com/

If you don't need the pricey wide whites ($200-ish each) some of the discount store auto service places (Walmart) sell a nice Hankook brand tire for about 1/4 the price.
.

[miker98038]

I’ve run a couple sets of Hankook’s, they’re fine tires.

[Daves55Sedan]

If you want the safety and maybe a little better handling than bias ply, go with the new American Classic bias look radials. They are available in 670-15 and 710-15's and have the narrow tread width like the original tires. I have them on my '55 Courier and steering is real easy, even if the car is barely moving.
My '55 Fairlane has P205-75R15's on the front, but that car has Master Guide power assist, so it seems easy, but if engine is shut off and car is rolling slowly, you'd better have Arnold Schwarzeneggar in there turning the wheel.

[Ford56]

I had radials installed on my 56 Ford after owning it for 25 years. It was like getting a new car. Improved the handling tremendously. I didn't really notice any difference turning it from a stopped position, if I keep them properly inflated. If they are even just a few pounds underinflated, then I noticed it is harder to turn the steering wheel. Keeping them even a pound or two over inflated makes them easier to turn too.

[red carr]

WOW! Thks for all the feedback. Have found 60-15s here in Alaska. Slightly used but not much. If it doesn't pan out, I will eventually order radials but coker wants $150.00 freight each. Thanks again!

[dmsfrr]

Check the Date Code on the sidewall of the used tires. (photo below)

If they're more than 8 to maybe 10 years old they aren't safe at hiway speeds, putt-putting around town would be ok. Think twice about old used tires since your daughter will be driving the car.

My '55 came to me with a new looking set of Michelin's radials on it, virtually no tread wear.
But they were 23+ years old with dried up rubber and went in the dumpster.

[50fordcoupeman]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Check the Date Code on the sidewall of the used tires. (photo below)

If they're more than 8 to maybe 10 years old they aren't safe at hiway speeds, putt-putting around town would be ok. Think twice about old used tires since your daughter will be driving the car.

My '55 came to me with a new looking set of Michelin's radials on it, virtually no tread wear.
But they were 23+ years old with dried up rubber and went in the dumpster.

And to my understanding if the date code only has 3 numbers in it, then the tires were made before the year 2000.

[JeffB2]

These are within .10" of your original 670 X 15 tires in height these also have a slightly narrower section width than other brands of the same size so makes changing the rear tires easier with those narrow fender wells. https://www.pepboys.com/cornell-1000/tires/9378320#

[Daves55Sedan]

Originally Posted by Ford56

Keeping them even a pound or two over inflated makes them easier to turn too.

NEVER overinflate a tire past the manufacturers recommendations as shown stamped onto the tire sidewall. I don't care if it is summer or winter. As tires revolve, the tread builds up heat which heats up the air inside the tire and causes the tire to expand. During summer, the effect is obviously greater. During winter not so much, but if highway driving in winter, same thing will occur.
Tires can explode if overinflated even by one or two PSI.
I always run my tires about two PSI below the mfrs recommended maximum PSI to be safe.
Yes, over-inflating will certainly make it easier to steer, if you wanna take the chance of blowing out a sidewall. But over-inflating also wears the tread at the center more than it should be.

[L5wolvesf]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

NEVER overinflate a tire past the manufacturers recommendations as shown stamped onto the tire sidewall. I don't care if it is summer or winter. As tires revolve, the tread builds up heat which heats up the air inside the tire and causes the tire to expand. During summer, the effect is obviously greater. During winter not so much, but if highway driving in winter, same thing will occur.
Tires can explode if overinflated even by one or two PSI.
I always run my tires about two PSI below the mfrs recommended maximum PSI to be safe.
Yes, over-inflating will certainly make it easier to steer, if you wanna take the chance of blowing out a sidewall. But over-inflating also wears the tread at the center more than it should be.

Just to clarify, the manufacturers recommendations "stamped onto the tire sidewall" is the max pressure that tire can be run at no matter the vehicle it is on.

Most, if not all, cars have a recommend pressure for the specific vehicle and tire size. Those are usually lower than the sidewall number. For instance, until recently many tires had "Max cold pressure 35 psi" on them. The recommended size tire on a Ford, that has the modern door pillar tire sticker which would give the recommended pressure for that vehicle and size of tire. Like
Front 205/75 x 15 28 psi cold.
Rear 205/75 x 15 30 psi cold.

So inflation of a pound over those numbers is still within the maximum of 35. A pound over is not a whole lot in practice, but it would contribute to premature wear of the center tread.

One issue with our older cars and newer tires (radials & and lower wider construction) is; the older cars did not have those recommendation stickers and they weren't designed for the newer tires. The newer tires will work on older cars with alignment adjustments and figuring out the best pressure to run.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by 50fordcoupeman

And to my understanding if the date code only has 3 numbers in it, then the tires were made before the year 2000.

You are correct.
The Michelins I mentioned had a 3 digit date that decoded to the last few weeks of '93.

Originally Posted by L5wolvesf

...
So inflation of a pound over those numbers is still within the maximum of 35. A pound over is not a whole lot in practice, but it would contribute to premature wear of the center tread.
...

A couple pounds 'extra' but within the maximum may or may not cause wear at the center of the tire in actual use - depending on the tire and wheel size, vehicle weight, driving situations, etc.
My daughter had a little economy car that used "44 psi max pressure" tires. The dealer recommended 38 to 40 psi but the outside edges would wear down. At 44 they wore evenly.

In most cases our older cars aren't driven a large number of miles per year.
The tires will more likely age-out before any slightly uneven wear becomes a problem (if it occurs and isn't adjusted for).
.

[miker98038]

Bit off topic from the OP, but it’s where the thread went,

This got me to thinking about the rated load, cold inflation, and max pressure. I lifted this from the tire rack site.

“Maximum Inflation Pressure
A tire's maximum inflation pressure is the highest "cold" inflation pressure that the tire is designed to contain. However the tire's maximum inflation pressure should only be used when called for on the vehicle's tire placard or in the vehicle's owners manual. It is also important to remember that the vehicle's recommended tire inflation pressure is always to be measured and set when the tire is "cold." Cold conditions are defined as early in the morning before the day's ambient temperature, sun's radiant heat or the heat generated while driving have caused the tire pressure to temporarily increase.

For the reasons indicated above, It is also normal to experience "hot" tire pressures that are up to 5 to 6 psi above the tire's recommended "cold" pressure during the day if the vehicle is parked in the sun or has been extensively driven. Therefore, if the vehicle's recommended "cold" inflation pressures correspond with the tire's maximum inflation pressure, it will often appear that too much tire pressure is present. However, this extra "hot" tire pressure is temporary and should NOT be bled off to return the tire pressure to within the maximum inflation pressure value branded on the tire. If the "cold" tire pressure was correctly set initially, the temporary "hot" tire pressure will have returned to the tire's maximum inflation pressure when next measured in "cold" conditions.

A tire's "maximum inflation pressure" may be different than the assigned tire pressure used to rate the tire's "maximum load." For example, while a P-metric sized standard load tire's maximum load is rated at 35 psi, many P-metric sized standard load performance and touring tires are designed to contain up to 44 psi (and are branded on their sidewalls accordingly). This additional range of inflation pressure (in this case, between 36 and 44 psi) has been provided to accommodate any unique handling, high speed and/or rolling resistance requirements determined by the tire and vehicle manufacturers. These unique tire pressures will be identified on the vehicle placard or the vehicle's owner's manual.

The tire's maximum inflation pressure is indicated in relatively small-sized print branded near the tire's bead (adjacent to the wheel) indicating the appropriate value. Because tires are global products, their maximum inflation pressure is branded on the tire in kilopascals (kPa) and pounds per square inch (psi). These values can also be found in the industry's tire load & inflation charts.”

I don’t think I’ve ever run above the load rating pressure, unless it was a very high performance tire in a race settting. Maybe not even then. I’ve never run the “maximum” in the small print.

[Ford blue blood]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Check the Date Code on the sidewall of the used tires. (photo below)

If they're more than 8 to maybe 10 years old they aren't safe at hiway speeds, putt-putting around town would be ok. Think twice about old used tires since your daughter will be driving the car.

My '55 came to me with a new looking set of Michelin's radials on it, virtually no tread wear.
But they were 23+ years old with dried up rubber and went in the dumpster.

Believe it! These tires on the car were perfect looking. They were just a few months short of 11 years on the car. 75 MPH and tread separation is a bunch of fun!

[bobss396]

I run Hankook 215/15 radials up front on my '59, 235/15 on the back. I run them all at 32 psi and it helps it to steer easier. It is tough at low speeds for sure, but I grab the steering wheel under-handed from the inside when I'm parking or in tight places.