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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Radial versus Bias

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Radial versus Bias -- page: 1 2 3     47Monarch 06-17-2019 @ 12:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 14 Joined: Jun 2019 I got my 47 monarch almost a year ago it had bias ply tires I put maybe 200 miles on the car then got www radials noticed the difference driving across the tire shop parking lot . The difference in price between white wall and black wall is a lot but changing to radials is unbelievable therunwaybehind 05-09-2019 @ 9:41 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 180 Joined: May 2019 As you are worrying about stress also look at the as new thickness of the steel in the rim of old and new. The old is thick the new is high strength and thin expected to be stronger because it is "high strength steel." Unless---the stamping press thins the place where the rim shape rolls into the bead side. Then you might see a feather of bead edge that has cracked off and exposed the side of the rubber bead. Hopefully after so many years and miles this kind of product defect has been weeded out or never existed in these old Fords. I saw it on my friend's 1968 Chevrolet C-10 and immediately looked at the much thicker 1955 passenger rims on my 1948 Ford after I converted to 4-1/2 inch bolt circle. Look at the metal on your wife's rims. TomO 05-07-2019 @ 6:58 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7244 Joined: Oct 2009 Big Vince, did you click on the link that I posted that describes the different way that radial tires stress the rim? Read the article and then make up your mind. Your Woodie is a big sail when a crosswind comes along. The big 18 wheelers move my wife's 2013 Equinox when they blast by at highway speeds. The Equinox has a much more sophisticated suspension and steering gear than your Woodie, but it too is a big sail. Radial tires will not eliminate the sail effect. I drive my 40 Mercury on all kinds of roads and do not find that it wanders or has bump steer. My 53 Lincoln did have that problem, but after I had the front end aligned it tracks very nicely. Both cars are affected by a passing big truck or a strong cross wind. Tom This message was edited by TomO on 5-7-19 @ 6:59 AM joe b 05-07-2019 @ 6:51 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 389 Joined: Oct 2010 I had radials installed on my '41 coupe and am very happy with them. The car rides and handles much better. It does not wander all over like it used to. I used my stock rims with tubes and no problems there. len47merc 05-06-2019 @ 7:09 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1165 Joined: Oct 2013 My good friends and completely trusted (senior) colleagues TomO and kubes40 have accurately, fully and completely answered this question. After previously following their same advice and completely restoring a '47's running gear and suspension to as new conditions I never experienced the problems described with bias plys over thousands of touring miles. The car was a pleasure to drive with 3 1/4" www on 7.00 x 15s. Never looked back, never had a problem AT FORD'S RECOMMENDED 26 psi rating (for the Mercury). Have personally seen two (so far) original EFV8 rims that cracked - catastrophically - with radials installed. My mind was already made up from experience, these visuals simply sealed the deal. If you want a custom car, build it to be custom with all the necessities to ensure it is safe for the features you wish to add (like radials). Don't piece-meal it and expect it to work like a modern car would with 70-90 year old technology as the foundation. As for me and my house, well, drive it like it was meant to be driven, like it was meant to perform, before you decide you have the knowledge, experience and expertise to improve upon it. In most - dare I say all - cases you will find Ford knew what the h*ll they were doing. Steve This message was edited by len47merc on 5-6-19 @ 7:09 PM sarahcecelia 05-06-2019 @ 2:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1171 Joined: Mar 2013 Those rims were not made for the additional stresses of radials! They WILL CRACK- Modern cars with radial tires, have rims built for that stress. When you have to always add a little air to your tire(s), that will tell you they have small cracks starting in them; next they will come apart, and you will wreck your pride and joy! Do the RESEARCH!! Regards, Steve Lee sarahcecelia 05-06-2019 @ 2:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1171 Joined: Mar 2013 Radials put ADDITIONAL stress on the outer edges, on both sides of the rims, and the original rims will crack from that stress. When your tires need a little air all the time, that's a sign that the rims are developing small cracks in them! Bias ply tires radiate the stress to each side of the rim, radially-So the force is half and half, whereas radials put all of the force, 100%, directly on on the edges of the rims.If you change to radials with original rims, it could be disastrous! Cars with radial tires have SPECIAL RIMS that are built for that extra stress. Do the research, you'll find that i'm right!There is a great possibility of a rim coming apart while your doing 50 or so miles an hour, and you lose control, and wreck! Regards, Steve Lee bigvince 05-06-2019 @ 1:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 60 Joined: Oct 2009 I use bias belted tires on 16 x 4.5 inch wheels on my 48 woodie. There is plenty of wandering particularly when an 18 wheeler blows by me. Some say yes to radials but use inner tubes. Some say no due to "rim stress". I had the guy at the tire store say no problem with radials on stock rims. I have five rims sitting in my garage where you can still read the "FORD" and "K-H" stamping clearly. A ton of discussion on this and never a firm answer. I have priced tires out but radials at one particular antique tire outlet are $240 a piece. That's Pirelli territory. I also have seen some 16R75 x 195 for about four hundred a set. Some say use the radials that come on an electric vehicle. What's the answer??? Club Cpe 50 03-23-2019 @ 6:07 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 2 Joined: Mar 2019 I spent a lot on king pins-trunions-bushings-spindles-etc. My 50 coupe was beautifully painted by an earlier restorer but the mechanicals weren't the best. It had nice bias ply reproduction tires on it. I bought 5 Coker radials-tires made in the original 6.70 by 15 tire molds. The word "radial tire"is embossed small- about the same size as this type font. How/why any judge could detract points for these tires being radial is beyond me. Radials really help the car on bad road surfaces. The car is aligned a bit differently- more caster and slight negative camber-which helps directional stability. I had a set of aftermarket trim rings that overlapped the Ford hubcaps-giving the look of a full wheel cover. These would not stay on the front wheels due to rim flexing- I switched to the stock trim rings and all is well JT Ford 03-13-2019 @ 7:22 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 112 Joined: Oct 2009 Be sure that black insulated wire under the dist. plate isn't bare someplace. After 65 years some are bad! When the plate moves it can short out and the car will stop. Got on the wrong post, sorry! This message was edited by JT Ford on 3-13-19 @ 7:25 AM

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