Tire confusion

Dude 11

Dude 11

Member
I'm at the point of ordering my tires for my Delray but not sure witch ones. I want wide whites but the radial has a 2.5 inch whitewall and the
Bias has a 3.25 in. I know the radial would be a better tire but would it make any difference to the car? One tire guy said the car wasn't
"Radial tuned" and radials wouldn't handle very well. Any suggestions??
 
blkblk63ss

blkblk63ss

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 5
And he is a tire guy?:laughingI had radials on a 55 chevy and drove great. Way before radials in 1955. Have radials on my 63 drives great.
 
1958 delivery

1958 delivery

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Radial tuned, LOL. However there is a little truth to that. I'll start by saying that the X frame cars unequal a arm/tall spindle design is pretty good and will enjoy the benefit of radials tires greatly. 1963-1982 Corvettes use essentially the exact same suspension, same spindles, same a arms. The only difference is the Corvette is rear steer while the Impala is front steer. Front steer is considered superior to rear steer. Earlier cars with upright/king pin design such as the 1954 and earlier Chevy do not respond as greatly to the radial advantage.
I went from radials to bias on my 53 Ford and there is almost no difference, so little that it doesn't matter. The Ford front suspension is pretty crappy and it'll take a lot more then radials to improve it much. I went to the bias for the same reason, I got 4" whitewalls with bias vs the 2.75" ww radials.
In my opinion your car will handle/drive a lot better with radials. I guess getting more caster in the alignment would constitute a "radial tune".
 
pvs409

pvs409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
Radials are the only way to go. Radials can be purchased and they can look like originals. I have radials on my 62’s

What size rim do want to put the tires on? There are a number of options for radials.
There are not many radials for stock size 14 inch rims available with the correct original whitewall at tire shops without going to Coker tire or Diamond Back Classic tires. I have been using Diamond Back tires.

I also purchased tire sizes to fit my cars so the speedometer still works without a big difference in accuracy of the speedometer.

I can post links for you to see pictures of the tire options for you to consider if I have the rim size along with your original whitewall size of 2.5 inches. We / I just looked at all the options including price for original 14 inch rims with whitewalls(1”) for a friends 62 Chevy Impala SS 409 Convertible.

Paul
 
bobs409

bobs409

 
Administrator
Here are the radials that look like bias ply's. I guess they might be available as whitewall too. Get ready to fork out lots of money going this route. I bought 5 (one for spare) and I think it was $1200 or so. They better not be made with that Chinese rubber!

DSCN4483.jpgDSCN4484.jpg
 
Dude 11

Dude 11

Member
Thanks for the help this information is all good my new tire guy is using Coker tire as his supplier so I will take these pictures of the radial tires that Look like buyers and see what they can come up with my tire size is a G 78-14
 
pvs409

pvs409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
Dean's 61 bubble

Dean's 61 bubble

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 4
i also agree with DB tires. years ago i had coker tires that were mostly square (not round) and run out on a machine that i could shave the tires to make them round would have left half the tread missing. I was told by the "distibutor" that it was because i did not have radial "wheels".
 
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