Guest MarkJ. Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I am trying to decide between bias or radial tires for a 1952 Studebaker Land Cruiser I am having restored. I love the look of the really wide whitewalls and the "pie crust" design of the bias ply tires. I had a 1948 Chevy Stylemaster 4 door many years ago and did not mind driving it on bias ply. I want to drive the Studebaker and enjoy it. It is the first antique I have owned in a long time. I may also want to enter it in an AACA meet someday. But I am concerned about safety.Would I be making a mistake putting bias tires on it considering today's traffic? I am currently favoring Firestone 710 15s with 3.25" whitewalls from Coker. Would it be dangerous to drive on tires like this at 65 mph on the PA Turnpike or other highways for distances of 50 - 200 miles? I would appreciate any thoughts or advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Old48Truck Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 People drove those speeds on bias ply tires back when the car was new, so I can't see why it would be unsafe today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 (edited) Get a spare set of 5 wheels -- mount a set of wide-whitewall radials for driving --mount another set of Bias-ply for AACA-Judged show,Enjoy your Studebaker !I've driven many thousands of miles in our '34 buick and '52 Caddy and '63 Impala on Bias-ply tires, and many more thousands in the Impala, '54 Caddy, and '70 Caddy on Radials. In the photos below, our Pre-War cars are shown with Bias-Ply tires, and the Post-War cars ride on radial wide-whites. I excluded the 1914 Buick which is not within the scope of your questionTruthfully, the radials handle better, wear far longer, and I believe they are safer in the long run, but are not correct for show on early cars."Click" on photos to enlarge for detail: Edited August 20, 2011 by Marty Roth (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bob Call Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Are you sure that 7.10 X 15 is the right size? Back in the early 50's most cars in this size range, Chevy, Ford, Plymouth, etc., were on 6.70 X 15. The next step up would have been like Olds 88, DeSoto, Pontiac Star Chief, Mercury, etc. on 7.10 X 15, then Olds 98 and Buicks on 7.60 X 15. Caddies, Lincolns and Imperials on 8.00 X 15 or 8.20 X 15. Also, period correct would be blackwalls for these lower price cars. Nothing wrong with staying with bias ply just have your front suspension in good shape and properly aligned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMB Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Check out Diamondback tires also for more options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I have 8.20x15 wide white biased tires on my '60 Electra and 7.10x15 narrow white biased tires on my '64 Riviera. Both have suspension in excellent condition and drive very well.I have been reading stories about biased vs. radial since 1976. The most common story I have heard goes something like this: "I took the 28 year old biased tires off my car and replaced them with radials. Boy! What a difference!" Anything replacing ancient tires would be an improvement. Radials will be forgiving to worn suspension.I may not be a good judge from my personal experience. Buicks have been famous for their ride and braking since the 1930's. A lot of lesser cars were not very good to begin with so the radials may compensate for engineering shortfalls on them.A bought my second set of Coker Firestones from Summit and saved about $200 on the four.About that "lesser car" term; I have coffee with a friend who lives and breathes Mopar. I can put just the right intonation on "lesser car" to really make his sizzle. Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 If you want radials look for the cheapest ones you can find. I am not kidding. I put Walmart Marshal radials on my 51 DeSoto. They are 2 or 3 inches narrower than the same size (nominal) in a good name brand ( Goodyear, Bridgestone etc).Get the highest aspect ratio, I think 75s might still be available. You want the tallest skinniest tires you can get for clearance and appearance.They will still be way better than anything available when your car was new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bob Call Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Found my manual. 1952 Stude V8 had 7.10 X 15 tires and 6 cylinder had 6.40 X 15 tires. So I was wrong with the in between 6.70 X 15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 If you're going to have the car judged at an AACA event, you have no choice but to mount OEM bias-ply tires, or take a significant points deduction.If that is not a concern in your particular circumstance, next question is how much driving, and what type ?If your Stude does not have a V-8 and Overdrive, then I would guess your cruising is going to be fairly close to home and at speeds under 55 mph, and I would suggest that reproduction bias ply tires are entirely adequate.If you do have the V-8 ( or big six) and Overdrive or Automatic tranny, ( translated as faster highway cruising capability ), and you're thinking of running for hours at a stretch on the interstate highways, then radials might be a better choice.I have been running "pre-radial" cars since getting my license over 25 years ago, and have always run bias-ply tires, without serious complications.I have found that the Firestone WWW bias tires (6.50-16) on my '41 De Soto seem to be a bit better quality than the Lester WWW I had been using previously.I have yet to feel compelled to put radials on any of my pre-1960 drivers.Just my two-cents...Good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I am trying to decide between bias or radial tires for a 1952 Studebaker Land Cruiser I am having restored. I love the look of the really wide whitewalls and the "pie crust" design of the bias ply tires. I had a 1948 Chevy Stylemaster 4 door many years ago and did not mind driving it on bias ply. I want to drive the Studebaker and enjoy it. It is the first antique I have owned in a long time. I may also want to enter it in an AACA meet someday. But I am concerned about safety.Would I be making a mistake putting bias tires on it considering today's traffic? I am currently favoring Firestone 710 15s with 3.25" whitewalls from Coker. Would it be dangerous to drive on tires like this at 65 mph on the PA Turnpike or other highways for distances of 50 - 200 miles? I would appreciate any thoughts or advice.I think you'll be fine with the bias ply tires... just be careful when taking your first few exit ramps off the T-pike / Interstate - bias ply do not have the same "grip" as radials when taking curves / corners... The bias-plys on my '41 De Soto start to shriek around 40-45 mph; once you find that limit, if you stay below it on the tight curves, you'll be fine.I've put well-over 100,000 miles on modern bias-ply tires in the last 25 years, and have never had a tire blow-out or otherwise fail.Good luck ! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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