bclement Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 So my tires are a little scary.....as in you can check the air by looking through the cracks! I was considering going with a tube-less radial vs the original bias ply. My 35 coupe has bias and they do ok, but. Here in Florida we are moving into rainy season and roadway oil slick is a problem for even modern cars! The car currently has what I believe to be original Lester 7.00x16 with tube. Are there any know issue with putting radials on original rims? Are they beefy enough for a stiffer tire? What would be the correct or close enough radial size?ThanksBrad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom nelson Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) Go to diamond back tire,they have a lot of good info and many tire sizes with black wall or wide whites. I have used there tires on a number of my vintage cars with no problems. Edited March 10, 2014 by tom nelson (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Radials with tubes? Seems it can be hard to seal them well on older wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bclement Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 "Radials with tubes? Seems it can be hard to seal them well on older wheels."My understanding is that with a 16" rim and that tall of a tire, tubes are necessary, bias or radial either way. My plan, was to have the rims blasted and powder coated before putting the new rubber on there....just seems like a good idea. From $$ radials aren't that much more for a correct size (staying with 16"), but now I'm beginning to wonder about other suspension issues with a stiffer tire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1941 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I bought my radials from Coker - slim profile, looks very close to original size tires.AMAZING difference over bias. installed in 2007. NO TUBES ; NO problems over the past 4,000 miles.Mike 41 Cabriolet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom nelson Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I have used tall 16" tires on stock Lincoln wheels and stock dodge wheels and had no problem. I put over 40k mi on a set of tires from diamond back on my dodge coupe without tubes. the guys at diamond back said tubes are not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bclement Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 What is the radial size? When I called Coker they didn't have anything in stock that would work without tubes. I'm not sure if tubes or no tubes make a difference does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mssr. Bwatoe Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I also use conventional modern radials without tubes.. really rolls nice at 75 mph...they do sealbut the rims on a 40 are barely able ..Mine look big, but I like the look...i will ch size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bclement Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 What size/brand are they? I don't know what the difference if any there is between a 40 and 41 steel rim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mssr. Bwatoe Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 mine are 215's they also fit ford econolines..not the gangster whites but normal tires..no tubes stock rims..search this blog, we covered this last year...41's are an inch or so wider and they would be great, 40s are narrow butI was able to squeeze 'em on..have had no trouble in almost 10 years I have Firestones! after all...Ford and FirestoneLike beans and cornbread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 My experience is that radials are not needed on prewar cars. We run the Firestone bias ply on our 1940 Zephyr. At 75mph, it goes down the road almost perfectly. If you're having troubles with the car tracking, you may want to check and rebuild your suspension components, including steering box and linkages, i.e. tie rods, king pins, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v12lincoln Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Go with Diamond back classics, Their wide whites stay bright white for a long time and they have new radials that look just like the old firestone tread pattern and in all sizes, going to be switching my 700-16s on my 40 Packard 180 to these soon, tubeless but having the wheels powder coated to help make sure they seal well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I'm with Wes plus the radials look all wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1941 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Actually , I think the newly designed radials DO NOT look all wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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