Tire question...

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Well, it's "time to re-tire", as the fine folks at Fisk used to say...

I need some 6.50 x 16 bias tires for the '41 De Soto, and am looking at two different candidates...the car is still a driver, not a show piece, so thrift (where convenient) is desireable.

The two tires under consideration are:

Firestone WWW 4-ply, and Lester WWW 6-ply.

There is a price difference of about $13 between the two, with the F-stone running higher; my concern with the Lester has to do with the extra 2 plys; will this be a noticeably harder-riding tire?

(These new skins are planned on going on the front of the car...)

I don't want to get a harsh ride just to save a few sheckels...

Anyone out there have experience as to how the 6-ply Lesters compare to the 4-ply Firestones?

Again, car is 1941 De Soto, independent front suspension.

Would appreciate some input...

Thanks!

Frank McMullen

[Guest]

Frank ~ This is from my personal experience and should be taken as just that.

I had a set of 6.50 x 16 Lesters [4 ply] on a '40 Buick. They wore poorly and tracked worse. It was not allignment considering that the rears wore as badly as the front. Any Lester 6 plies you find may have been on the shelf for many years. I ran 6 ply Denmans on a 41 Cadillac from 1963 until 1996. They did ride harder but wore like iron. Harder to turn when stopped too. However those were the '60s style Denmans with the Firestone style tread. In the '70s I put a set of straight tread Denmans on a '40 Cadillac and they were lousy.

You might consider looking into the Good Year tires with the diamond tread from Kelsey Tire. However I don't know for sure if they are made in your size. They are excellent tires and I have full sets on 2 cars. The ride and handling are outstanding. Can't give any info on wear as mine are only 1 and 2 years old.

Hope this is of some help, BUT remember this is only one man's opinion based on personal experience. There is no technical knowledge involved.

hvs

[6219_Rules]

I have the wrong size on my '47. Do you know what tire I should put on it? I know the size, but should it be Goodyear, Firestone (God I hope not), or some other brand? I have considered just putting on Goodyear Riatta IIs with tubes in a black wall. Any suggestions? This is not critical just something I need to plan for down the road.

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Howard,

Thanks for your experience; as a matter of fact, I now have the Goodyear All-Weather ribbed wide whites on the car (which appear on cars in the factory photos in my shop manual), bought from Sears Auto Center, of all places...

My only qualm with them is that they seem generate a lot of road-noise...they don't "sing" quite as loud as an old-time mud-grip, but they have a definite "note to them...(not rear-end whine either...)

They have worn reasonably well - they now have 10,000 miles on them, and the rears still have some tread left; they right front is showing cord due to "choice, unrestored front end" (which will be rectified over the winter), so I need to get some new skins up-front; all it would take is one broken bottle to cause a puncture...

They look stunning (when clean ), but they ran about $150 each w/ shipping when I bought mine about 5 years ago... (had to replace the dry-rotted Montgomery-Wards Riversides that were older than I am! ).

It doesn't seem worth it to save $10 per tire and wind up with something that's not suitable....

Randall;

I'm not well-versed in Cadillac, but most makers switched from 16" to 15" tires around 1947-48.

If you have 16" tires, your car probably ran 6.50 or 7.00 x 16" tires; if 15", then 7.00 or 7.50 or maybe even 8.00 x 15 tires.

(I had a set of 8.00 x 15" Allstate wide whites on my '48 New Yorker during the early '90s; rode well, but wore fairly fast.)

I know that Chevrolet used U.S. Royal tires during the forties & fifties; don't know if that went corporate-wide, or if Caddy used a higher-end tire...

Have you inquired at the Caddy-La Salle web-site?

Basically, if you're running an old car as a driver, and especially if your front-end is not very tight (ie: wears tires funny), you probably wouldn't want to spend big $$$ on "authentic tires" if there is a cheaper and functional alternative...of course blackwalls are the cheapest option...

I've been told by some "greybeards" that 10,000 mile tire life was the norm back in the 1940's...

One caution about switching to radials...might make parking very difficult due to the increased tire contact w/ the ground, and lack of power steering; also, I have yet to see a radial that "looks right" on an older car...the aspect ration is different...

Do your research - see what seems right for you, your car, and your driving habits...

[Guest Eric Maxwell]

Just FYI, The Lester tire is a 4 ply construction with a 6 ply rating. They will not ride any harder than the Firestone or Goodyear. The Lester tread is basically designed for touring with the cross sipes in the tread.

For the savings compared to the "brand name" tires you might want to try Lester.

Just my opinion,

Eric / Universal Vintage tire

[Guest]

Frank ~ Send me an e-mail so that I can pass on some tire experience I do not care to post on the forum.

As to Randall't tires. All Cadillacs except the 75 Series used 15" wheels from 1941 on. The size would have been 7.00 x 15 until the "Air Ride" tires were introduced, in I believe '48 or '49. Then the size became 8.20 x 15. I believe GM used US Royal tires almost exclusively in the late pre war and early post war period. The factory photo of my '41 Cadillac clearly shows the tires to be US Royal. My '40 Buick had an original spare, a 6.50 x 16 US Royal double whitewall.

Also from another old phart, 10,000 to 15,000 miles was about par in those days. 20,000 was teriffic. Since the advent of radial tires we have lost sight of tire mileages from bias tires of 50 or more years ago.

hvs