Back to bias plys!

[a67furyman]

Before I even bought my 65 Savoy, I knew I was going to end up ordering a set of bias plys. Being a purist, I knew there was no way I could achieve the factory appearance I wanted with radials.
Since my 65 Plymouth is a Canadian car, it would have come with Chryco crowns which were a Canadian exclusive. Extremely rare tire and even if I found a set, they would be too old to use.
U.S built 65 Plymouths would have come with Goodyear custom power cushions. A nice tire but it lacked a piecrust design on the sidewall.
I decided to go with Goodyear custom super cushions. While not 100% correct, they are seen on just about every factory photo and rendering from 1965 and were chryslers choice tire from 1957-1964. The custom super cushions are a great looking tire with a classic pie crust pattern.

In the few weeks before I put the tires on, I was becoming quite nervous. I had heard plenty of negativity towards bias plys and had been warned by many to stay away from "those deadly tires". To make matters worse, I tend to be slow adapting to sudden change and at that point, all i knew was the 04 Grand Prix I had been driving. I kept telling myself that people had driven cars with bias plys for well over half a century without any concerns. How bad can they really be?

Well after about a month of driving my 65 on bias plys to & from work every day rain or shine, here are my thoughts.

-They are louder then a radial. Not quite as loud as snow tires but they still make some noise.
-Going around a gradual curve feels no different then a radial but a sharp turn such as a turning circle or an intersection is quite different, especially over 10 MPH. You will feel the car roll over on the sidewall.
-Bias plys pulling the car into the low spots in the road is heavily exaggerated. When driving on a road that has been milled for repaving, I have observed that the car tends to follow the "grain" milled into the pavement. When it comes to normal paved roads, even ones with cracks, the car tracks in a straight line as it would with radials. The only time i find it will pull into the low spots is if there is a very long crack in the road. The pull is very faint and unless you are holding the steering wheel with one finger, it is of no concern. Feels like driving a car on a windy day.

-I have only one complaint about bias plys and that is they roll over on the side walls...... meaning your side walls will get dirty. I always wondered what the pie crust sidewall was for. I thought it was for strength but no, it is part of the tread! Overall, bias plys completely change the look of old cars. They do not perform like radials but the difference is so minimal, its worth sacrificing the performance for looks. I will NEVER EVER buy radials for any classic car I own.
View attachment 192871 View attachment 192872 View attachment 192873 View attachment 192874 View attachment 192875 View attachment 192876 View attachment 192877 View attachment 192878 View attachment 192879 View attachment 192880

Thank you for "Being a purist". This car looks great. Now well all know going from driving our modern daily driving Mopars to our classic is a totally different experience. A experience I will never give up.

 

[Duncan]

I really can't tell the difference between the two. For safety's sake, as well as the ride, etc., I have to go with the radials. I question how purist it is necessary to be - does that mean if you have ever had to change a part (spark plugs, points, timing chain, yougettheidea) on a car it is now no longer a 'real'/'pure' car? Even when these cars were new, we made changes as they came along and never gave a thought to whether we were 'contaminating' the car's history. And that included improvements in tires as they came along. Just wondering . . . . .

 

[a67furyman]

I really can't tell the difference between the two. For safety's sake, as well as the ride, etc., I have to go with the radials. I question how purist it is necessary to be - does that mean if you have ever had to change a part (spark plugs, points, timing chain, yougettheidea) on a car it is now no longer a 'real'/'pure' car? Even when these cars were new, we made changes as they came along and never gave a thought to whether we were 'contaminating' the car's history. And that included improvements in tires as they came along. Just wondering . . . . .

"Being a purist" for me is a owner of a show car that wants their car to look as correctly original as it did when delivered new. If you drive your classic car for 5,000 or more miles a year or drive the car long distance to shows and events; then modern safety I would go with. I have even converted a few cars to front disc brakes, updated ignition and charging systems; but kept outward appearance as original as possible. That is just me. Keep it looking stock with the added reliability and performance.

 

[rapidtrans]

'cause in the olden days we wouldn't dare go anywhere with those bias ply tires & single pot drum brakes!
This trip alone put over 6k on that brand new wagon in 3 weeks.

 

[tpuig]

Beautiful car. I've spoken with some folks at car shows that will grab an extra set of rims and mount some bias plys for the shows. If they drive them often they'll run the radials. Many folks won't pay attention to the tires, but when you start looking at the details it makes a difference.

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

I just purchased a set of these for my '62 Chrysler 300. As for appearance in this year went to 1" w/w. The tires now on the car have a 3.5" w/w. The only tire with close to a 2" w/w are these. As for safety radial will typically blow out when they fail, bias ply does not. My '66 Toronado with radial had a unanticipated blow out about 4 years ago going 50 mph. The tread stayed attached and did rear quarter damage. I stopped fast enough that the car tire was still somewhat inflated when stopped.

 

[rapidtrans]

IMO the 1" wide is correct up to the mid 60s cars.

 

[GJS]

From what I gather, some of you all are quite biased plied. Hahhaaaha aa aaaaaaaaaaaq ... ugh.