Thanks for the input gents, however ... comparing 4-wheel half-tons to 6-wheel 2-tons may not be an accurate comparison.
I've gone both routes with Big Bolts -- Bias ply to radials ('65 GMC 4400) and old bias ply to new bias ply ('49 Chevy 4400).
On the bias ply to bias ply ... on that truck, I also replaced the king pins, rebuilt the tie rod ends and drag link, and rebuilt the steering box. Those tires were 8.00 20's, as I recall... Anyway, at 55 ish, no difference between the two trucks, steering wise. The GMC was a firetruck with less than 10,000 actual miles on it so the front end was all still "new."
Both trucks, even at crawling/granny gear speeds, steered like they had power steering -- I could pretty much steer them with one finger (as long as they were moving ...
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Point being -- There is no argument that radials are superior to bias ply. But not radically so. If your truck wanders at speed or is hard to steer at slow speeds ... it's not the tires. Radials will help, but not fix, steering issues.
Direct fit single piece wheels to fit the AD Big Bolts are scarce. If you need to replace the tires anyway, tubed radials are a good option. I run tubed radials on my '73 Cornbolt 1-ton dump and they do great.
And for what it's worth -- I'm on my 3rd set of bias plys for the '49 1-ton that gets a lot of highway miles. Would it ride and steer better with radials? Probably. But ole charlie rides and steers good enough for me. Besides, Billy Marlow got the last set of single piece 1-ton wheels ... Thus winning for himself the Order of the Blue Falcon.
