I just put five, new Power King Premium Super Highway 7.00-15 6ply rated tires, tubes and flaps on my 1950, 3600. At the same time the stock front end is completely rebuilt with new gas shocks all round. There are two reasons that I put bias plies on, one is for originality since I would like to take it to some shows after the body work is finished, and the other is that I personally feel that I can’t safely put radials on the 15” split rims. If I can ever find a set of 15” x 6” rims whose offset will fit the 3/4 ton AD I plan on running tubeless radials for my normal driving.
It's been over 30 years since I've driven a vehicle with bias ply tires and I either forgot what they were like or they had better tires back then. I worked for a Chevrolet dealer in the late 50’s and early 60’s and got to drive a lot of cars and trucks, and can’t recall ever having as rough of a ride as these tires are giving me. I always used Firestone bias ply tires on my own cars back in the day and they always seemed to give me a smooth ride, you might have gotten a little thump, thump for a block or two in the cold weather but that’s all I can remember. If I park this truck for more than thirty minutes when I take off the front fenders look like I’m going over a washboard road. It takes a good 10 miles before they round out. There are points where they resonate and the vibration is worst, that being about 35mph and again at around 45mph. We were meticulous about the balancing act because I was having problems with the old M/S tires bouncing. They are noisy, and with the window down you can hear them singing at almost any speed. The steering is tight on this truck, by that I mean NEW tight, no slop, not binding type tight. There is some road wonder so ya have to steer the truck, and ya don’t want to take your eyes off the road for long or you will find your self over the line.
Bottom line for me is, radial for regular use and present day bias plies for the show and tell circuit.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
