The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk got my new bias tires

After forever deliberating about whether I should have radial tires or go backwards and buy bias ply, I took the latter route. If any of you recall my various posts about not getting radials put on because of my stock rims (dealer's decision, not mine) and having a wheel hop at the rear above 40 MPH, I made a choice. Got me four 650-16 Firestone Deluxe Champion tires. And I like them. No noticeable bump in the morning and today I had a chance to hit the highway and was up to 50 MPH, although my regular speeds are between 30 and 40. Very smooth, probably not as smooth as radials and they do have a tendency to wander in the road grooves. Nonetheless I like them and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who drives at lower speeds off highways.

Got bias ply for the 42. I finally drove it more than a half mile and it did just fine.

I got new BF Goodrich 6.00 x 16 Bias Ply for my 36 GMC and I have not had one problem. Since my speeds are between 25 and 40 mph, they have worked out very well. I got them from Coker and pleased with their service also.

olblu49 were did you get them?
Thanks
Maxx

Got them thru the Old Car Centre. Price was the best I could find. Heard Sidney Tire could get them but their price was about $60 more per tire.
BTW didn't I see you at the hangar a few weeks back? You had come from Qualicum with Mike in the 172.

Holy cow olblu! That was forever ago that you were talkin' about tires! I'm glad you like the tires and glad you went with bias. They really look so much better on an old truck.

Yes mike is My bro. My wife and I went up to see my father.
What do you think of the F7F Tigercat


I love the old brids I had worked with mike doing this kind of work but had to go where the money was at the time I will go back to it one day.
Need to get together for a coffee or a beer one day Talk at you soon
Maxx
(AKA)
Peter

Im currently in the decision process of bias vs. radial on my 63. Having a tough time locating a decent selection of bias or radial, few but not many of either. Some of the dealers are trying to persuade me to switch to a 16" rim to improve options. I like the look of the bias, but what exactly is the performance issue over 50 mph w/bias ply?

bluC20, what size rim do you have now? I'm guessing it's a '63 C20? I have some Denman bias plies on my '65 C20. They are 8.75-16.5. I had 16" steel rims but, couldn't find any good sized bias in 16" that were an appropriate weight rating. They were all too tall or too short or too skinny or too wide. Believe me, I looked long and hard. The radials I looked at, the LT's, were too modern looking for my tastes. I do like the way the Denman's look but, compared to the radials I had, they ride like dookie. I've had them balanced twice by two different places. The 2nd time was an improvement but the truck still shakes at higher speeds. With the radials, it was smooth even at 90 mph.
That being said, when I switched to bias on my '54 Pontiac it was a huge IMPROVEMENT. Steering was easier and I can drive 70-75 mph no problem.
I've never heard of speed being much of an issue with bias tires. Mostly just the fact that they tend to grab and follow the little grooves in the freeway.
Based on my experience, can't say I'd recommend the Denman's. Perhaps I got a bad batch, don't know.
There's lots of bias tires available, you just have to do all the legwork. I couldn't get any dealers to help me out and realized after a bit that they didn't know anything about light truck bias anyways. You've got to do the legwork and then call them for a price or just order online. I can point you to a couple places if you'd like.

I ran a set of NOS 8X19.5 Goodyear tires on my 1 ton. I had a rebuilt front end and steering, and drove up to about 55 mph. I had no problems, and they drove fine, even took me around the country, about 8,000 miles.

I later put radials on the truck, and while there was no problem before, there was a big improvement in the ride and handling.

I doubt I ever buy bias tires again, unless radials are not available in the size I need.

Grigg

Mugsy/Grigg

Thanks for the input. You are correct its a 63 C20. Current rubber is 16.5" x 9.5" I like the more traditional look of the bias and dont expect to be rolling much faster than 60 mph with current transmission. I get the "shakes" now once I hit 60 mph but didnt know if that was because the current set of tires are past prime. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Mark

I do beleive that Goodyear still makes the Super Hi-Miler in a 9.00 16.5 in a bias ply. I'll have to check the book tomorrow to be sure, though. It's a highway tread tire, I think that the Traction Hi-Miler minght still be available, too, if you want a traction type tire. Again, I'll have to check the book to be sure.

I'm also still debating which way to go. I really want to go with the bias plies, good to hear that they're no too bad. My 'bolt ain't for speed or comfort, it's all about driving in style.

I have put a few miles on the bias-ply tires and will offer my observations. The first thing I noticed was the lack of a bump-bump ride when I first start out. Seems they don't flat spot as badly as my old Cooper nylon tires. Might do in colder weather though. The tires do follow grooves in the road but that is the nature of bias-ply and you can get used to it. The ride is good and we have hit over 50 mph although it won't be a habit. I like to cruise 35-40 mph but now I know I can go faster if need be.
The tires are 4 ply rating with a 1590 pound capacity at 32 pounds. I run between 30 and 32 depending on the gauge accuracy. I also noticed that the tread width is slightly narrower than my Coopers of the same size. If you looked at the old tires from the front they came down to an almost square angle where the sidewall meets the tread. The Firestone's are a bit more round.
Finally if I was going to do it again would I keep the bias-ply? I would without doubt.

Olblu, were your Coopers the Super Road Service? It's a pretty nice looking tire and one I thought about getting. Cooper bias
This is where I got the Denman and they also have STA (Specialty Tires of America): Universal Vintage Tire
These guys have some TireCo. and Power King (which is made by Sigma I think) bias: Gear Works
And Greenball makes some bias plies: Greenball

Got bias on the 52 Chevy, and the 54 Plymouth.

...but wanted radials on the Bolt.


Cliff59

They are Cooper Super Road Master tires. Nice tires and as mentioned seem a bit bigger than my Firestones of the same size.
Getting bias tires up here is not easy. Most dealers won't even talk to you about them or give you some excuse that they can find 3 on the other side of the country. I got mine thru a specialty shop which imported them from the States. I did like the Coopers and would recommend them as well.

Should add that these are old tires so that model may not be listed. They have the same sidewall markings as the web site picture.

Mugsy, thanks for the links, the TireCo and Gear works were great.

OLBLU49 - thanks for the encouragement, I'm going to move forward with bias and enjoy the Bolt how it was built to run. BTW my 1st college car was an 81 Caprice very much like your Mailibu it was purchased from my my grandfather who drove nothing but Chevy Sedans until his final car, an '03 Buick. Thanks again.

mark

After all my raving about my Firestone tires I ruined the first one today. Had a slow leak and drove it about 15 miles unbeknown to the problem. Got home it was flat and probably ruined. Will find out tomorrow at the shop.
The Coopers went about 10 years without a flat and even today the tread on those old tires is deeper than the new Firestones.

Hey Olblu, I know a guy with a spare cooper you could borrow. Actually I got 2 of Bills old tires and 2 new 600 x 16 for the front. Yes they tend to follow the grove, but it it a lot easier to steer than with the radials I had on. Ran trucks for years with Bias tires, a little noisier than radial, but will go just as fast. And really how fast do you want to go with manual brakes and steering?

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

I think the bias-ply tires made now are just trailer tires, made w/a stiff sidewall to prevent trailer walking, this gives a rough ride on a vehicle.

Makes for one rough ridin' trailer Brian.
Denny G

When we had ours installed, the tire guy was saying that it is important to check the centering of the tire on the rim. Unlike radials, Bias tires need to be checked against the rim and need to be rotated to minimize the amount of added weights. I watched as he did mine, they changed how the tire was seated on the rim to reduce the needed weight. I have no bump, and road noise isn't much worse.

yes it does, until a load is added.

Gee Keith I sure like those rear tires you have on your 42!
Found out thru some research that my Firestone tires although saying "Made in USA" are actually made offshore! I contacted Coker a week or so back asking them to confirm this but they never bothered to reply.
Here is a tip for tube buyers. The Coker ones are paper thin so try to get radial tubes locally.

I knowof a way to confirm whare they were actually made. All tires sold in the US are required to have a DOT # on them, which gives the plant code and the week/year of manufacture. It will be a 12 digit code molded into the sidewall, it lokks something like this- DOT ABCD 12AB 0007. The first 2 letters/numbers is the plant code. I have a book that has most of the plant codes at the shop. If you can get me the DOT#, I'll look it up for you.

I picked out two;

DOT CYNPF8E90305 and DOT CYNPF8E90405

I am almost certain the third letter is an 'N'.

I'll see what I can come up with.

Here's what I came up with, CY plant code is Specialty Tires of America, P.O. box 749, Indiana, PA 15701. Accordint to DOT regulations, that code has to be the actual plant of manufacture, not just the company that made them. If they are truly made overseas, then the DOT # should reflect this.

"I just put five, new Power King Premium Super Highway 7.00-15 6ply rated tires, tubes and flaps on my 1950, 3600."

So that's what a fifth wheel is, a 1950 3600! Always wondered.

Bill. Thanks. So in essence what you are saying is that these tires were indeed made in the USA. Good to know. I guess STA makes a bunch of brand name reproduction tires.

I put two new bias Power Kings on the front last week and moved the older Power Kings to the rear and have been happy. Highway and side roads have been easy goin. haven't noticed much noise or other problems, but only logged about a dozen miles since.

My FIVE Power King tires are clearly marked "made in China". What book are you looking that up un Bill?
Roll the window down blu and hang your head out while driving down the road at 15 or 20 mph, they'll sing to ya. Then try it with your new Buick equipped with the radials for a comparison.
Denny G

Denny,
bluc20 cant drive too fast in Coppell Tx so he can't hear the tires "sing"

Coppell has some real unforgiving Policemen
don't speed.

Cliff(I use Radials)59

All the D.O.T. Tire Plant Codes HERE

Looks like it may be somewhat out of date. List last updated 05MAR03.

I have read that DOT has issued 48 new tire plant identity codes, in the past year, including 36 to factories in China.

Neat site. I get my info from Who makes It, And Where, published by Bennet Garfeild, which is the leading publisher of tire related spec books and other auto industry related publications.