Bias-ply vs Radial replacement tires.

[abaucom]

Question to anyone who has changed their bias-ply tires to radials: Currently my 1966 has factory correct red-band white wall tires but these tires at least 11 years old, only a few thousand miles used. Your opinion if I should replace these bias-ply tires with radials? Is it going to make that much of difference on how the auto drives / handles if I only drive about 1,000 miles yearly on summer dry roads?

FYI, my 1966 currently at a restoration garage, front & rear suspension parts now in excellent condition. Sad but true since I received delivery of the 1966 in Nov., only drove the auto about 200 yards at low speed from the transport truck to my garage, my garage onto a flat bed truck. So I have no clue how it handles on the open road. My directive to the restoration garage is that I want a smooth driving and safe auto at 65 MPH.

Thoughts and suggestions would be helpful regarding if I should replace the old (11 years) but seldom used factory correct bias-ply tires with reproduction radial tires.

[Alan H. Tast]

If you can find a set of correct rims and put radials on them, consider having a second set so that you can cruise around without worry. Currently manufacturers and our 'nanny state' say replace if more than 6-8 years old for reasons I won't go into. Save the bias-ply WSW/Red stripe tires and keep on rims so you can swap them out for display or concours-type events, or sell the tires to someone who's looking for a set for show.

So that you know where I'm coming from, I have a set of WSW bias-ply Goodyear tires for my '63 HT that I got 11 years ago and only put a few thousand miles on them. I dismounted them thinking I would put them on a set of wire wheels for show, but still haven't remounted them. I have radials on the car now that were purchased 10 years ago for a cross-country drive to the VTCI International in Portland, OR in 2005, where the car took Best of Show-Driven. I will probably change these out should I consider resuming driving the car more than from my home to the local cruise night.

[abaucom]

Thanks for you input.
Yes, current tires might be 11-12 years old, and factory correct bias-ply reproductions, only used for 1,000 -1,300 miles during the last decade and look factory new. Since I will only drive this auto about max 1,200 miles per year, mostly on city streets, think it will be a waste of money to replace tires at this time. There will be times when I open it up and drive 65 MPH.
When new this 1966 could run smoothly at 85 MPH with little effort on the factory bias-ply tires. Have to admit back in the day I drove my Dads 1966 more than once at 85 mph +.

[Peddller]

I have the reproduction bias ply tires on my 65, they were on it when I bought the car. As I thought I might show this car I stuck with them. My 64 had radials on it when I got it (it was my first "old car") it drove so much better then my 65 does that I am really thinking of getting another set of wheels and mounting radials. The handling is so much better that even though I only drive the car about 500 miles per year I think it would be worth it.

[Tbird100636]

A company called Diamond Back makes/alters tires to resemble the original White and Red wall bias tires, but are modern radials. They make many other variations of striped tires in a variety of sizes. Give them a look: http://www.dbtires.com/index.html

[Richard]

Put radial tires on for sure..I had the Coker bias ply white with red band on my 65 when I got her..They looked like they were in nice shape but decided to put radials on. The car starts better,handles better and stops better..The difference like they say is like night and day!! Also if tires are as old as yours it is recommened to change no matter what kind of tires you have..Be safe and change them..Good luck..

[BrianC]

First, drive it with the bias tires for a bit (you need a reference point to compare, since you haven't driven the car much)....then put radials on...you won't go back.

[Richard]

That's good advice BrianC...

[kevindeluca66]

Take a good look at the current tires for hairline cracks in the sidewalls and in between the grooves of the thread. If the cracks are thinner that a hair I say keep driving. The whole reason the tire companies want you to change them is to keep them in the classic tire bussiness (not too much demand for whitwall tires for todays modern works of plastic) (AKA cars).The tires on my 66 are at least 13 years old and I dont have any plans to chang e them.

[Royce Richmond]

I have the same tires you have and the only thing different from radials is the bias plys tend to get caught up in irregularities in the road. Meaning that road cracks tend to redirect the car so you need to be alert. Having said that, I am not afraid to take my 66 on the texas toll road at the legal limit of 80mph. Happy T-Birding!

[abaucom]

Wonderful info. Guess it is best just to use the current bias-ply tires and see how it tracks as I do not expect to drive the 1966 more than 1000 miles during the coming summer.
Told the restoration garage, want a smooth riding auto this coming April. Told them I want the car to have correct tire/wheel balance and run smooth at 60-85 mph. Will wait to see how they balance the current tires.

Thanks so much for info from others on this thread. Result, if the car tracks and runs smooth this April with current factory stock bias-ply reproduction tires, then I will wait another year to replace tires as I will only be driving the auto to local auto shows.

[tb65m66]

If you are going to run tires that are that old, be very careful about your speed. When we bought the'71 Ranchero, it had tires of unknown vintage. When the rear tire blew at 70 it was quite a ride. I'd keep it to in-town speeds only if using old tires.

[wayne63011]

Three years ago we put a set of the Diamond Back Dunlap radials on our '65 convertible. They have the correct width white wall with the red band and do look like the tires that were available on T'birds in 1965. We've now put nearly 15,000 miles on these tires with no issues at all. The Dunlap tire seemed to be the brand they were using at the time, but they also told me they would be glad to use whatever brand I wanted.
One note of caution: The front end alignment for these cars with bias-ply tires is different than what's recommended when you have radial tires. Therefore, if you elect to have one set of wheels/tires for critical shows/judging and another set for enjoyable driving, you will have to decide how you want the front end aligned as I'm sure you won't want to be changing it back and forth.

[tbird]

The logics would be to do the recommend alignment for the radial driving tires, don't think that the front end being a few degrees off will mater on the show field.