Red line radial versus bias ply

[hvychev]

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Driving a muscle car with radials is like ------- with a condom on. You just don't get the full experience! Lewd analogies aside, I drove/raced my 70 LS5 Chevelle for 13,000 with Wide Ovals, my Yenko Deuce for about 2000-3000 miles also with Wide Ovals, and my 70 396 Chevelle for also about 3,000-4000 miles with Goodyear bias plys. NEVER had a problem. The car was engineered to have bias ply tires so that is the way it should be driven. People who say otherwise must not be truly driving the car the way it should be. If you want a nice smooth ride, then drive a Lexus.

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If that's truly the case doesn't that throw the whole "day 2" (tires, carbs, traction bars, valve covers with breathers and etc) concept out the window? Those mods and more deviated from how the car was originally engineered.

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Maybe Darren. Maybe the way I said it as, being engineered that way, was not exactly the way I was thinking about it. For me personally when I drove my muscle cars I wanted the "full experience." I had most of my cars day 2'ed and would NEVER use any sort of modern style equipment. The rims, tires, valve covers, breathers, basically everything you mentioned, I had day 2 parts from that exact era. When I say "that is the way the car was engineered," I mean that the car was engineered with those tires in mind and approved by the federal government for road use. If they are "not safe" or "squirrely" then maybe they would not be approved for use now of days. Hell, dinosaurs like the Mayor of Donahue and Cumby drove them like that when they were new, in the snow, etc., and had minimal problems I would imagine, as their cars are still with them. Millions of people drove cars with bias ply tires on them back in the day and many of those people are still here to tell us about it.

[ORIGLS6]

Watch it punk. I know where you live.

[mockingbird812]

Hey DC - 'believe that was compliment!

[napa68]

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Driving a muscle car with radials is like ------- with a condom on. You just don't get the full experience!

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[68427imp]

Bias-ply all the way for me.I have a 68 Impala with G70-15 Wide-Ovals,a 66 Impala with G78-15 blackwalls and a 65 Impala with L60-15 Mickey Thompson "I" gumballs on all four corners!No handling issues at all as long as your front end is aligned...

[Xplantdad]

I like my raidials...thank you very much!

But then again...I drive my car...a lot!

[CDNL-78]

Thanks for the input everyone, I have ordered my bias redlined from a member from this site. So now the car will have the "original" look that I have been looking for. I don't recall every driving a car with bias before, so I'II be two hands on the wheel til I get use to them.

[camarojoe]

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Thanks for the input everyone, I have ordered my bias redlined from a member from this site. So now the car will have the "original" look that I have been looking for. I don't recall every driving a car with bias before, so I'II be two hands on the wheel til I get use to them.

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Good choice!

[StealthBird]

Another thing radials provide is a much softer ride. Not a big deal if yer just putting around once a year to the local cruise or car show, but radials make a big difference if you actually drive your car.

Put a radial on the front right of the car, and a bias ply on the front left (ummm....don't drive it, this is a static demonstration ), then bounce on each fender. It's night and day. The radial acts like a cushion, the bias ply is hard as a rock. There's no sidewall flex at all with a bias ply.

Obviously, if the look is more important than the performance or the drivability, the bias ply is the way to go. I've put a few thousand miles on my F70 Firestone Wide Ovals, but with the way the roads the way they are around here, you have to grab the steering wheel firmly at all times, and be prepared for a bone jarring ride. Bias plies are a great way to check for interior squeaks and rattles.

[Canuck]

As the replys indicate,it depends on how much you drive. My Chrysler 300F gets used a fair amount by myself and my wife. It has Coker Radials on it. I would not consider using bias ply on this car because of its weight. My 66 442 has Firestone 775 14,original look and size. I am the only one who drives it and that is not a lot,some cruise nights and some weekend exercise. I used to only put Bias ply on for shows,but I realized how little I was using some of my cars and left the bias plys on for the past two years. My 71 442's have original Uniroyal Tiger Paws and Original G70-14 Polyglass. If these cars were being used more than the 4-5 mile jaunt to cruise gatherings, I would purchase new repop bias ply. I will change over to radial for longer use only because of the fact my bias plys for these cars are NOS.

Paul