Reg Evans Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Mine from 2006 are radials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barabbas Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Mine from 2006 are radials. Well there goes that theory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 My old tires are safer than whats available today.... If they are Bias ply, I am not sure I would agree with that... but to each his own I suppose... I do good alignments and know how to drive bias plys. I'd drive bias tires any day to have them last 30 years for the driving I do. People today are not able to to drive the old cars as built..... too used to all the modern day equipment. I am too but can handle driving an old car the way it was in the day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadowbrook Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Not sure driving on tires that are so old is safe, I mean rubber deteriorates with time. Just my 2 cents... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I know my tires... mine are safe. I do all my own tire work and have for years. Just part of once a year maintenance. I have seen and heard of failures with todays antique car over sea's replacement tires.... both on a customers Airflow and Packard and the local chrysler club.... Heat failure's.. weak side walls even with proper inflation. Of course there will always be the rare occurance of a tire failure. Todays tires... replace them every 5 years regardless of mileage. Most all crack after 4-5 years. It's a rubber issue. I'll keep my high quality Denmans and Lesters. Good thick side walls and treads yet soft and pliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathbound Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I do good alignments and know how to drive bias plys. I'd drive bias tires any day to have them last 30 years for the driving I do. People today are not able to to drive the old cars as built..... too used to all the modern day equipment. I am too but can handle driving an old car the way it was in the day. Can you enlighten me on those statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I have a lot of driving experience with my 1946-52 Mopar cars and trucks. They are all stock. As for driving the bias ply tires....I never let a front tire run in the deep concrete expansion joints and don't corner hard at all. I don't drive them in the rain...no good in the rain. Just old car common driving sense. Many owners of these older.1946-54 Mopar cars are nail biting nervous nellie's driving their newly aquired worn out and dangerous car so are installing modern drive trains, brakes and suspension. Many of these installs are done properly and many are not. I have driven many that were absolute rolling death crates. If done by someone who fully understands how to do top quality up grades from start to finish I'm all for it. Me.. I'm really am not excited about any modern day up grades at all. I keep my cars in tip top shape and some times when driving one of the old cars I'll think about the 100lb lady driving their family's 1948 NewYorker straight eight sedan. No power brakes..no power steering, no real bright head lights, kinda dim dash lights, one turn signal indicator, one brake light, not very fast acceleration, sluggish Fluid Drive coupling W/hydraulically operated transmission and amazingly she did all this on mediocre roads unlike the roads like we have today..... Hey she could drive one these big ole pigs and so can I!!! Just as it was made...completely stock. And so it goes...I drive em stock and am not worried or scared or nervous to drive them even on todays high tech silk smooth wide safe roads with one exception.... IDIOT CELL PHONE DRIVERS.....thats the danger when driving now days. All the up grades won't save your ass from them! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhoads Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) For what its worth, my 49 has bias plys as well and I can certainly drive it and drive it well. But the first chance I get after winter work will be adding a set of good radials. You can argue all you want about how you can drive them the way they were intended, but anyone that has switched to radials will attest its a much nicer ride. + radial technology just wasn't there back in the day and It doesn't mean they would not have slapped them on standard if they would have been. Like I said to each his own. Edited October 6, 2015 by jrhoads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) there is a lot of truth in Bobs statement above...and there is also a lot of generalizing and grouping of the good with the bad when it comes to modifications...many like stock and the older technology as it is a blast tot he past...good number on the other hand like only the body style...technology advances while at times some stand still as humans..I will say but this one thing in terms as advances in technology...look a the first cars....look at the very era of cars of which he speaks, drives and look at the cars of today...in retrospect...should not the 40's cars be stripped to that of the first car to say the driving experience would be more accurate and complete...hardly think so..I have stockers..I have modifieds and I have a few of some low production number sport cars..it is hard to think you can group all classes onto one chassis and be happy... but I must add one thing..like Bob I have seen so many modification made that are just an accident waiting to happen...the rat rod class of cars come to mind...look closely at them...most are cobbled, at least it seems all I have looked at fit this category and I may well be guilty of lumping all in one myself... Edited October 6, 2015 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLK Posted October 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 See attached 2008 diamondbacks after 15,000 miles Thanks for all the responses in the end I just have to decide if wide whites are that important since I have gotten used to the ride and handling of the radials on the car and don't want to go back to bias ply. If I spend over $1100 I will sure be upset if in 7 years and 15K the tires look like Barabbas's. Perhaps being outdoors in the wet winter Puget Sound weather and summer sun played a part - at least I hope so. Yet look at Reg Evans tires after 9 years?? Oh well it's unlikely I will have the car in 7 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
52b3b Joe Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 I have Diamondback radials on one of my cars. They are 15 years old, and have around 20,000 miles on them. They still look like brand new, not discoloration at all, and not a single crack. My dad had Coker radials on his 54 Chrysler, and those yellowed bad and had cracking issues within the first two years. My Diamondbacks are showing age now, and the belts are having issues. The tread life is getting down there and they are getting a bad vibration (they are wobbling bad). I will be replacing my tires with them again. From what I have been told by the companies, radials will start having wobbling issues with age. As far as cleaning them, if you call Diamondback, they will tell you not to use bleach products (as any tire manufacturer will). They told me to use 409 de-greaser or equivalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLK Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 When I called Diamond Back without me even asking they said they had some discontinued Hankook AS4 tires in my size they would sharply discount. Do I care they are discontinued? - not at all. So for about the price of Coker bias ply I got 3" whitewall radials. You can't beat that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janan5243 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) Reg; I don't know how you were lucky enough to get money for your wife. When I wanted to get rid of mine, I had to pay. She must have been a good one. On a serious note, my Desoto has bias ply whitewalls that, according to the PO, are only 4 years old with maybe 3000 mis. They are in great shape but a horror to drive on the roads that settle into ruts from steady traffic. I,m sure people behind me think I'm drunk on those type roads. I intend to move to radials next year. Too late to spend a $1000 or more & put the car up for winter. Edited October 8, 2015 by janan5243 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Evans Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 janan; you a funny guy !!! Actually, I wouldn't pay to get rid of my present wife........ but was very happy to pay a bundle to get rid of the previous one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 These type of threads always seem to add to the confusion, I'm looking to get a set of wide whites for my '40 and I tend to do a lot of research before I finally decide what to buy (maybe too much ask my wife ) but checking here and over on the Hamb and various other forums it seems that for every post for diamondback there's a post against and the same for Coker. Being in Canada with the exchange rate and shipping cost the last thing I want to do is get stuck with a bad set of tires but when I'm actually ready to spend the money I think it will come down to what's readily available here and " spin the wheel and take your chance". It seems that from what I've read that both Diamondback and Coker both have pretty good after sale service and want to make any problems right. Just my .2 cents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 roll the dice.....take your chances...I would ask a few folks who ACTUALLY mount and try to balance a few of these tires and as for service after the sale...that would be the second roll of the dice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLK Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 To me in the end it came down to two things the radial construction and the way the wide white sidewalls are bonded and hold up. There is no perfect decision although my installer has had better results with Diamond Back's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLK Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 To me in the end it came down to two things the radial construction and the way the wide white sidewalls are bonded and hold up. There is no perfect decision although my installer has had better results with Diamond Back's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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