Stick with 215's, 225 too much hassle getting tires on/off in the rear. Tow truck will be needed if you get stuck out on the open road with 225's

Thank you Russ,

Is one brand better than another, or is it the usual "Chevy versus Ford thing?
I'm going for 2.5-3.5 whitewalls.

Rob

Chevy vs. Ford? Wrong forum!

I agree with Russ, above. I think it's buyer's preference. Diamonback's are popular on this board, probably because there's Hudson folks who sell them.

Thanks Russ,

Which member?

Rob

Yes, and DB is coming out with a new line of radials with bias ply look- didn't have our size last time I looked but may be different now. In the past DB white-walled the sides of modern radials. This new line is different.

Rob,

Dan McNichol and I drove his '51 Pacemaker 38,000 miles with the 215/75 radials that came on the car. Handling was great on the highway, but the car was heavy to steer turning corners on the narrow streets of Boston. Then we switched our long distance trips to a '49 Commodore. This car has now completed 15,000 miles (Dan is approaching San Francisco, having left Boston a couple of weeks ago)) on Firestone 7:10 -15 bias ply tires. The local driving is very nice. The highway driving on certain old pavements is not as good as with the radials, but is fine on interstates in good condition.

It is said that radials allow a car to get better a little bit better gas mileage than bias.

The bias are a little taller than the equivalent radial. We wanted to have our engine turning as slowly as possible, so we felt this was an advantage.

Older radials have in my experience eventually gotten tread separation. The bias tires on my '35 Hudson are about 45 years old, and they don't have this problem.

Per

I think it's Dave Corellus, known as Hudson Dave, but I don't have contact info. Bias man, myself.

Per and Russ,

Thanks,

The bias ply are certainly easier for steering at low speeds.
I put radials on my Metropolitan after driving for a while with bias, it was like a new car!
Completely different feel, for the better.
I'm still young and strong, and I want a smooth stable ride at highway speeds.

Russ, I remember that from another thread.
I drove on them for years as well...but have gotten spoiled.
Will soon have very nice low mile bias tires available...
Rob

Bring them to CO.

Good idea,

Probably a good place to sell them!

Rob

Actually, 7.60x15 with a 4" wide whitewall are correct for Hollywoods and convertibles. They were an option for everything else. That means you have the wider wheel, these are actually the most desirable. The 7.60s sit a little higher. They have such an elegant look.

If you like radials, you like radials, but they kill the look.

I can still remember my apprehension when I was encouraged to replace tube type tires with tube-less tires on my first car a 1940 Plymouth. Big improvement when I dared. No more fixing punctured inner tubes. I also remember every summer vacation trip dad having to replace at least one bias ply tire that developed a bubble in side wall or tread on his 51 Hornet. He drove very fast and often as fast as that Hornet could go. .As years past and tire quality improved eventually every new car coming off the assembly line had radial tires to ride on. Hudson's and every other automtive maker back in their day would also have come equipped with quality radial tires had they been made.

Just because the tire says radial does not mean they are all the same quality. There are great ones and some that should never be put on a car. Same quality manufacturing exists with bias ply tires, great and bad.

In the 80s when money was tight and I needed new tires, I chose to buy 4 radials at Pep Boys on sale for $99 for a 4400 pound Chevy Caprice station wagon. Up till then it was a great handling car. Those tires were so unstable a side wind would case the car to become out of control. One time coming out of Palm Springs on uphill grade I was only going 45 mph because of high winds. Suddenly a side wind hit the car and I was using up 3 lane on the highway to bring it back under control. A couple days later a drunk totaled it when parked in front of the house. That ended that tire problem.

Tire pressure can also determine if a tire handles good or bad. The Hudson I bought has radials that I don't feel real comfortable at highway speeds at the max. rated tire pressure but when I increase the pressure another 10 psi the car handles great. That tells me the next set of tires will need to be a better quality rated tire to handle well at tire rated psi. Most of the mile on it have been on the highways. Therefore, my replacement tires will not be original type for better handling just as I ditched the generator and regulator for a more reliable alternator and a none original larger anti sway bar will soon grace the front suspension for none original cornering control improvement.

If most of the driving is at slow maneuvering speeds, bias ply tire may be better to help turning effort. But I will stick with a good radial tire for better highway stability since the majority of my driving is on highway and very little slow maneuvering.

Lee O'Dell

Actually, 7.60x15 with a 4" wide whitewall are correct for Hollywoods and convertibles. They were an option for everything else. That means you have the wider wheel, these are actually the most desirable. The 7.60s sit a little higher. They have such an elegant look.

Zach,

Thank you.

Where are you getting this information?
I'm still collecting manuals and magazines, etc. and haven't come across that.
I did note that the bias tires on my car are tubeless, and the valve stems appear to be for tubeless rims.

Rob

The 48-54 parts manual shows the wider rims for the Hollywoods and convertibles. I wouldn't put the larger size on the standard rims.