![]() Hopefully, we've convinced you to use modern radials on your old car if it's driven regularly. Narrow whitewall radials are made in most popular sizes, however, so most 60s cars can be fitted with fairly good copies of original tires. Wide whitewalls, redlines, dual whitewalls and other original designs aren't widely available, if at all. Granted, radial tires aren't offered in exact "look-alike" versions of old tires. In short, these vintage tires look great, but they won't ride or drive like modern tires. Old tires weren't very good when they were new and those manufactured from old, original molds are generally no better, due to lack of specialized "tricks of the trade" on the part of the workers making the tires today. The point we're making here is simple: it'not a good idea to use old technology tires on your old vehicle unless you're a stickler for absolute accuracy you trailer the thing to shows it's in a museum or you have a complete set of spare wheels fitted with radial tires for use on the road. Snow tires, studs and chains were wintertime staples for most of the country. Also, hydroplaning was a serious problem in rainy weather and traction in snow was nearly non-existent. Tire design, coupled with relatively (by today's standards) primitive rubber compounds, limited tread wear to less than 15,000 miles for most cars. ![]() The reasons for this included rough roads, stiff suspension systems, and, frankly, habit. If an owner wished to increase the tire size to, say, 6.50-16, he could do so but the tire would not only be wider by 1/2 inch but taller as well, because tire manufacturers kept the same relative aspect ratio (the ratio of the tread width to the tire's height from the rim) to about 80%. The 6.00-16 numbers meant the tire's tread width was 6.00 inches and the rim diameter was 16 inches. For instance, mid-fifties Fords might have come from the factory with 6.00-16 sized tires. tires were sized according to tread width and rim diameter. Earlier tires required inner tubes, then later cars that had airtight rims were fitted with tubeless tires. Okay, Back to the PointĪlmost all cars built before 1972 were fitted with 2 or 4-ply tires. Longer tread life and increased fuel economy resulted, along with better traction, handling and ride comfort. Invented in 1946, radial technology allowed the tire to flex and absorb irregularities in the road surface, while undergoing less overall friction. In radial tires the plies are positioned so the cords run alongside each other in a series of circular bands across the tire. Also, these tires tended to "wander" over the center crest of the roads due to their stiff sidewalls. This greatly increased the rate of tread wear and limited the ability of the tire's sidewall to flex under varying road conditions, in turn limiting the vehicle's handling. In these tires the stiff casing was subjected to high friction between the cord layers, which in turn built up high levels of temperature. In bias-ply tires the layers of cord are positioned so they run at angles to each other across the tire, in a crisscross manner. The casing is made up of a series of cords that are combined to form layers, or plies. The difference between these two types of tires lies in the design of the casing - the part of the tire underneath the tread that forms the "foundation" of the tire. However, almost all passenger tires today are radials, while yesterday's tires were bias-ply. It gives a good picture of what tire fits on what size rim.By outward appearance, tires of today look similar to those originally fitted to our classic car. If I can find it I will scan it and provide a link. I have a chart Firestone published in about 1960 when they got back into the antique car rim and tire business. There is quite a bit of information in older editions of Dykes. They seem to be much harder to find than the slightly later steel fellow wheels of the early 20's onward. ![]() Also mid to late teens cars almost always used wood fellow wheels. Ideally a person finds a complete set but in reality this rarely happens. And there are many different manufactures and styles, so if any pieces of the puzzle are missing it can be quite frustrating to find the correct component. These are complicated rims, generally the detachable, demountable style with side rings, lock rings, fellow bands, fellow band rings and all the rim bolts and clamps. 24 " or 25 " rims were quite common on later teens cars. Good rims, and all of the associated hardware are much harder to find than tires.
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