Re: 1942 Tire size

Posted by West Peterson On 2013/6/12 8:05:33

The '42 mentioned in my first post is owned by my father. He bought it in 1959. He put radials on it because it was not handling properly. Before he made the mistake of putting radials on it, I told him to first make sure his "house was in order," (check king pins, tie rod ends, steering, etc.). He didn't heed my advice... put the radials on... and when it came time for the alignment, the shop said they couldn't do an alignment because his front end components were in dire need of rebuilding/replacing.

He, too, has driven both my car and his, and now wishes he hadn't put the radials on. As Dave said, the prewar-designed cars do not benefit much from radial tires. The one single area of benefit is that it WILL stop faster in an emergency situation. In other words, if you have to lock your brakes, the radials will stop it quicker.

In my opinion, anyone who likes radials better on a prewar-designed car is probably driving a car that has a suspension/steering problem.