Re: Radial Tires

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2009/6/11 10:49:36

Different folks and cars/tires with different histories and care have different experiences. Certainly OLD bias ply tires will handle very poorly and can be dangerous. Though it's generally recommended that radials should not be in service after 10 years, bias ply are sometimes stated to have longer life - can't say if that's true or just conjecture. The Dunlops on my 48 Custom were in service for more than 25 years, never needed air, never showed any age cracking, but when they were replaced with new bias ply the difference in handling was astounding.

I had new bias ply on my 56 Caribbean, switched to GoodYear radials because of short tread life on the bias; the front was always aligned "loaded" to specs, and I must say the handling has always been excellent, no big difference between the two types of tires.