Re: Radial tyre size

Posted by Dave Kenney On 2008/4/19 15:05:27

I have 235/75/15 blackwall radial tires on my '47 Super Clipper. Other than be a bit of a chore to turn or park at very low speeds the car handles and rides very well and holds the road like a modern car at 70mph which is about as fast as I would ever drive the car for any distance. The previous G78-15 belted bias ply tires that were on the car when I bought it were atrocious and scary at speeds over 50mph as they tended to track on any road imperfection.. Diamondback tires offers the 7.00-15 radial tire built by Yokohama in a white wall or blackwall with the lettering removed. In Canada Toyo still sells a 7.00-15 radial tire also but they also have raised lettering on the sidewall. I believe these are a 6 ply tire as is the Yoko's. I have heard that Michelin still may offer a 7.00-15 tire or metric equivalent in Europe. Bridgestone also just recently discontinued this size but maybe a dealer might have some old stock? Maybe check with your South African tire dealers and see if there are any left?
Personally I would really like to get a set of the 7.00-15 radials tires to replace the 235/75/15's as these tires are quite wide and don't have the correct appearance. The sidewalls with raised lettering (somehow "Yokohama" on a sidewall doesn't look right on a post WW2 car )don't appeal to me either so I will probably bite the bullet and get a set of Diamondbacks but not necessarily the whitewall version. My two cents of advice is unless you are planning on trailering the car to concours car shows or limit your driving to slow speeds I wouldn't bother with bias ply tires for safety reasons.