Re: 1956 Clipper Steering

Posted by Brian Wilson On 2020/3/9 18:01:42

Hello Kev

Yes, the Clipper has the same tires on as when I got it. Some sort of modern radials with a thin whitewall strip. Actually Bridgestone P215/75SR15 steel belted radials. Something very similar - but Kelly brand - on the wire wheels I have for this car. On reflection, these are probably contributing to the problem. Trouble is I'll never wear them out, but a change might be more cost effective than messing with power steering conversions etc.

I had Diamond Back Toyo tyres on my 1941 120 Club Coupe, which seemed to work fine with manual steering. I think these started life as light truck tires.

I like the radials for ride and handling on the Clipper, but might be better off with narrower section radials to reduce the low speed steering effort. These may be smaller rolling diameter and will give me a wrong speedo reading.

What tires are on your blue car? Is it manual steering?

Went fishing in your blog but ran out of time at about page 220 (going backwards). Some very interesting stuff in there.

Cheers

Brian