Re: What's the difference?

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2010/4/22 8:35:18

Amanda, Kanter Bros are not tire manufacturers so they are acting as an agent for some tire company, they should be willing to tell you the brand/maker if you inquire.

I too very much dislike the appearance of radials and I drive both my cars a significant # of miles each year. I echo West's comments about the suitability of bias ply when a front end is in good condition and properly aligned; my 34 Eight has a solid beam axle and front leaf springs so it inherently doesn't handle like a car with independent front suspension but nevertheless it has very good road manners with Lester 7:00x17 bias ply. I had bias ply on my 56 Caribbean whose front end is reasonably tight and properly aligned and it had extremely good road manners. Ultimately I replaced the bias with radials because I was offered a warranty replacement to replace the bias ply which I believed to be showing premature tread wear. Though there was a slight improvement in handling especially when crossing pavement strips, I'd call the difference modest, at best.

I've always had the suspicion (unsubstantiated) that bias ply collector car tires aren't necessarily made to the same design and performance standards that the best of bias ply tires were in their heyday, the same is perhaps true of most collector radials. If I was unconcerned with authenticity and appearance and competitiveness at major events and my nearly exclusive use of the car was to blast down Interstates keeping up with today's traffic, I might lean in the direction of the better collector car radials.

PS - I have no substantiation of it but I've been told by several folks in the tire business that radials have a shorter "static" life than bias ply; if true then bias may be a better choice from a longevity viewpoint for a collector car that doesn't accumulate a lot of miles.