Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Jim L., as requested. Pardon the dirt, car's been sitting since late November.

Attach file:

---

  (123.74 KB)

I drove many cars with bias ply tires BEFORE radials came out. The PRODUCTION Bia ply tires of the day and time that they were used drove just fine. About 20K to 25K miles and they were worn out almost completely. Regardles of price or manufacturer.

I've been known to tout the CHEAPEST modern radial for cars. Over the last year to 18 months tho i have noticed that the cheapest local bought chain tire store tires seem to have some 'hunt' to them while driving now.

The problem with any tire discussion is that what we discuss today or experience today may very well not hold 5 years or 10 years from now relative to any new tires offered in the future.

My experience over the last few decades is that premium name/grade tires were usually heavier and required a lot more weight to balance and drove no better than the cheaper tires. That must be changing.

Bottom line: tire selection has always been a crap-shoot at best.

Thank you Owen!

Coker wide white radials on my 56 Patrician. Also have wires, for whatever that does.

Longest trip last summer was almost 1300 miles. Bearing in mind that a Packard is not an MG, I thought it drove and handled well.

My brother has a 64 Cadillac coupe de Ville which is a wallowing willie by comparison; truly terrifying to drive on hilly interstates at the legal limit. When turning, you have to turn early to allow the rudder to "bite"..... Still, you can land a plane on his trunk.....

Your post begs the question: What tires does the 64 Caddy have on it and how did it drive with the tires on it prior to current tires????

Cadillacs always drove like that. They had the famous "boulevard ride" but you had to be on your toes to keep them between the ditches over 70.

Packards and Chryslers were more stable at speed especially the torsion bar models or as an old friend put it "with a Chrysler you never had to back off".

I had a '65 Cadillac for a daily driver in the '80s and it handled pretty well at speed. It was no sports car either but it wasn't all over the road - I did have radials on it though. I think your brother might want to have the front end checked.
The biggest difference I found was when I went from bias ply to Radials on my 1960 Imperial. Some of the bridges here in Portland had grating for the surface and with Bias ply that car was all over the place - keeping it in one lane was a real challenge. With the radials, the car would cross that same bridge almost by itself. The only down side was the ride was a tad harsher.

Agree with pretty much eveyone on radial superiority over current bias tires. I use modern radials on my old cars and am very satisfied.

On the subject of the cheapest radials, I've found that most of the cheapies are now Chinese made, which may account for the decreased performance. I have no problem with Korean tires such as Kumho or Japanese Bridgestones or some of the other asian brands. I'm leary of the Chinese ones though. I'v always found the Goodyear-US-made Kelly to be a good, yet economical, radial brand, but it will have a narrower ww, if that matters.

It's getting harder to find modern radaials in vintage sizes,
P225 or 235/75/15 or /70/15 are becoming scarce. Again, narrow ww's, but I'm not about to shell out 900 bucks for wide white collector cars tires when four modern 225s will run more like ~400 installed and are just as well made. And as Owen pointed out, narrow ww's were available and, though uncommon, were indeed found on Packards in '56, there are even original pics that show such.

"It's getting harder to find modern radaials in vintage sizes,
P225 or 235/75/15 or /70/15 are becoming scarce. "

TRue, very true. I'm not running any 13 or 14 inch wheels and tires except on utility trailors and such. 15" tires are becomming more and more scarce even at new tire stores.

Wheel diameters tend to run in trends over long periods of time vs basic vs deluxe model cars. But any future trend change back to 15" may not help us any during the interrem.

I've not begun to study any of the 16" modern wheels but probably need to. Quite possibly we mite have to go to 16" on our cars simply due to size availability in the near future. IIRC i checked my '01 Dodge Ram with 16" and they do not fit bolt pattern of 56 Executive. I may need to check that again tho.

I put radials on my Clipper and will never go back to bias ply. The difference in handling and ride in great. The car feels safer and I am sure it is. I will not ever have the car judged again at Packarad Club meets but my family safety is worth more than an award. When my Caribbean needs tires, they will be radials.