Radials On A Step Down.

harry54

What's a good cheap radial to put on a stepdown daily driver? Not looking to spend alot of money, just want good peformance. I don't care about the white wall. What size radial would you'll recommend ? It's a 54 Hornet Sedan.

Unknown

The last one I bought was a 52 Hornet coupe with dryrotted tires in 35 year storage. I took the wheels to Pep Boys and had them mount 225R75/15 with narrow white walls for about $40/each. They're a little snug in the rear wheel wells, but seem to be about the right height for the car. I thiink Hudsonkid is running 215's on his.

harry54

How did the 225's perform ?

[Deleted User]

Like HUDSONDAD said, 225/75/15 are a little snug in the rear but they are worth it. I have had them on my 54 Hornet Special sedan for 4 years and have absolutely no problems. I don't know what brand they are, I got them in trade for a riding lawnmower amd had them mounted on the rims then put them on the car. They have been on there ever since. Just keep the pressures at recommended number of pounds. I keep mine at 32-33 lbs.
Bob

harry54

When you say snug in the rear, does that mean that they rub when you take a corner ?

Unknown

harry54 wrote:

How did the 225's perform ?

well, let's see... hmmm... the 225's on the 52 hornet really held the trailer well for the 1 year plus time they were there....



It didn't move once....



Then the four or five times hudsondad went driving the car on the road without and registration, insurance, bumpers, lights, front grille, etc... it seemed to drive well enough. :eek:



I think he's running pep boys specials on the wasp as well, same as what I was running, but mine were 215's and mine got dry rotted, and I replaced them with another set of 205's which were from a friend, takeoffs. I like the 205's the best. One of these days, I might invest in a set of proper wide whites, but of course they will be wide white radials. :cool:



One thing I can say about the pepboys tires, is that they seem to be decent enough for general driving, and the white walllooks pretty decent.



Only problem I saw was I think hudsondad's wasp has a traction problem with his, for some reason, they always wanna "chirp" when it shifts from first to second, when you take off...

harry54

So the 225's don't rub ? But the 215's are better ?

hudsonguy

Harry,



By 'snug' I believe they mean getting the tire/rim on and off the car. If you raise the body as much as you can, and then allow the rear axle to drop to a maximum, you've still got to do a little 'wiggling' to get a 225 width tire to squeeze between the brake drum and edge of wheel opening. I know because I also have 225's on my '49 sedan.

Unknown

harry54 wrote:

So the 225's don't rub ? But the 215's are better ?

225' make changing a tire "tight"



215's are probably the best...



I like my 205's though.. (they were priced right...)

harry54

Hudsonguy,

How do you like the 225's on your 49 ? For Drivability and distance driving ?

Unknown

harry54 wrote:

So the 225's don't rub ? But the 215's are better ?

205-75R-15 would be the correct cross radial tire size; however,



215-75R-15 is the OPTIONAL size (crossed to radial) offered by Hudson in 54



Anything larger and you may not be able to mount the rear tires w/o disconnecting the shocks and allow the rear axle to drop, thus allowing extra room between the rear fenders and the axles.



NOTE: This is my case on a 54, updated with the lugs sticking out the axle ends - fronts were updated also to include the lugs sticking out after the wheels are pulled off.



i.e., lugs stay on car; wheel is set in place and lug nuts are screwed on to lugs to hold wheels on.

harry54

So most people use prefer the 215's not the 225 's ....?

harry54

I ckecked with Coker and they cross reference the 225's with the 760's ...

Unknown

I personally think the small amount of height difference from the 225's over the 215's give the car a better look. They don't rub, just a little extra effort to get them off the rear. You guys are no doubt right about the modern cross reference for a 7:10 being 215s. I got the Continental 225s on the Wasp on a close-out at Pep Boys a few years back, and should last many more years (if I don't let Hudsonkid drive the car). They drive very nice and great at high speed. I feel even a little safer now that we rebuilt the entire brake system last year.

harry54

Thanks Hudson Dad And Hudson Kid. I Think I Might Get The 225's....

hudsonguy

harry54 wrote:

Hudsonguy,

How do you like the 225's on your 49 ? For Drivability and distance driving ?

I love 'em. I drove one summer on 7.10 bias ply tires before switching to the 225 radials, and of course the difference was like night and day. I can't say that I have any personal experience with any other size radials on a stepdown, though. I do know that many advise against a 225 on stock 5" rims, but it's worked for me so far. I believe 215's are generally matched up with stock 5" rims, and the 225's would ideally have the optional 5.5" rim. Of course, I didn't have a set of those, so I'm 'bending the rules' slightly, I suppose. (I do know I'm not the only one, too!)



I've driven just about every situation since (interstates, freeways, back roads, big cities, mountains, deserts, etc.) and they've performed flawlessly. Last summer after a 5000 mile trip out west and back, they didn't even lose a bit of pressure. When I got home they were exactly where I'd put them before I left at 35psi. After about 16,000 miles, the tread still looks like new. I do know it's important to keep the front end aligned in this regard.

HUDSONNUT

I'll put my 2 cents in on this.



I have a '50 super 6 and we put P225/75R KUMHO tires from Discount on it. They have the narrow white walls and the car handles very well.



We drove the car this summer over 6,000 miles ( From AZ to as far east as St Louis and then back to Iowa, NB (Nat'l meet), WY, CO, Utah, NV and back to AZ). We crused @ 75 - 80 mph and my wife made me slow down in OK because she caught me going over 95mph (I can't see the speedometer when I drive - tee hee) but I slowed down. I had to listen to her teasing about that until I caught her going 92mph in Utah, she doen't tease me anymore - We try to keep the speed down now though.)



The 225's don't seem to be that hard to put on, but the car needs to be on a lift or jacked up as high as you can.



I am fully sold on the Radials for the stepdown, the car handle and corners great. We also have them on our 1955 Packard 400 and it does as well.



FYI - On he Packard - we had the narrow WW's widened out to 2' by a guy here in Phoenix and they look great. He has a machine that grinds off the black outer part of the tire and exposes the white under it. It looks great and doesn't hurt the integrety of the tire. We intend to have the Super 6's tires WW's widened before our trip to the Nat'l next July in Auburn (sp).



Have a Great Day!! and Merry Christmas to All!!



Tom C (Hudsonnut)

harry54

I want to thank everyone for all the thoughts and advice on the radials. I think that the real life experiences of the 5,000 mile jaunts speak for themselves.

Warm Hudsonly Holiday Wishes to all..... for a safe and Healthy Holiday Season. .......

coverton

Just put a set of "Enduro-75" 1 1/4 WW-215X75XR15's on my 54 $40 bucks each from the Firestone store. Run fine

Unknown

215/75 X 15 work the best - 225's are to wide for standard Hudson 5 or 5 1/2 inch rims. This size of a radial tire can place excessive rim bead load on the original wheels which can promote failure plus they fit to tight in the rear wheel wells. On some 225 radials the inner side wall of the front tires can rub on the steering arm tie rod end during turns.

I have run Uniroyal P215/75 X 15 "Tiger Paws " for over 40,000 miles on my 49 Super Six sedan in six years with very good performance and the look correct in the wheel wells.

Aaron D. IL

I've had both 215/75R X 15 Yokohama radials with 1" white walls and 225/75R X 15 Firestones with 2" white walls The bigger radials need to be shimmied into the wheel well and they do make the car stand a little higher but they have a B class truck/suv weight rating so in that regard I don't have to worry about em much. I drove on the bigger ones all the wat to Nashville nationals in back and even if they were stressing the rim I had no problems it drove smooth and cornered better than the Coker bias ply's I had. Plus I've heard form other members that they've had bad experiences with Coker and thay they prefer to deal with Diamondback Tire Co.

harry54

Aaron,

What do you mean when you say shimmed...... And it sounds like you think the 215's are the way to go .....???

Unknown

harry54 wrote:

Aaron,

What do you mean when you say shimmed...... And it sounds like you think the 215's are the way to go .....???

I think he meant you have to wiggle and position them a bit, to get them up into to rear wheel well.

Aaron D. IL

hudsondad wrote:

I think he meant you have to wiggle and position them a bit, to get them up into to rear wheel well.

Yep that's what I meant perhaps I didn't spell it right. I've had no real trouble with the 225's but yeah if I had to do it again I'd probably go with the 215's.