Radials on Hudson's of the 30's

[Deleted User]

I was looking at my new Coker Tire Catalog and was wondering if anyone has tried their 16 inch white wall radial tires on a Terraplane or Hudson made in the 30's. I have the Goodyear Radials on my stepdown, which I love, but I had always planned on putting the original Goodyear bias ply tires on my 36 Terraplane.

I know there has been a lot of discussion here on radials for stepdowns, but what about the older cars. I doubt that I will be driving over 55MPH, but I wondered if the older cars would handle that much better with the radials, or if I should just go with the original tires. Any thoughts?

Unknown

hi scott, what size radials on your t-plane. i have a 37coupe and have not decided what i want, i have 15x6 summit chrome reverse rims. the trial fit was a 195/70/15 and the rears are tight, i was thinking 205/75/15. thanks, dermott.:)

Unknown

sorry, my trail fit was 195/65/15 from a 2002 sunfire, my daughters summer tires that i borrowed. dermott.:)

Unknown

Scott,



Are those Goodyear Radials on your Stepdown WWW? I know Coker sells WWW Radials and also B.F. Goodrich WWW Radials. If so, who sells Goodyear WWW Radials?



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Jon B

Aww, c'mon, who cares about handling and safety when you can have a really neat looking set of bias plies? LOL!

[Deleted User]

I agree, the bias ply Goodyears are really good looking. A friend of mine has them on his 35 Terraplane and they really make the car.



Happychris, I bought my radial WWW Goodyears from a dealer in Springfield Ohio, they advertise in the back of Hemmings.



Dermont, my T-plane will take 600X16.

rambos_ride

I think radials would work better on just about any road driven car...and I'm not expert on 30.s vehicles but my only concern would be the stresses placed on that era of parts/design like the wheel bearings for instance. Since the sidewalls flex so much there would be more load placed on the wheel bearings

Really though if you don't drive the car a lot - the bias ply would be correct for the car and perform just fine and it does have that "look"

terraplane8

My '36 Terraplane has good quality bias ply tyres and they are fine. The key is that they are heavy duty tyres with stiff sidewalls, so cornering is very good. My other car has soft bias plys and there is a big difference as these are poor at cornering.



Out of the UK you can buy Blockley tyres which are the bias ply performance tyres to have. They are a modern replica of block tread racing tyres made to a very high standard. Railton Club members are using these on their cars.

[Deleted User]

I put a set of 215/70/16 radials on the standard 4" wheels on my '39 and it handles like a dream in comparison to bias ply tires! Bought them from Diamond Back Classics in Conway, SC. They are made by Dunlop and have 3" whitewalls.



No more "white knuckle" rides on wet or deeply rutted roads. The only downside to these tires is the "Armstrong Steering" that is necessary when trying to park the car. They are approx. 1" shorter than 6.50X16 which were on the car previously. I wouldn't dream of switching back to bias ply tires!



The only concern is the width of the rear wheelwell of your car. I can't measure mine at the present because all of the fenders are off the car, but I can tell you that I could easily slide my hand between the lip of the rear fender and the tire sidewall at its narrowest point.



If you seldom drive your '36, then it might not be worth the cost. But I can assure you, if you put radials on it you WILL enjoy driving it a whole lot more!

SamJ

I have Coker 16" radials on my '40 and I'm delighted with them. They make a huge difference on rutted pavement, and handling is better. However, the '40 is the first year for IFS and centerpoint steering...I'm not sure if you will get such a noticable improvement with solid front axle car. :cool:



BTW: Much to my surprise, my Coker radials came with tubes. Also, I had the wheels trued and powdercoated before installing.

junkcarfann

rambos_ride wrote:

I think radials would work better on just about any road driven car...and I'm not expert on 30.s vehicles but my only concern would be the stresses placed on that era of parts/design like the wheel bearings for instance. Since the sidewalls flex so much there would be more load placed on the wheel bearings



Really though if you don't drive the car a lot - the bias ply would be correct for the car and perform just fine and it does have that "look"

I do not understand how a tire's flexing would place more or less weight on the wheel in a cornering situation.



No matter how much the sidewalls flex, the weight on the wheel would be the same, as it is a result of the weight of the car, and centrifigual force.



Only adding weight to the car, or increasing the speed in the corner, or a tighter corner, any of which would increase the centrifigual force, would place more weight on the wheel in a corner. The tire does not add or subtract from that force, unless it loses traction and slides in the corner, in which case some force is lessened.



But until the tire loses traction and slides, the force on the wheel in a corner is the same regardless of the tire.



Plus, Hudsons are built like tanks, so even if the laws of physics are different from what I understand them to be, the suspension system will not break with radial tires.

tigermoth

i have read numerous articles expressing concern about extra stress radial tires place on the wheel bead area. i believe it could be true, but the real reason i drive with bias ply tires is the reason i own a '35...it is to experience what it was like to drive a vehicle of that vintage, warts and all. it is like my own time machine. if i wanted the experience of driving a new car i would drive a new car. my car has mechanical brakes, so in combination with the bias ply tires i don't go faster than 45mph and leave a larger interval between myself and the car in front. regards, tom

rambos_ride

tigermoth wrote:

i have read numerous articles expressing concern about extra stress being placed on the wheels bead area. i believe it could be true, but the real reason i drive with bias ply tires is the reason i own a '35...it is to experience what it was like to drive a vehicle of that vintage, warts and all. it is like my own time machine. if i wanted the experience of driving driving a new car i would drive that. the car has mechanical brakes, so in combination with the bias ply tires i don't go faster than 45mph and leave a blarger interval between the car in front. regards, tom

Well put!

I hope to have an original or 2 someday myself for these same reasons!

SamJ

rambos_ride wrote:

Well put!



I hope to have an original or 2 someday myself for these same reasons!

I agree, sort of. My '40 is VERY original (53,000 original miles), and I enjoyed the '40's experience for 20 years with it. Still do, except that with radials it's a little easier to drive on freeways that didn't exist 67 years ago and at freeway speeds (if 60mph is a freeway speed). :cool:

[Deleted User]

Well, that's the dilemma. I also like the old car experience, and going slow and sticking to the back roads are where most of my driving is, even with the stepdown. But even on the back roads in Ohio, I sometimes feel like a bowel obstruction.

Clutchguy

SamJ wrote:

I have Coker 16" radials on my '40 and I'm delighted with them. They make a huge difference on rutted pavement, and handling is better. However, the '40 is the first year for IFS and centerpoint steering...I'm not sure if you will get such a noticable improvement with solid front axle car. :cool:



BTW: Much to my surprise, my Coker radials came with tubes. Also, I had the wheels trued and powdercoated before installing.

SamJ,where did you have your wheels trued??,and did they do a good job?.Do you know if they were bent very bad to begin with?.

SamJ

Clutch guy wrote:

SamJ,where did you have your wheels trued??,and did they do a good job?.Do you know if they were bent very bad to begin with?.

A friend of mine has a shop and he sent them out for me. One wheel had a slight flare on the outer rim, and one was slightly dinged inward. There was some pitting along the beads on all four. (My spare is the original wheel and tire.) They came back looking like brand new wheels. :cool: