Modern Radials

klawockvet

klawockvet

Senior Member
Does anyone have any experience with modern radials on 42-48 sedans? This has probably been beat to death in the past but I can't find the answer I am looking for in a search.

I am well aware of the Coker and Diamondback options, however I plan to use my car on some long trips and have had problems in the past with non current tires. No matter how good a tire is there is nothing you can do when traveling through Alaska and Canada and ruin a tire. The only tires I can find need 5.5 inch wheels as a minimum. I haven't had a problem with my Model A or F100 but it seems like the fender to tire clearance is smaller on the fat rendered Fords.
 
My dad has Diamondbacks on his '47 Tudor. The ride is good. We have not had any problems. I also have a set of Coker radials on a '39 pickup.
 
i have diamondback classic 16 inch on my 48 coupe steers great they are a little pricey no tubes
 
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I think that you are asking about an off-the-shelf tire that you can replace while on the road. So to answer your question - you could look at Bridgestone Ecopia 195/80 r16.

They are available at Walmart, etc. for your peace of mind way out yonder.

A lot of people press the rim width issue and safety rims on radial tires, so there are many things to consider.

But for an off-the-shelf item you could begin looking there & make your own safety decisions.
 
I run tubes in all the radial tires we have on early fords. Just a precaution. I don't trust the 70 year old rims to hold air on a tubeless tire even if I have the rim blasted, cleaned and painted. Maybe overkill but I don't have an air leak on the bead.
 
There is no one and no tire made that can give you 100% assurance that you will not have a road problem when driving on long distance trips and in remote areas. I don't have any experience with radials on '42-'48 Ford sedans, but I can tell you I have run Diamondback smoothed black wall radials (550x16 fronts mfg'd by Michelin and 750x16 rears by Yokohma) on stock '35 wire wheels, 4" wide rims, for over 20k miles. These tires were on my '35 fordor (Avatar car) for many long distance trips, including a 7,200 mile cross country tour in 2013. The only thing required in that 20k miles was occasionally adding a little air. Last spring I removed the Diamondbacks and installed Coker 600Rx16 www tires front and rear for the shows I planned to attend. These tires are also mounted on stock '35 wire wheels and probably have ~ 7k miles including a 1900 mile trip to Illinois last summer.
My experience with both sets of radials has been improved steering, ride and overall handling as compared to the bias ply tires that were on this car previously.
If I were on a trip through Canada and Alaska (which I hope to do someday), I would not hesitate to use either set of radial tires on my car.
 
Hi Seth, I read some time back that running tubes in a radial tire, causes heat and cause catastrophic failure. Can anybody chime in on this. I'm sure speed and distance would be a consideration in this? Frank
 
That's why IF you're going to run tubes in a radial tire, they make "RADIAL" rated tubes, which are "supposed" to alleviate the situation you related. Your mileage may vary. DD
 
FRANK PKNY said:
Hi Seth, I read some time back that running tubes in a radial tire, causes heat and cause catastrophic failure. Can anybody chime in on this. I'm sure speed and distance would be a consideration in this? Frank
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention in my post before yours that I am running tubes rated for use in radials on both sets of my radial tires. I am also using small molded plastic spacers that look like grommets at each valve stem because the holes in the rims are actually a little too large for the modern valve stems and these spacers prevent chafing in that area of the inner tubes. Picture of spacer below is not the best but will give some idea of what it looks like. The tire shop that mounts my tires and an Ag Supply Store near me both carry these spacer/grommet looking parts.
Knock on wood, no failures like you have read about in almost 30k miles of driving with radials on my '35 fordor.
 

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Let me rephrase the question: Does anyone have any experience running current radials on wider rims, such as 15 x 5.5 or 16 x 5.5 or even 6" wide rims? I am concerned about tires rubbing on fenders and frame, or greatly reducing the turning radius.

As stated in my original post, I am familiar with all the options with the vintage tires, however they are impossible to get on short notice in Alaska, Canada and many parts of the western US. Many tire shops will not put tires on rims that are narrower than factory recommendations. Some will not even fix a flat in those situations.
 
klawockvet said:
Let me rephrase the question: Does anyone have any experience running current radials on wider rims, such as 15 x 5.5 or 16 x 5.5 or even 6" wide rims? I am concerned about tires rubbing on fenders and frame, or greatly reducing the turning radius.

As stated in my original post, I am familiar with all the options with the vintage tires, however they are impossible to get on short notice in Alaska, Canada and many parts of the western US. Many tire shops will not put tires on rims that are narrower than factory recommendations. Some will not even fix a flat in those situations.
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The Diamondback tires I have purchased in the past were not "vintage" tires. They were modern tires with one sidewall smoothed by removing the manufacturers markings, therefore, they can be replaced if necessary by tires ordered directectly from the manufacturer or any good tire company that handles that particular name brand.
Also, a member of our cross country tour had a Coker tire fail in a western state. He called Coker and they had two new tires shipped and waiting for his arrival at our next hotel destination. Until then he ran on his spare, plus knew he had other spares available from those traveling with him.

Pictures of the Diamondback modern radial tires on stock '35 4" wide wire wheels. Smaller/fronts are mfg'd by Michelin, larger/rears are mfg'd by Yokohoma. 20k + miles on these so far with no problems.
 

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I have a '68 Jaguar XKE, that my dad bought new, it came with radial tires with tubes, and that's what we've used each time we put a new set of tires and tubes on the E-Type. I stopped running radial tubes in the radial tires on my '39 CS (stock rims) because the valve stems kept chafing, causing a loss of air pressure resulting in flat tires. I've had no problem with the '39's tires after removing the tubes. I'm also running radial tires tubeless on my '47 Convertible, '51 F-1 and '53 F-100 Panel Delivery, all with stock rims,with no issues.
 
Read this guys post. My wife had a '94 Colt Vista wagon that needed tires. It took a size that was no longer made. We went to 4 tire shops before we found one that would mount even a slightly larger tire. I have heard this story several time before. The discount outlets, (Wal-Mart, etc) are particularly bad about this. Given what's going on with tire retailers, I wonder if any of them would even fix or repair a tire unless everything was 100% up to snuff.
 
What would a tire dealer care about what size tire you wanted mounted? That is strange, things must be a lot different in your part of the county. I have never had them question tire size. Only thing I've ever run into related to that was attempting to mount tires (very large mudder tires) that wouldn't catch on the rims. The shop manager told me he knew how to mount them but they were not allowed to do it. They put an explosive mixture in the tires and ignite it! Told us were to get it done, it works!.
 
I still have 25 year old Goodyear Radials on my 40 Tudor. Rear tires are P225-75R15 and due to the width of the rear end and wheel size, I have a very slight rubbing of the fender when at Interstate speeds and cornering hard. Front tires are P195-75R15. I have stock front end and when I was running a bra on the front end, I would get a rub on the snap, which was mounted on the inside lip of the wheel opening, but ONLY when pulling into a driveway that was raised higher than the street level. Since I removed the snap, no more problems. Hope this helps!!
 
I had a 47 Ford coupe which i ran 48 Mercury 15 inch rims and 235-75 R-15 Good Year tires and no tubes. I ran several thousand miles with it until i sold the car and never had any trouble at all.
 
tubman said:
... Given what's going on with tire retailers, I wonder if any of them would even fix or repair a tire unless everything was 100% up to snuff.
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Sears turned me down on a tire repair (on one of their tires, no less). Thought they were going to sell me a new one, I guess. Got it repaired at another tire shop for $25. Was still on the car when I sold it several years later.

They also wouldn't sell me a pair of new tires to put on my son's Bronco II. Had to be a full set or nothing.

Don't frequent Sears much anymore.
 
I have 225/15 on my 48 for many years .Not many miles They run good, But like has already ben said , they make the steering heavy when sitting still.
 
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