Re: [FWDLK] them radial tires again!

["Dave Homstad" <dhomstad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lars,

I currently have P215/75R15 Firestone 721 Radials, with radial tubes, on my 56 Dodge Custom Royal. These came mounted on a nice set of 50's Dodge wire wheels that I bought (it was a great deal on the wheels) at a swap meet. They fit nicely in the wheel well, no rubbing, and I like the way they look: lower and wider than the original skinny 50's tires. They handle the corners great and have great traction, but I think the steering effort is up a little for parking manuvers. They have a much harsher ride than the nearly new Remington G78/15 WWW bias belted tires they replaced. I feel the cracks in the pavement much more with the radials. I think this may be because radials run at a higher tire pressure than the belted tires, and king pin suspensions are not "radial tuned".

On a separate note, I do NOT recommend these 721 Firestones, as they have been slowly going out of round over the last 6 years since I got them. This year, they have gotten so bad, they are becoming undriveable. I checked the wire wheels for trueness, and it is definitely the tires. These still have about 80% or 90% of the tread left. I seem to remember that Firestone 721s had a poor reputation, even when they were new. Anybody on the list know anything about these 721s? I will be going back to my Remingtons on standard wheels with Lancer wheel covers, unless I decide to spend the money for better radials.

I recently learned something on my daily driver (92 Crown Vic, retired highway patrol) about radial tires: all radials of the same size are not created equal. I replaced some worn out BFG 215/70R15 tires with the same size in a Michelin X1, a couple of weeks ago. Great wet traction. I also immediately noticed a significant difference in cornering. These Michelins have very little give in the sidewalls, so they do not twist when you turn. The result is a much faster steering response. After 70,000 miles, I had to relearn the car's cornering characteristics all over again. The first couple of hard corners I took, I gave the car the same amount of turn at the steering wheel that you get used to after a long time, and the car over reacted, big time. These tires also absorb a lot less of the small road bumps because of the stiffer side walls. The stiff suspension transmits more to the car body, so I feel more bumps in the road surface. On an older car with king pins or a non-radial tuned suspension, these Michelins would also transmit a lot more bumps. Side wall stiffness is a tradeoff between cornering and ride feel. A soft ride results from squishy side walls, which result in more wiggle in corners and accelerated edge wear on the tires.

Dave Homstad
56 Dodge D500

-----Original Message-----
From:   LARSPAINTR@xxxxxxx [SMTP:LARSPAINTR@xxxxxxx]
Sent:   Wednesday, July 21, 1999 3:15 PM
To:     dhomstad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:        Re: [FWDLK] them radial tires again!

here it is dave- with the discussion on the main group there is no particular 
deluge of responses.

Sent to all 55/56 Ply/Dodge people on the >>>LOOK list on back of the 99 
calendar in hopes of getting some tire/wheel info.  Interestingly enuf I 
wrote this about July 15, kept it several days since I TRY not to send stuff 
off without re-reading it several times.      (Me too. Dave)
ANYWAY
I currently have Firestone 480 P205/75R15 tires on my 56 Sport Suburban V8. 
They are 'fine' on highway but ride deteriorates in town and traverse tar 
strips, potholes, etc.  Also rim width is 4.5" and recommended rim width is 
6" for this tire, absolute minimum of 5".  Rule of thumb for a performance 
tire (per Yokohama)  is .9 x tread width of 6" or 5.4 inches.  Current narrow 
rim  causes a 'wag' in the tires in curves or when maneuvering over say 35 
mph.  In other words radials on undersize rims have disadvantages even tho 
they 'fit'.
  I went to junkyard and measured rims on about a 80 Dodge with same tires, 
it was a 6" rim.  However I took a templete of my current stock wheels with 
me and there was a difference in backset, meaning the rim/tire would sit 
differently in the wheel wheels of my 56, further outboard.  Not a problem in 
front but rear with skirts I already only had 3/8" clear at closest points 
and on turns sometimes I still get rubbing tire to skirt.  In fact it seems 
doubtful that those same tires on the 6" Dodge rims would fit even without 
the skirts since the wider rims fatten out the tire profile in addition to 
moving the outside face of tire/rim???
SO
Would appreciate some feedback on what who is running rubber and wheel-wise 
on your cars, and if you use skirts with that combination.  Even if U R using 
bias ply tires like Denhams or Goodyear wide whites, how bout some info on 
handling, stopping wet or dry, ride, sway on curves at highway speeds, kind 
of driving you do and miles per year on the car, etc.  I think we often lack 
facts and experience of others on this kind of thing and rely on what we read 
in the mags?
And anyone using a high $ Michelin tire with like the old STOP tread?

Thanx for any input.
I will wait a week and attempt to collate the info and send it 2 U or post it.

Lars

PS

had couple names wrong, hope mass mailing didnt go out twice since I deleted 
those names!!!!