Phil Patterson writes: This has been an interesting discussion, to say the
least. I am a former shop manager at a Western Auto in North Carolina. And your
tire dealer may have a point! Since bias doesn't sell near as well as radials
these days, chances are pretty good that any bias belt you find may have been on
the shelves for a very long time. Age is age, and as some of you guys who have
stored cars for a very long time know, sometimes the tires will go out of round
or come apart despite very low actual mileage on the tires. Out of round isn't
too much of a problem for an old unused, unmounted tire, but hardening of the
tire carcass is. Then you take them out on the road, flex them and heat them up,
then POW! Even worse if it is a 13 inch set put on a vigorously driven late
model small car, not a problem as leisurely as most of us drive our babys. But
the liability concerns are quite serious for a tire shop owner who has no
control over the final use of a product. They still use bias belts for trucks
and trailer tires, the main thing is don't get a set that has dry rotted on the
shelf. I can understand the tire dealer's hesitance, but there should be no
problem with them installed on the correct car, and as long as they haven't set
too long. Old unused tires that have set for a long periond of time should only
be used for trailer queens and displays.
Terry & Andree Hoeman wrote:
> Just reminded me of a funny one. (Or is it sad?)
>
> Was talking to a local tire dealer about bias ply versus radials.
>
> He got sort of white faced and swore it was unsafe to ever drive one of the
> bias over 40 for fear it would blow out! I swear he was serious about it!
>
> Sort of lost my faith in him!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Dupont <DupontTim@xxxxxxx>
> To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Sunday, July 25, 1999 11:57 AM
> Subject: [FWDLK] Radials or Bias
>
> >Salutations Members, I think that some Forward Lookers are giving Bias
> tires
> >a bad rap. I was initially using Radials on my 56 Dodge and after much
> >deliberation I decided to try a set of Bias Wide Whites for the nostalgic
> >look. I couldn't be more happy with a set of tires. They are on par with
> >respect to drivability in all regards. Therefore its my opinion that the
> Bias
> >tires not be ruled out for your FL car, after all they are proper and
> correct
> >in terms of original appearance. My tire man would mount and allow a short
> >test drive without obligation (he may be a rarity), maybe this option could
> >be explored next time you are changing out rubber? Old timers I have talked
> >to (One guy in particular has been mounting tires since before WWII) say
> that
> >it runs both ways and the type of tires your old car handles best with may
> go
> >either way, and there most assuredly are a lot of factors that go into this
> >equation. Its as clear as mud to me. Tim
> >
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