bias ply tire memories.

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So it drove...like a CJ5. :D[/QUOTE]

My wife has a CJ-5 with manual steering and radial tires, you can drive it down the interstate at 70 mph with one finger on the steering wheel.
Some Jeeps drive like crap because they are not set up correctly.
 
I had the original Power Cushion tires on my 64 Fury up till about 5yrs ago, approx 27,000 mi. No problems with them. Have to have the mindset to drive it like an old car not new. Goodyear Bluestreaks on my 66 Barracuda, repops, not as nice a ride as modern rubber though. Of coarse these cars are in original form, not modified
pishta said:
recent post reminded me of my 65's tires when I bought it...those "Power Cushion" bias ply tires were on my 65 Barracuda when I bought it (1995) after sitting since 1976 in a warehouse. I drove home on them and even about a month after that. Seems I didn't give a rip on how old the really were at the time. Strange feeling after driving radials all my life. Sort of floats down the road, very soft.
Click to expand...
 
sireland67 said:
So it drove...like a CJ5. :D
Click to expand...

My wife has a CJ-5 with manual steering and radial tires, you can drive it down the interstate at 70 mph with one finger on the steering wheel.
Some Jeeps drive like crap because they are not set up correctly.[/QUOTE]
drove my friends CJ back from the airport once. I actually pulled over to see if I had a flat as those tires were so bad. Felt like they were the square tires on that mythbuster truck.
 
An annoying story from the old days

In the early-mid 70's I came across "winter" still had the 70 RR, but the 440-6 was long gone and a 340 swapped in. I "scored" a pair of "sawdust" snow tires but they were bias, and the car had radials. I knew the warnings about mixing/ matching tires, but I figured, I won't be highway driving, about 45 locally is as fast as I'll go. That thing was nearly completely uncontrollable with that tire combo. Felt like the rear was gonna go 90 and slide right into the ditch.
 
sireland67 said:
So it drove...like a CJ5. :D
Click to expand...

My wife has a CJ-5 with manual steering and radial tires, you can drive it down the interstate at 70 mph with one finger on the steering wheel.
Some Jeeps drive like crap because they are not set up correctly.[/QUOTE]

In 1969 I drove from the dodge dealer to the Goodyear store and replaced the Firestone 2 ply "Wide Ovals" for 4 ply raised letter Polyglas tires for $8 a tire. Had an earlier bad experience with firestones.... short time later rear tire picked up a nail and was sitting in driveway flat. Put spare on (one of the firestones) went blasting down the road about 80 mph to tire store. Sudden bang and the car went sideways- out of control- and into a field. The firestone had come apart = tread came off side wall completely. Went to firestone store and they refused to replace tire- said I had run it flat... I went to the Goodyear Store and paid to get a new Polyglas. The manager said to go back to firestone and say they wanted the tire to put on display in their showroom... Got the cost of my new Goodyear refunded- they kept tire, and gave me a good condition tire to use as spare.... Haven't bought a firestone since 1969
 
I remember around 1968 my folks had a Plymouth Fury II wagon to haul all eight of us kids around on vacation or off to the Grandparents house's. At the time there weren't many cars in our neighborhood that had radials with my folks car being one of them. Invariably when we would stop anywhere someone would come up to my dad and say the wagons tires where low or flat. My dad would patiently explain to them the difference between the radial and bias ply construction and that they were properly inflated.
 
That "flat tire" look took some getting used to back in the 1970's. But the weird thing is today, the radial tires don't have that "flat tire" look to them anymore. I don't know if my eye/brain got used to way radials look, or if in fact radial construction has changed in the last 50 years and they no longer look as "flat" as they did previously.
 
Our first Mopar Nationals when it was at the Chelsea Proving Grounds, there was a very nice condition black 62 Imperial with a 413 sono-ram and bias ply tires... We went on a track tour and when we got back to the small oval track where the gathering was, everyone waited to go into the u turn and return to the meet area... We were about 8 cars behind the 62 Imperial in line when it was his turn, man that thing just sat there while spinning the tires and making a HUGE cloud of smoke and slowly started moving forward... He left a good set of burnout marks....

That was the first time we saw a sono ram engine...

Very impressive...
 
I drove my 70 Super Bee for 5 years with 215 70 14 radials on the front and L 60 15 bias in the rear.

Also 3.55 sure grip.

Front- completely planted and stable

Rear- completely controllable with throttle and very easy to feel traction going away and coming back

Handled like a giant go-cart

Would highly recommend it.
 
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