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Sat May 13, 2006 6:00 am

I wanted to get some feedback. What does everyone think, bias ply versus radials for my 53 split?
I love the look of the bias plys but some of my friends are telling me that they ride like crap and I would be better off going with radials.
I will be driving the car when it is done (although not fast with original 25hp) and I just want some ideas.
Any help would be great
Thanks!

Sat May 13, 2006 6:26 am

The radials definatley ride better. The bias plys definately look better. I have the bias plys on both of my cars and they drive fine. Just gotta take it easy, thats all.

Sat May 13, 2006 7:22 am

kafer53...I don't know where you are in "The Great White North" or if you will be driving in the winter. However, having driven Bugs with bias plys in Alaska and Montana I can assure you that they will flat spot when cold. They thump until the tire temps increase during driving. No harm, just a bit disconcerting if you aren't expecting it.

Sat May 13, 2006 7:31 am

On my '59 KG I had bias plys. . . felt a bit like the car was driving in ruts, sometimes. If you can appreciate the old-school road feel, go for it, but the radials will (as said above) provide a significantly better ride.

Sat May 13, 2006 8:05 am

bias plys are the muts nuts.

Sat May 13, 2006 9:41 am

I use bias plys on my '53 and drive about 7,000 miles a year with no problems. :wink:

Sat May 13, 2006 12:40 pm

Only bias plies on my '57 and '50 so far, almost 14,000 miles between them.

Yes, radials ride better, but if I want a nice ride, I'll take my Jetta.

Sat May 13, 2006 6:43 pm

radials do ride better but to get that vintage feel bias are the way to go. They feel different but its so cool. bias ply tires will also follow a line in the road.

1951 split driven not trailered
Tim 8)

Sat May 13, 2006 7:39 pm

You want excitement, drive a bias ply tired Beetle across a steel grate bridge at 50-60mph!!

Sat May 13, 2006 8:05 pm

johnshenry wrote: You want excitement, drive a bias ply tired Beetle across a steel grate bridge at 50-60mph!!
Snow's no picnic either. There's a reason they didn't have cup holders back then. You needed both hands on the wheel.

This car was saftied on it's VW Canada bias plies installed in 1971 and I've put 15,000 miles on them since.

Fri May 26, 2006 10:56 pm

is there even a Radial size that fits on a 3.00X16 rim? my '52 has a pair of 50 year old 5.00-16 Semperits on the front and a pair of 5.25-16 Avons on the rear (for extra speed) my '55 driver has 15 year old Commander 5.60-15 wide whites on it, I forget how many miles on them, maybe 30,000 or so, the rears have all sorts of tread left, I never rotated them or even paid for an alignment so the fronts are a bit worn now, but still safe in the rain, snow however not so good, in fact I have trouble just trying to move in the driveway, most of the repro Bias Plys are strictly summer tires, I just saw a set of 4 new 155R15s go thru my shop so I guess they are still available if you need to put a spare Radial in your Ghia again, I think Bias Plys actually "ride" better, they are heavier and stronger by design and generaly hold up better to abuse, the car was designed to take Bias after all, Radials "handle" better, Bias Plys seem quieter too, try driving over some rumble strips, with Bias you will hardly hear them, summer Bias definately suck in snow and ice, depends on how you will be driving, where and when and personal preference, and remember that VW rims made before late 67 do not have bead locks on them so officially you need to run special Radial tubes with the Radial tires, I have not personally popped a radial off of the rim but I wouldn't want anyone else to

Sat May 27, 2006 8:15 am

"is there even a Radial size that fits on a 3.00X16 rim? my '52 has a pair of 50 year old 5.00-16 Semperits on the front and a pair of 5.25-16 Avons on the rear (for extra speed)"

Yes, but the original question was for a 1953 Split (Zwitter), which would have 15" wheels, opening the door to many more choices. :)

And my $0.02 agrees with the consensus (when there is a choice). Radials are smoother, safer, wear longer, etc. Bias are more in keeping with the vintage look and feel. Just slightly OT, my 1956 vert has bias, mainly because no one was making a wide whitewall radial when I last needed tires for it (about 1998). YMMV.--David

Sat May 27, 2006 10:31 am

Not all bias ply tires are the same either!
I had Commander white walls on my 59Ghia, now I have some vintage 1977 Montgomery Ward "Poly Sport" tires. The Commanders were much better. Turns that I could easily take with the Commanders now require a slower speed.

And rain . . . fuggetabowtit.

A modern bias ply is close to vintage feel, but tires back in the day were a scaryass thing

Sat May 27, 2006 12:50 pm

billmetric wrote:
...and remember that VW rims made before late 67 do not have bead locks on them so officially you need to run special Radial tubes with the Radial tires, .....

This is wrong. Safety bead humps have nothing to do with tubes or radial tires. They are only there to keep the bead on the rim when you run out of air.
VW went to tubeless tires in 1957. For 10 years they made millions of cars without saftey bead humps and without tubes.

Sun May 28, 2006 7:59 pm

I almost forgot that a 53 "split" isn't really a split :oops:
I don't think VW envisioned anyone putting radial tires on their rims prior to 1967, Packard was the first to install tubless tires in 1954, Michelin first patented the radial tire in 1946, american cars first saw Radials in the mid 60s, I guess my concern was more towards a radial tire running VWs specified 16psi, especially on the front tires, ask anyone with an old motorcycle with a tube type rim and I'm pretty sure they want an inner tube in there, VW rims for tubless tires have a slightly different stem hole stamping and the VW manual recommends mounting a metal stem with nuts and rubber washer instead of a normal rubber stem on the old tube type rims, I have owned a few sets of "tube type" radials, and any time a radial has a tube in it it has to be a radial tube, radial tubes have had a red stem on them since the mid 70s or so, just my 2 cents again, I think I may have had motorcycle type safety specs in mind,

California BMV Vehicle Code:
Inner Tubes
27455. (a) On and after January 1, 1975, no person shall sell or offer for sale an inner tube for use in a radial tire unless, at the time of manufacture, the tube valve stem is colored red or is distinctly marked in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the department, taking into consideration the recommendations of manufacturers of inner tubes.

(b) No person shall install an inner tube in a radial tire unless the inner tube is designed for use in a radial tire.

Added Ch. 741, Stats. 1973. Effective September 25, 1973 by terms of an urgency clause.

RMA states in their comments to NHTSA:
RMA continues to believe, with the global tire industry, that
a bead-unseating test is not required for radial tires. The levels of
force required to pass the current FMVSS-109 bead unseat test are
sufficient. The fact that radial tires can pass the test more
consistently than bias tires does not make the current test
insufficient. It simply means that the design of radial tires allows
them to handle lateral forces much more efficiently than bias tires.

tires come unseated from the bead due to under-inflation more than any other reason

:shock:

Mon May 29, 2006 2:56 am

billmetric wrote: ... tires come unseated from the bead due to under-inflation more than any other reason

Absolutely correct. Most people don't check the pressure in their tires, so usually they are underinflated.
BTW, VW recommended 18.5psi for the front tires at the end of production.