I'm looking into tires for the 60 and I know the originals are 820 x 15 with a 2 1/4 white wall. I can get that exact tire in US royals.
But I'm thinking since we plan to drive the car from here to Vegas in April that a radial tire would make more sense.
I can get
BF Goodrich Silvertowns 235/75R15 with a 2 3/4" white wall
American Classic Radials 235/75R15 with a 3" white wall
American Classic Bias Look Radials 820/15 with 3 1/4" white wall
So My questions are has anyone used the these bias look radials and what do think of them?
Am I nuts for even considering the US Royals with a 5,000 mile trip ahead of me in April?
Should I just play it safe and go with the Silvertown or the American classic Radial?
Is there something else I should be looking at?
Everbody's got an opinion on this, but mine is that you should absolutely have radials. I don't have personal experience with the bias look radials, but if you are that concerned with authenticity, you should also keep whitewall width in mind; not only is 3" and above incorrect; it also doesn't look right IMHO. For my '60, I went with Diamondbacks because you can get the correct width. I have been very happy with them.
I forgot about the Diamondbacks, I don't see 2 1/4 white walls but I see that they do special orders, so I'll call them this week.
They make each whitewall custom: they will do whatever width you want.
I recently worked on a 60 with 235/70/15 Goodyear wide whites.
I don't know if they are made much larger than others in the same size but I had a lot of trouble getting them back on the car after inspecting the rear brakes. Even with letting out all of the air they were quite tight getting back under the wheelwells. This was with the car on a 2 post lift with the rear suspension hanging down.
Possibly 225's would be a better choice.
Brian
Brian-
I would think 235/70's would be somewhat wider, and therefore tougher to fit in the rear. 235/75's are a little tight, but they fit. 225/75's might fit. But are they the right load range for our beasts?
I ran 235/75/15 on a 62 Coupe I had and they worked well. My 61 had 255/70/15 on it when I got it and I swapped them out during Hershey week for judging purposes to 8.20-15 bias ply (US Royal with the 2 1/4" white wall) and haven't looked back since. The 255/70/15 that were on the 61 when I got it were the Silvertowns and when I have them on, the car shimmies like crazy. With the bias ply tires, it's as smooth as glass. I'm chocking it up to the tires as the shimmy was present with two sets of rims and road force balancing on both.
Should you choose to go the radial route, be sure to get an XL (extra load) tire because of the weight of the car.
Hello Joe
I have 235/75 Diambacks with 2.25 white wall and they ride like a dream. They look great too. I deflated for installation.
I think these Goodyears are just extra big.
I have Diamondbacks on my 60 convert and they are great. I'll check the size and let you know if they are 225 or 235.
Brian
Has Joe got a model 60 or a 1960?
The 235 is the width so in theory its going to be the same between a 70 and 75 series tire. A 225 would be 10mm (little less than 7/16) narrower which I could see being just enough to sneak up in a fender. I think a lot of the old tire sizes don't come out the same in metric like for the 70's cars they would be like a 230 which does not exist. The bias tires seemed to be a little more round profile that narrowed at the tread where as the radials seem straighter so that could also effect how it fits.
Are today's tires width measured at the tread or at their widest part when inflated?
The BF Goodrich Bias Ply work just fine when I had my 1954 Buick Special. Sure do Bias Ply grab ruts in the road and do odd things? Sure do but that's how cars back then drove. I took my car up to 300 miles away from my house without issues...you just have to make sure they are fully inflated and that your paying attention to the road. If you don't care for the purist way of driving grab a set of radials. Its all a matter of opinion
I have the 235 75 15 B F Goodrich Silvertown Radials from Coker for 7 years now and cannot say anything bad about them. They ride like silk, keep their white appearance for months and look great on the car. Highly recommended.
My complaint with 235 75R 15 radials is that they make the car sit too low to the ground in addition to being too wide compared to the correct 8.20 15 bias tire.
If the new "bias-look radials" measurements are exactly the same as the 8.20-15 bias, and can be ordered with the correct whitewall for a 1960 Cadillac I would consider those.
Eric is right the 235 radials look much wider than an original bias ply tire. However, on the lower cars say 59 thru early 1970 cars the wider tire looks much better. I saw a 1969 Cadillac drive away on the original bias ply tires (can you believe it??!!) and they looked like a bicycle tire to me.
If you are going for correct look to be driven on then get narrowest radials you can, if correct entirely but not driven on road get a custom bias ply with proper white wall, and if want best looking for the car in present day get widest radial with correct white wall (Diamond back). However, I do not endorse bias ply tires on any car driven except on and off a trailer to the show field. On bias ply tires many disagree with me and consider them safe, but we will continue to agree not to agree.
Further to this, the Goodyear (back when they made them 10 years ago), they measured and were easily noticeable with the eye to be significantly wider than other tires claiming to be 235mm. Maybe the Goodyears were 235 at thread and the others accounted for bulge - I don't know. I still have some Goodyears that are wider than other 235 tires. Wish they still made the Goodyears, but it is not to be.
The radials will make the carotid lower; like Scot I actually prefer that look. But there are trade offs. At least with a coupe, it's a little more work to get n without banging your head, and at least in my case, the tailpipes scrape slightly backing from my (not very steep) driveway onto the street. My '59 with radials did this, and I always attributed it to tired old springs, but my '60 does it as well.
I've gotten used to the look of the 235 75 15's on my car and really like the slightly lower stance:
UPDATE: If the 1958 Catalogue is remotely accurate, then the car in the picture sits lower than mine as evidenced by the hubcap to wheel well fit front and rear - especially noticeable in the rear:
Using the rear wheel opening with respect to the wheel disc is not a good indicator of vehicle stance altered by tires. The centre of the wheel disc position relative to the wheel opening is driven by the suspension, not the tire size. No matter how big or small of a tire is fitted does not change the centre line of the axle/wheel disc.
How well it fills the wheel opening and ground clearance are relative based on tire size.
An artist's rendering in a brochure and the actual finished product could also deviate.
Dan -
That makes sense.
A fresh set of radials were on my '62 Coupe deVille when I bought the car. The car sat so low that everyone who saw it, myself included, thought the car needed a set of new springs - which it did not.
Also, entry/exit was more more difficult.
That said, the wider width radials tires don't bother me as much on later '60s Cadillacs but look out of place on 1964 and earlier models, to my eyes anyway.
I'm going to call Diamondback tomorrow. I really like the look of the bias ply tires but being that my only experience with them is on our 41 and I'm not thrilled with the ride on it I'll go with the radials 235/75 R15. I can always get a set of the the US Royals at a later date since I do have a spare set of rims.
Thank you everyone your opinions are really appreciated.
Be aware that Diamondbacks will not have any script on the blackwall portion as they grind that off and give you a smooth blackwall portion.
Speaking of tires I plan on replacing my radials with bias ply sometime this year. I personally prefer the old ride/feel of bias ply's. My question is does anyone use the firestone white script tires here? If so can you shoot me some pictures? I've seen these on other makes and they look nice but never on a Caddy.
Just installed these last week and balanced them. They are the Diamondback dual white wall stripe radial tires I always recommend. Balanced these myself with Hunter "road force" and used the correct CAX weights. This 1970 Cadillac SDV has 36k miles on it and original paint on places above mid door level moldings. Car is driving really well! I know point deduction because no bias plies, function before form for me.
Hey,
For that Vegas trip, considering radials like the Silvertowns or American Classic Radials sounds like a solid plan. They offer better performance and reliability than the classics. As for the bias look radials, hearing from others who've tried them could be helpful. Play it safe and go with what's tried and true for a smooth ride.
Happy cruising! 🚗✨
Quote from: Cadillac Jack 82 on January 05, 2016, 09:21:50 AMSpeaking of tires I plan on replacing my radials with bias ply sometime this year. I personally prefer the old ride/feel of bias ply's. My question is does anyone use the firestone white script tires here? If so can you shoot me some pictures? I've seen these on other makes and they look nice but never on a Caddy.
I have the Firestone script wide whites on my 54 CDV. I love them. I don't like the look of radial tires on our cars, they just look too small. As for ride quality, bias ply tires are unforgiving of wear etc in the steering and suspension. Keep everything greased up and they're good. I drove my car on a 400 mile round trip one weekend and had no problems.
As far as the catalog cars looking lower, my partner worked for Chevrolet Division, and the display cars, or cars for catalogs were strapped down in the rear for appearance. Diamond Back is your answer. Have their radials on my '47, and the new Auburn 820x15R on my '58. They have all your answers. Great people, great tires. I have been buying old car tires for 60 years. They are the best
This thread is over 8 years old...
Quote from: PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192 on March 27, 2024, 03:29:34 AMI have the Firestone script wide whites on my 54 CDV. I love them. I don't like the look of radial tires on our cars, they just look too small. As for ride quality, bias ply tires are unforgiving of wear etc in the steering and suspension. Keep everything greased up and they're good. I drove my car on a 400 mile round trip one weekend and had no problems.
This was from 2016. Currently my 59 has the US Royals and I plan on putting on the BF Goodrich ones on the 64.
Thanks for the very useful information Club Members!
Our '56CDV will be getting new radial tires later this spring.
Looking forward.
Thanks again.
Respectfully,
mark & Bessy
Quote from: David Greenburg on January 03, 2016, 11:33:42 PMBrian-
I would think 235/70's would be somewhat wider, and therefore tougher to fit in the rear. 235/75's are a little tight, but they fit. 225/75's might fit. But are they the right load range for our beasts?
Hi. 8.20 is the cross section width in inches. That's 208.28mm wide. Even a 225mm wide tire may have difficulty fitting in. The problem is that the series ratio on those old 8.20x15 or 9.00x15, while not part of the tire size was some 80 to 85% (or 90%!). There are no large tires made in 80 or 85 series any longer. Series 75 is about the highest profile available unless you go to a specialty store. I would Not try to fit a 235mm wide tire on the car.
From my 2024 tire thread where we I was mostly asking about 70's and 80's cars someone mentioned Kintio who has a few US tire distributors but is stocked by online places like Summit, Jegs, etc. They have a 165/80 does that work for these cars?
https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/tires?fr=part-type&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=kontino
Both my 60 coupe and 1970 Fleetwood pitched hubcaps off
with Diamondback radials.
Ive gone to wires or the alloy sabres on cars that pitch them.
Im not sure, but Caddy steel wheels were not strengthened for radials until 1972.
Just an FYI.