the great tire delema

Marten · Kemptville Ont Carpenter/Renovations

the great tire delema

Junior · Race starter St.Thomas Drags Rod-side Aylmer On Member

Marten wrote:
So I am looking for some tires and rims. I would like to have about 12" or more width of tire for the back but because of the stiff suspension was looking for something with more sidewall to absorb the bumps. Was doing this and got a phone call. We talked and I said what I was doing. Told him I was looking for a more traditional look instead of the rubber band look that lots of the wide tires have. All I could find were street drag radials. To which his response was "your not building a traditional rod why start with the tires" One for this guy, so looking and found what I thought would work after this conversation. Next morning I am back at it and my son comes in and asks what I am looking at. Told him the same thing. He looks at me and says "how much do you plan to drive it? I got 30,000 km out of my last set of performance tires. Crap now back to thinking about DOT approved drag radials.
OK so that is the end of my funny story. So now it becomes an opinion question. Wide is a given, street/drag radials (325/45 R17) giving me the side wall I would like or taller rims and tires (345/35 R19), less sidewall. No wrong answers here. If you have had the drag tires on the street what kind of life do they have? That may become the factor. Clearly cost is a factor as well.
Found a web site www.tiresize.com that has a good visual thing on there site to compare two sizes.

Marten, I had drag radials on my previous car 66' SD Acadian. This was /still is a backhalfed -4 link car.When I got it , it had 13.5 wide ,31" tall -15" Mikey Thompson bias belted tires. The drag radials were great- provided it was DRY. Not for the road when wet from my experience and life was short as they are soft. I only drove it to Sparta and back for weekend duties and made two passes in the four years I had that car. I re -cut them after the 2nd year. Yeah smile , I have a tire re grooving iron.

junior

shag766 · Foxboro On Rod-side Member

i am in agreement with you on this topic marten but for a different reason pertaining to a wider tire. i just don't like the look of what you call the rubber band look and that is a personal choice. i was contemplating using drag radials a couple of sets of tires ago but settled on something again, that compared to the 60 series of years gone by. a little less rubber width but i was styling in my mind compared to the tuner look which i just don't prefer the look of. if you got 30,000km on the last set of performance tires and they fit the bill on a larger side wall and had the rubber width you wanted i would like to know the brand name as i will give them a try next time possibly. at 30k klicks that is about 4 or 5 yrs of driving for the amount of km's i put on the chevelle with the big hp motor and i would be into my 2nd set of tires. i can count the number of times on one hand with a couple of fingers left over for the amount of times i have been caught in the rain and i put slicks on for the couple of times a year i might go to the track. it's probably more of a personal choice thingy.

shag766 · Foxboro On Rod-side Member

Junior wrote:
Marten wrote:
So I am looking for some tires and rims. I would like to have about 12" or more width of tire for the back but because of the stiff suspension was looking for something with more sidewall to absorb the bumps. Was doing this and got a phone call. We talked and I said what I was doing. Told him I was looking for a more traditional look instead of the rubber band look that lots of the wide tires have. All I could find were street drag radials. To which his response was "your not building a traditional rod why start with the tires" One for this guy, so looking and found what I thought would work after this conversation. Next morning I am back at it and my son comes in and asks what I am looking at. Told him the same thing. He looks at me and says "how much do you plan to drive it? I got 30,000 km out of my last set of performance tires. Crap now back to thinking about DOT approved drag radials.
OK so that is the end of my funny story. So now it becomes an opinion question. Wide is a given, street/drag radials (325/45 R17) giving me the side wall I would like or taller rims and tires (345/35 R19), less sidewall. No wrong answers here. If you have had the drag tires on the street what kind of life do they have? That may become the factor. Clearly cost is a factor as well.
Found a web site www.tiresize.com that has a good visual thing on there site to compare two sizes.
Marten, I had drag radials on my previous car 66' SD Acadian. This was /still is a backhalfed -4 link car.When I got it , it had 13.5 wide ,31" tall -15" Mikey Thompson bias belted tires. The drag radials were great- provided it was DRY. Not for the road when wet from my experience and life was short as they are soft. I only drove it to Sparta and back for weekend duties and made two passes in the four years I had that car. I re -cut them after the 2nd year. Yeah , I have a tire re grooving iron.
junior

that's old school jr with the tire iron, good for you. most youngen's today would think you had a 3rd eye bringing that up in conversation. lol. last time i seen that done was the mud truck guys way back when and way-way back when i have seen it done on drive tires on hiway tractor trailers. of course that was before radial's and there was still enough rubber depth to get-r-done.

Beans · Courtice On Rod-Side Member Pin Striper

Diamond back makes some pretty cool tires in white walls... some drag radials. I'm a fan of white walls on these trucks - not sure if that's your thing or if the wheel choice would suit.

www.dbtires.com/2017_catalog/2017_Catalog_Hi.pdf

Marten · Kemptville Ont Carpenter/Renovations

shag766 wrote:
i am in agreement with you on this topic marten but for a different reason pertaining to a wider tire. i just don't like the look of what you call the rubber band look and that is a personal choice. i was contemplating using drag radials a couple of sets of tires ago but settled on something again, that compared to the 60 series of years gone by. a little less rubber width but i was styling in my mind compared to the tuner look which i just don't prefer the look of. if you got 30,000km on the last set of performance tires and they fit the bill on a larger side wall and had the rubber width you wanted i would like to know the brand name as i will give them a try next time possibly. at 30k klicks that is about 4 or 5 yrs of driving for the amount of km's i put on the chevelle with the big hp motor and i would be into my 2nd set of tires. i can count the number of times on one hand with a couple of fingers left over for the amount of times i have been caught in the rain and i put slicks on for the couple of times a year i might go to the track. it's probably more of a personal choice thingy.

The tires were on my sons DD. They were Michelin Pilot Super Sports. He liked them but the car at that time was a Chevy Cobalt so over tired for sure. I am going to go back to the drawing board for this one. There will have to be a compromise made. Less width, more side wall or more width and less side wall. Right now this is for pricing purposes only but would like to get at least the back ones so I can look at making the rear fenders wider.