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BN6 Wheel/Tire Combo

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Jerry said:
John needs 72s because he drives fast !
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Well, it looks fast sitting still...I was surprised by the number of Healey's I looked at still running the 48's....obviously for normal driving and not too sticky tires there are not burning wrecks piled up everywhere.
 
prb51 said:
Well, it looks fast sitting still...I was surprised by the number of Healeys I looked at still running the 48's....obviously for normal driving and not too sticky tires there are not burning wrecks piled up everywhere.
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Funny thing about that. Some people report never having experienced any problem with 48s or even knowing anyone who has, and others claim that Healeys with 48s are constantly self-destructing on tours and such.

I've driven wire wheel-equipped cars for 50 years and never had any such problem with any wire wheel (other than two times when they departed company with the car, but those weren't "spoke issues"), and never been around when anyone else did. But like most Healey owners, I don't drive mine so hard as to challenge the spokes.
 
One should consider that when changing the size of the tire, it may affect the accuracy of the speedometer.

I agree from what is written that radial tires perform better and are safer because of the design. However I don't think your taking your life in your hands if you choose to go with bias. Back in the day when there was only bias, people weren't paranoid about it. I believe you get use to what you have. Understand that when your car has bias vs radial; drive accordingly.

Example I have the banjo steering wheel. It's big, thin, vibrates. Replacements of smaller diameter, stronger, thicker steering wheels absorb some of the vibration and instill a more confident feel. To me the original provides a more accurate feeling of what people felt back in the days. You get used to what you're driving and drive accordingly.
 
AUSMHLY said:
One should consider that when changing the size of the tire, it may affect the accuracy of the speedometer.

I agree from what is written that radial tires perform better and are safer because of the design. However I don't think your taking your life in your hands if you choose to go with bias. Back in the day when there was only bias, people weren't paranoid about it. I believe you get use to what you have. Understand that when your car has bias vs radial; drive accordingly.

Example I have the banjo steering wheel. It's big, thin, vibrates. Replacements of smaller diameter, stronger, thicker steering wheels absorb some of the vibration and instill a more confident feel. To me the original provides a more accurate feeling of what people felt back in the days. You get used to what you're driving and drive accordingly.
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I've run bias ply on a hot rod and they work fine...they just follow any road irregularity and if on a highway with purpose applied rain grooves they just go all over the place following the grooves. One needed to have that 17 incher for slow turns and for what I just described...it made the corrections a smaller movement. OTOH, where I live folks drive 'fast' as a rule, country 2 lanes and local 4 lanes and the avg. is 75 mph.
I will have to go with some modern upgrades for the speed and the heat (xtra fan).
 
To get a bit of extra clearance and hopefully soften the ride, I installed 185 / 15 Vredesteins on my BT7. They fit nicely on my 5" 72 spoke wires, but the tired front shocks and springs led to rubbing the paint off the lip of one front wing. After having the shocks rebuilt (Worldwide) and new springs, the car has a nice stance and improved ride over the 165 / 15 tires I had on before.
 
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