I was just wondering what tires and size everyone is running on their cars? Mine is a driver built Jan 6 1969. Currently it has BF Goodrich 235 60 15's. I'm just wondering if I should go with a smaller tire since it doesn't have the big spindles?
Dan
I like that size....
Quote from: Dan353 on April 27, 2019, 02:21:04 PM
I was just wondering what tires and size everyone is running on their cars? Mine is a driver built Jan 6 1969. Currently it has BF Goodrich 235 60 15's. I'm just wondering if I should go with a smaller tire since it doesn't have the big spindles?
Dan
Although smaller suspension spindles I have not heard of a issue on any Mustang/Shelby over the many years outside of what Ford reported back in the day. If they don't rub keepem IMO . ;) Just my observations . Others may have different.
I'm not sure where or why Ford determined the spindles were too small. I agree with Bob that I have never even heard of spindle failure.
I will go further and say that the Trans Am race cars all used the small spindles until the bigger ones appeared. Then a natural migration to them occurred.
In addition, the Panteras used much of the Mustang front suspension dimensions such as spindle size.
They only had one spindle size. The small one and went to a significantly larger wheel, 10" x15" and a 295-50-15 race tire (in todays sizes) on the front of the Group 4 race cars. Apparently they never felt it necessary to go bigger even for race dependability?
I don't think you need to worry much about what size tire to put on the front at all. Just do it.
Hello
Take a look in The Shelby american magazine 46 on page 65,there is a story about a 69 Shelby with a spindle snap.The story does not say about any tire size,big ore small suspension.
Regards
Tor
What is the date of #46?
I'm running 235-60-15s on a large spindle car. If you are not auto crossing it I suspect you won't have any problems. you should see the size tires people are putting on reg 69-70 Mustangs these days with stock suspensions. SMH. Gary
Quote from: shelbymann1970 on April 28, 2019, 09:33:28 AM
I'm running 235-60-15s on a large spindle car. If you are not auto crossing it I suspect you won't have any problems. you should see the size tires people are putting on reg 69-70 Mustangs these days with stock suspensions. SMH. Gary
I think the criteria really is that you need the stickiness of a full race tire and need to worry about hitting a curb at say 100mph to have a spindle issue.
I too am running 235-60-15 tires on big spindles. Unless there is a quality of the forging, there is no issue there. On street tires, I don't even see an issue with the small spindle.
There are other items that will break before the spindle does. Lug studs for one.
The days of anyone running a rock hard bias ply tire hard are long gone. A radial tire alone is going to reduce the shock to the spindle. The spindle is going to bend before it snaps. That's as long as someone hasn't put it through a hardening process and tempered it. That would be an issue since then it could snap rather then bend.
The date is 1984 shelbydoug
Tor
Quote from: shelbydoug on April 28, 2019, 07:27:54 AM
What is the date of #46?
I also have 235 60 15 and like them. The only issue I have is my speedometer is 3 to 4 mph too fast with that tire size.
Quote from: 69 GT350 Vert on April 28, 2019, 05:59:59 PM
I also have 235 60 15 and like them. The only issue I have is my speedometer is 3 to 4 mph too fast with that tire size.
What make tires? When I went shopping I went for the direct replacement but then again my car was a F-60-15 car. Back in 1986 when I put Goodyear STs on it 245-60-15s were the replacement size. Not all tire sizes are the same also from manufacturer to manufacturer. Found that out buying tires for my 68 Shelby(coming up with mismatched size as I went with 215-65-15s in the front and 255-60-15s in the rear). I have used waze to match my KPH to MPH. Waze is really accurate in seeing your MPH. Gary
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
Quote from: 427hunter on April 30, 2019, 01:52:50 AM
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
In your case " fine" is a relative term I suppose. ;) To the vast majority of those that have driven on both a different not as favorable term can be substituted. That is OK ,to each their own. :D
Quote from: Bob Gaines on April 30, 2019, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: 427hunter on April 30, 2019, 01:52:50 AM
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
In your case " fine" is a relative term I suppose. ;) To the vast majority of those that have driven on both a different not as favorable term can be substituted. That is OK ,to each their own. :D
;)
Quote from: shelbymann1970 on April 29, 2019, 05:09:44 AM
Quote from: 69 GT350 Vert on April 28, 2019, 05:59:59 PM
I also have 235 60 15 and like them. The only issue I have is my speedometer is 3 to 4 mph too fast with that tire size.
What make tires? When I went shopping I went for the direct replacement but then again my car was a F-60-15 car. Back in 1986 when I put Goodyear STs on it 245-60-15s were the replacement size. Not all tire sizes are the same also from manufacturer to manufacturer. Found that out buying tires for my 68 Shelby(coming up with mismatched size as I went with 215-65-15s in the front and 255-60-15s in the rear). I have used waze to match my KPH to MPH. Waze is really accurate in seeing your MPH. Gary
My current tires are 10 years old and need replaced due to age - I think. they are firestone firehawk indy 500s. I really like them, but are no longer available. The only 2 I can find in that size that are readily available on tirerack.com are the BF Goodrich and the Cooper Cobras. I am planning to purchase the Cooper Cobras sometime soon.
Quote from: Bob Gaines on April 30, 2019, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: 427hunter on April 30, 2019, 01:52:50 AM
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
In your case " fine" is a relative term I suppose. ;) To the vast majority of those that have driven on both a different not as favorable term can be substituted. That is OK ,to each their own. :D
If people are driving around on a worn out frontend or rock hard bias ply's I can see why they have had a bad experience with bias ply tires ::)
I have radials on my boss car and bias on my Shelby (to compare apples to apples - my other cars are not fords) and they don't drive any different if your front end and steering box are not worn out. If you have a beater (which my 70 b2 is) then radials are fine but on a restored car they don't look right, but BFG's are a lot cheaper..
Quote from: 427hunter on May 01, 2019, 02:44:41 AM
Quote from: Bob Gaines on April 30, 2019, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: 427hunter on April 30, 2019, 01:52:50 AM
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
In your case " fine" is a relative term I suppose. ;) To the vast majority of those that have driven on both a different not as favorable term can be substituted. That is OK ,to each their own. :D
If people are driving around on a worn out frontend or rock hard bias ply's I can see why they have had a bad experience with bias ply tires ::)
I have radials on my boss car and bias on my Shelby (to compare apples to apples - my other cars are not fords) and they don't drive any different if your front end and steering box are not worn out. If you have a beater (which my 70 b2 is) then radials are fine but on a restored car they don't look right, but BFG's are a lot cheaper..
Goodyear bias ply Polyglass tires are very popular cosmetically but functionally if not fully lethal, then semi-lethal. They simply are not capable of enabling these cars to be driven as intended.
Many of us here were driving on these things when new and they were never good even brand new. I was. I'm happy that I survived that era and those tires.
It's a free country and you are certainly free to do what you please. It's your car. Claiming that they are a competent tire won't get you much sympathy here. Many of us know better.
I suppose though that it is the current climate to debate what the meaning of any word actually is? The term alternative facts comes up a lot. I suppose that gets to the basis of even a word like yes. Does it mean yes or something else?
Some are wise enough to realize that the comment, "those that refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" has a very large degree of accuracy.
I put it more simply. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I won't be fooled by those tires again.
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 09:04:44 AM
Quote from: 427hunter on May 01, 2019, 02:44:41 AM
Quote from: Bob Gaines on April 30, 2019, 02:20:51 PM
Quote from: 427hunter on April 30, 2019, 01:52:50 AM
I have G60-15 polyglas on mine, they drive just fine on bias ply tires..
In your case " fine" is a relative term I suppose. ;) To the vast majority of those that have driven on both a different not as favorable term can be substituted. That is OK ,to each their own. :D
If people are driving around on a worn out frontend or rock hard bias ply's I can see why they have had a bad experience with bias ply tires ::)
I have radials on my boss car and bias on my Shelby (to compare apples to apples - my other cars are not fords) and they don't drive any different if your front end and steering box are not worn out. If you have a beater (which my 70 b2 is) then radials are fine but on a restored car they don't look right, but BFG's are a lot cheaper..
Goodyear bias ply Polyglass tires are very popular cosmetically but functionally if not fully lethal, then semi-lethal. They simply are not capable of enabling these cars to be driven as intended.
Many of us here were driving on these things when new and they were never good even brand new. I was. I'm happy that I survived that era and those tires.
It's a free country and you are certainly free to do what you please. It's your car. Claiming that they are a competent tire won't get you much sympathy here. Many of us know better.
I suppose though that it is the current climate to debate what the meaning of any word actually is? The term alternative facts comes up a lot. I suppose that gets to the basis of even a word like yes. Does it mean yes or something else?
Some are wise enough to realize that the comment, "those that refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" has a very large degree of accuracy.
I put it more simply. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I won't be fooled by those tires again.
"functionally if not fully lethal, then semi-lethal" please explain this one :) I know people love to be dramatic but this is a little :o
Sure. They rebound terribly from imperfections in the road. You can not safely drive them in the rain. Wet pavement is like driving on snow.
The sidewalls are only 2 ply and tend to develop separations in the walls that can be observed as bubbles or more closely resembling lymphnoma swelling in the glands of the throat.
Their ride hardness contributes to a lengthening of braking distances.
As far as practicality, they are done by 8,000 to 10,000 miles.
Considering how expensive the reproductions are, Avons with the GOODYEAR lettering applied to the walls is a much better solution.
They were no doubt a sales success at selling "high performance" tires to the public then and Shelby was a Goodyear tire distributor so had special interest in promoting them as well.
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 12:15:35 PM
Sure. They rebound terribly from imperfections in the road. You can not safely drive them in the rain. Wet pavement is like driving on snow.
The sidewalls are only 2 ply and tend to develop separations in the walls that can be observed as bubbles or more closely resembling lymphnoma swelling in the glands of the throat.
Their ride hardness contributes to a lengthening of braking distances.
As far as practicality, they are done by 8,000 to 10,000 miles.
Considering how expensive the reproductions are, Avons with the GOODYEAR lettering applied to the walls is a much better solution.
They were no doubt a sales success at selling "high performance" tires to the public then and Shelby was a Goodyear tire distributor so had special interest in promoting them as well.
IMO, one of the only good things to be said about any 1960s "high performance" bias ply street tire is that they were better than the crappy 1950s tires, 1940s tires, 1930s, tires, et al. At least you could (usually) take a new Polyglas up to a sustained 100 mph without pieces of the tread coming apart and flying off.
That said, it does look cool to have the correct vintage tires on a correct vintage car.
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 12:15:35 PM
Sure. They rebound terribly from imperfections in the road. You can not safely drive them in the rain. Wet pavement is like driving on snow.
The sidewalls are only 2 ply and tend to develop separations in the walls that can be observed as bubbles or more closely resembling lymphnoma swelling in the glands of the throat.
Their ride hardness contributes to a lengthening of braking distances.
As far as practicality, they are done by 8,000 to 10,000 miles.
Considering how expensive the reproductions are, Avons with the GOODYEAR lettering applied to the walls is a much better solution.
They were no doubt a sales success at selling "high performance" tires to the public then and Shelby was a Goodyear tire distributor so had special interest in promoting them as well.
First off my biggest issue with radial tires today is they don't last because of the recycled rubber that they use. This recycled compound causes them to crack, flat spot and throw belts. I bought a reproduction set of f60's in 2002 and they are still soft and black with no cracking because they are rubber not recycled material. Radials turn brown and fall apart about every 5 years. If your going to be driving in the rain old radials are just as bad as old bias. I get you don't like the tires but you are a little over the top with your rhetoric.
My 66 vette has bias on it and my 70 z28 has radials and they both don't drive that well. It's not because of the tires, it's because the steering boxes on both car have almost 100,000 miles on them, and I have older hard radial Dunlop tires on the z28 - which obviously doesn't help. Three of my Plymouth's have radials on them one has bias, they all drive about the same. My two fords as I stated above drive about the same. It's more about suspension, steering box, and alignment then tire today IMO. If this was 1985 I would agree with you. The first thing I did back then was ditch old bias tires and throw radial's on the car. In 2019 for a car I drive in fair weather and to shows, I will take bias over radials any day because they last longer and stay black.
Quote from: 427hunter on May 01, 2019, 01:16:58 PM
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 12:15:35 PM
Sure. They rebound terribly from imperfections in the road. You can not safely drive them in the rain. Wet pavement is like driving on snow.
The sidewalls are only 2 ply and tend to develop separations in the walls that can be observed as bubbles or more closely resembling lymphnoma swelling in the glands of the throat.
Their ride hardness contributes to a lengthening of braking distances.
As far as practicality, they are done by 8,000 to 10,000 miles.
Considering how expensive the reproductions are, Avons with the GOODYEAR lettering applied to the walls is a much better solution.
They were no doubt a sales success at selling "high performance" tires to the public then and Shelby was a Goodyear tire distributor so had special interest in promoting them as well.
First off my biggest issue with radial tires today is they don't last because of the recycled rubber that they use. This recycled compound causes them to crack, flat spot and throw belts. I bought a reproduction set of f60's in 2002 and they are still soft and black with no cracking because they are rubber not recycled material. Radials turn brown and fall apart about every 5 years. If your going to be driving in the rain old radials are just as bad as old bias. I get you don't like the tires but you are a little over the top with your rhetoric.
My 66 vette has bias on it and my 70 z28 has radials and they both don't drive that well. It's not because of the tires, it's because the steering boxes on both car have almost 100,000 miles on them, and I have older hard radial Dunlop tires on the z28 - which obviously doesn't help. Three of my Plymouth's have radials on them one has bias, they all drive about the same. My two fords as I stated above drive about the same. It's more about suspension, steering box, and alignment then tire today IMO. If this was 1985 I would agree with you. The first thing I did back then was ditch old bias tires and throw radial's on the car. In 2019 for a car I drive in fair weather and to shows, I will take bias over radials any day because they last longer and stay black.
It's not rhetoric. It is my opinion, yes.
If you don't like other opinions that's fine, but don't ask for them.
Make your own discoveries and mistakes.
You can't please everyone so you've got to please yourself. Enough from me. I don't know nuthin'. ;)
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 02:40:57 PM
Quote from: 427hunter on May 01, 2019, 01:16:58 PM
Quote from: shelbydoug on May 01, 2019, 12:15:35 PM
Sure. They rebound terribly from imperfections in the road. You can not safely drive them in the rain. Wet pavement is like driving on snow.
The sidewalls are only 2 ply and tend to develop separations in the walls that can be observed as bubbles or more closely resembling lymphnoma swelling in the glands of the throat.
Their ride hardness contributes to a lengthening of braking distances.
As far as practicality, they are done by 8,000 to 10,000 miles.
Considering how expensive the reproductions are, Avons with the GOODYEAR lettering applied to the walls is a much better solution.
They were no doubt a sales success at selling "high performance" tires to the public then and Shelby was a Goodyear tire distributor so had special interest in promoting them as well.
First off my biggest issue with radial tires today is they don't last because of the recycled rubber that they use. This recycled compound causes them to crack, flat spot and throw belts. I bought a reproduction set of f60's in 2002 and they are still soft and black with no cracking because they are rubber not recycled material. Radials turn brown and fall apart about every 5 years. If your going to be driving in the rain old radials are just as bad as old bias. I get you don't like the tires but you are a little over the top with your rhetoric.
My 66 vette has bias on it and my 70 z28 has radials and they both don't drive that well. It's not because of the tires, it's because the steering boxes on both car have almost 100,000 miles on them, and I have older hard radial Dunlop tires on the z28 - which obviously doesn't help. Three of my Plymouth's have radials on them one has bias, they all drive about the same. My two fords as I stated above drive about the same. It's more about suspension, steering box, and alignment then tire today IMO. If this was 1985 I would agree with you. The first thing I did back then was ditch old bias tires and throw radial's on the car. In 2019 for a car I drive in fair weather and to shows, I will take bias over radials any day because they last longer and stay black.
It's not rhetoric. It is my opinion, yes.
If you don't like other opinions that's fine, but don't ask for them.
Make your own discoveries and mistakes.
You can't please everyone so you've got to please yourself. Enough from me. I don't know nuthin'. ;)
When did I ask for your opinion? I was responding to the guys question just like you..
I had a fully restored-new suspension, shocks, etc on a 428 CJ 69 Mach1. I had F-70-14s on it. I can tell you first hand that they would catch every line/crack in the road and move with it. VERY different than radials I have had on my other restored cars. Non radials are for Show trailered cars for me and I'll stick to my radials on cars I drive on roads-especially here in Mi.
(https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/w61/shelbymann/01%20my%20old%20mustangs/69Mach1.jpg) (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/shelbymann/p/cd2f94f4-1513-462b-88d7-abd941c7e9ff)
definitely if its driven + 1
Quote from: shelbymann1970 on May 02, 2019, 09:35:03 AM
I had a fully restored-new suspension, shocks, etc on a 428 CJ 69 Mach1. I had F-70-14s on it. I can tell you first hand that they would catch every line/crack in the road and move with it. VERY different than radials I have had on my other restored cars. Non radials are for Show trailered cars for me and I'll stick to my radials on cars I drive on roads-especially here in Mi.
(https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/w61/shelbymann/01%20my%20old%20mustangs/69Mach1.jpg) (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/shelbymann/p/cd2f94f4-1513-462b-88d7-abd941c7e9ff)
I drive my cars all the time it's funny that you guys are so emotional over this issue... Maybe this was a micro aggression on my part and I invaded the radial tire safe space ;)