TheSamba.com :: View topic - Opinions wanted on 15" Bias-Ply Tires for a Bus...

Mon May 07, 2012 12:26 pm

yeah bias have gone waaaay TF up. Thats the reason i went radial. I wanted bias but getting near 900 mounted and balanced.... not as good a deal as the radials.

Mon May 07, 2012 5:26 pm

The only thing keeping me from deciding which bias ply size to run is...

will any of these 6.70 tires fit behind the seat of my 60 SC properly for a spare? I know I could put a 6.40 there, but if I need to use it on the rear, they will be mismatched and cause different gearing on each side

and.... someone mentioned 6.70's not fitting early rear wheel wells with big nut tranny?

Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:02 am

hello,
Do you have pictures of Goodyear 670-15 4 1/4"Whitewall and FIRESTONE 670-15 3 1/4" Whitewall on a bus just to look the style

thank you for your help

Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:22 am

I have the same problem on my 63 EZ,,, If I have a flat ,, I will switch the tires around so the smaller spare will only be put on the front, where there are no gears involved....
Going a few miles to get the flat fixed , shouldn't be a problem. Good luck,, Bob King, 63 EZ, Long Beach, Ca,,

Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:39 am

cab2276 wrote: hello,
Do you have pictures of Goodyear 670-15 4 1/4"Whitewall and FIRESTONE 670-15 3 1/4" Whitewall on a bus just to look the style

thank you for your help

I believe this Bus has the Firestone tires on it:

Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:06 am

rking6 wrote: I have the same problem on my 63 EZ,,, If I have a flat ,, I will switch the tires around so the smaller spare will only be put on the front, where there are no gears involved....
Going a few miles to get the flat fixed , shouldn't be a problem. Good luck,, Bob King, 63 EZ, Long Beach, Ca,,

good thing that the rear jackpoint allows you to pick up front and rear wheels at the same time, making front to back switches super easy :) not so dumb those engineers :)

Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:16 am

Has anyone ran the Michelin Defender XT's?

205/70 15 with 96t load rating...

Any thoughts?

Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:26 am

96t is perfectly fine as a load rating for a bus, 1565 pounds per tire, much better than those little beetle tires peeps put on.

Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:06 pm

Posting pictures for tire size reference.
Mounted on my 59 SC are bias ply BF Goodrich Silvertown 670.15

they are a little taller (about 1") then the stock size of 640.15

Scored on these almost new bias ply tires at OCTO just for garage rollers. I will probably switch back to stock size 640.15 when SC is back on the road.

Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:15 pm

I've just about worn out my Coker/Firestone 6.40-15's on my kombi after 20,000 miles.

Problem is, it will cost just shy of $750 to replace them.
That's $320 more than I paid for the last set.

Anybody find a vintage style bias ply to substitute?

Otherwise those Nexen SV820 radials for $480 delivered are sounding pretty good.

Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:21 pm

j.pickens wrote: I've just about worn out my Coker/Firestone 6.40-15's on my kombi after 20,000 miles.

Problem is, it will cost just shy of $750 to replace them.
That's $320 more than I paid for the last set.

Anybody find a vintage style bias ply to substitute?

Otherwise those Nexen SV820 radials for $480 delivered are sounding pretty good. 20k is not so good ; for 200 a tire coker needs to step that up; i was thinking of going this route in the near futire, but now i just don't know
how did the cokers hold up as far as any cracking? did they wear evenly?

Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:34 pm

StockNazi wrote: j.pickens wrote: I've just about worn out my Coker/Firestone 6.40-15's on my kombi after 20,000 miles.

Problem is, it will cost just shy of $750 to replace them.
That's $320 more than I paid for the last set.

Anybody find a vintage style bias ply to substitute?

Otherwise those Nexen SV820 radials for $480 delivered are sounding pretty good. 20k is not so good ; for 200 a tire coker needs to step that up; i was thinking of going this route in the near futire, but now i just don't know
how did the cokers hold up as far as any cracking? did they wear evenly?
20,000 seems reasonable to me. No cracking, pretty even wear. I should have rotated them, it's the fronts that are wearing more. I may just rotate them and go another 5000.

I'd definitely recommend the bias plys. You can't beat the look. But I'd really like to find a less expensive set.

Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:02 am

yeah, 20k on bias ply tires is just about what you get, radials do last longer. But they just don't look the same, and they certainly don't ride the same.

back home in germany i had a source for new bias ply tires from Barum, i worked for the importer for Europe.... in the 80s and 90s you could not give them away, even though they rode awesome

Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:52 pm

j.pickens wrote: I've just about worn out my Coker/Firestone 6.40-15's on my kombi after 20,000 miles.

Otherwise those Nexen SV820 radials for $480 delivered are sounding pretty good.

Are those light truck tires or passenger tires?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:25 pm

ritchiet002 wrote: j.pickens wrote: I've just about worn out my Coker/Firestone 6.40-15's on my kombi after 20,000 miles.

Otherwise those Nexen SV820 radials for $480 delivered are sounding pretty good.

Are those light truck tires or passenger tires?

d-rated 8 ply truck radials

Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:40 pm

The SV820's have been discontinued by Nexen.

Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:51 pm

srfndoc wrote: The SV820's have been discontinued by Nexen.

I called them today and found out the same info!

Do 215s rub on early "no lip" buses?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:55 pm

ritchiet002 wrote: srfndoc wrote: The SV820's have been discontinued by Nexen.

I called them today and found out the same info!

Do 215s rub on early "no lip" buses? i mounted some radial 215/75's on some bus rims a couple months ago; they fit; i don't think you could go any larger however

Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:51 am

StockNazi wrote: ritchiet002 wrote: srfndoc wrote: The SV820's have been discontinued by Nexen.

I called them today and found out the same info!

Do 215s rub on early "no lip" buses? i mounted some radial 215/75's on some bus rims a couple months ago; they fit; i don't think you could go any larger however

What year bus did put them on?

Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:44 am

EA57RHD wrote: Posting pictures for tire size reference.
Mounted on my 59 SC are bias ply BF Goodrich Silvertown 670.15

they are a little taller (about 1") then the stock size of 640.15

Scored on these almost new bias ply tires at OCTO just for garage rollers. I will probably switch back to stock size 640.15 when SC is back on the road.

Why change em? any smaller would look silly. :)
Those look amazing man.

Im jonesin to put 670s back on my bus. I like my radials but... that skinny tire just does it for me