Need advice on tyres

[Fraze]

I am about to buy tyres for my FB ute (standard rims/wheels) and need advice on the best tyres to use .

On my FC sedan I am running Maxxis 185/70x13 and find that at low speed the steering is very heavy and at cruising speed it wanders a bit so i don't want a repeat of that. I am running 35 psi (any less and it is impossible) and yes alignment, castor and camber have all been checked as within spec.

WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OUT THERE?   Thanks, Fraze.

[Fraze]

Further to my post re tyres for my FB ute, what is the concensus - Radial or crossply. I would be very interested in your experience. Thanks, Fraze

[Harv]

How much slop is in the steering box and linkages?

When I first bought the FB, it had a lot of slop. Ever see the way kids pretend to drive, holding an imaginary steering wheel and turning it back and forth each way as they make brrrmmm noises? Thats what mine was like at freeway speed... very wandery. There was a little slop that came out from adjustment, but still not ideal. After a box rebuild it now drives a hell of a lot tighter.

Cheers,
Harv

[ardiesse]

Fraze,

You're running the same size tyres on your FC as I am on mine.
The steering shouldn't be overly heavy.  If you jack the front of the car up, it should be possible for you to grab a front wheel and turn the steering from lock to lock.
Wandery steering at speed is made worse by an over-tight steering box.  How well does the steering self-centre?
Are your king pins loose?
The higher the caster angle, the greater the self-centring tendency of the steering, and the higher the steering effort.  It's  a trade-off.
And if you have toe-out instead of toe-in, your car will wander.
(Toe-in needs to be set with the car in the same attitude as it drives: jack the front wheels up, put a chalk line on both as they rotate, put the car down, roll it forward about six feet or so with the steering set straight ahead.  Measure the distance between the chalk lines at the front and rear.  The difference is the toe-in.  About 1/8" is good.)

Rob

[Fraze]

Thanks for the input Harv and Rob. The steering box in the FC is worn without doubt but not too bad. If I try to ad just out the slop it just gets heavier. I can easily rotate it from lock to lock with the front jacked up with no binding. Caster and camber have been checked several times and are within spec. I am running zero toe so probably I should experiment in that area. I have a toe gauge. Kingpins were replaced only a few thousand miles ago, and they are not over tight. Before I put the Maxxis tyres on, the steering weight was quite acceptable and it didn’t wander at speed. I forget what brand the original tyres were but they were (elderly) radials. This gets me back to my main question re type/ brand of tyres to put on the Ute. Cheers, Fraze.

[Ken's 57]

Hi Fraze. I fitted Kumho 185 80 R13 steel radials to my FE a few years back. They are very close to the original profile and look right which I was keen to achieve. They have been great and I can recommend them. Only thing was that they had a thin white wall which I did not want so I simply reversed them on the rim.
Cheers, Ken

[zulu]

Fraze
I am running 185 80's on 3 of my cars with no probs, it might be that you are running 185 70's? which are not as close to the rolling diameter as the original tyres

Also, have you checked your drag link? these are fairly straight forward to put a new kit through   

Like Ken I reversed my radials as well so that the whitewall was on the inside, cleaned the blue wax off the whitewalls and painted over the ribbon whitwall with tyre black, that way you have a close to original look with the benefit of radials

i do have the other cars with cross ply's but its a bit of a lottery, as 2 of them have a tendancy to run square, but ok after a mile or 2

[Dr_Terry]

Radials if you want to drive the car & cross-plies if you want to park it.

Seriously though, radials are much better on the road, cross-plies have far less grip & 'tram-track' to a far worse extent.

Having said that, make sure you purchase the same profile as the original 6.40 x 13 tyres, otherwise your gearing will suffer. You see so many early Holdens with 60 or 70 series radials fitted with reduced overall diameter & therefore reduced final drive gear ratio. This leads to reduced cruising speed, worse petrol economy & over-revving at highway speeds.

If you look around you can find 75 & 80 profile radials which have the same rolling diameter as the original cross-plies & also look the part.

Dr Terry

[Errol62]

The larger diameter tyres will also give a more comfortable ride over bumpy surfaces in particular


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[Ken's 57]

Hi Fraze. My FE had cross ply tyres when I first bought it. Handling was not good so I went to the 185 80 R13 steel radials rather quickly. Never regretted it. Definite improvement and still looks original 
Cheers, Ken