Hi Brian,
They were radial ply tires but they were not "steel" radial ply tires.
Gary Russell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Hollands" <bholland@hayes.ds.adp.com>
To: "Datsun Roadster Mailing list" <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 6:11 PM
Subject: RE: Tires
> That "Forgiving nature" is a result of bias ply construction. The bias
ply
> tires tend to have a more convex shape to the contact patch than do
radials.
> Bias ply's will sort of roll a bit towards their sidewall before losing
grip
> thus giving you a lot of warning before they break away. Radials are
> flatter and don't roll onto the sidewall as much (under normal
> circumstances) thus when the lose grip, they tend to do it all of a
sudden.
> That's an oversimplification but you get the idea. I remember back in the
> mid Eighties that one guy driving a Porsche 956 al Le Mans reported during
> qualifying that the car would dart about very suddenly going down the
220mph
> Mulsane straight. They traced the problem to the tires and to correct it
> increase the front tire pressure a couple of psi, which created more of a
> convex shape to the contact patch.
> Just a bit more of the useless trivia I've picked up over the years.
> Brian
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Shortly after buying my roadster in 1968 I changed to a set of Pirelli
rayon
> radials. They were not tubeless, you had to use a tube. I ran these tires
> with no problems untill they rotted with age. They were very forgiving.
The
> Michilins of that era had a reputation of breaking loose with very little
> chance of recovery.
> Gary Russell
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