tires

[Bobm90]

This is a topic that has probably been written about a dozen of more times, I did a search for answers before posting this and my feeble mind couldn't find what I am looking for so here goes. My 54 Manhattan handles VERY poorly, the large part of the problem I believe is the tires so I am going to start there, the tires that came on the car have lots of tread so I don't think they have 54,000 miles as does the car. I tightened the steering box and checked all I could in the front end doesn't look like any problems there so the bumping, darting and wandering (when I make a turn at 10 MPH it sounds like I ran over someone's cat) is being blamed on the tires. I used Cooper Trendsetters (radial) on my 58 Chevy and they are great so I want them on the Kaiser, the conversion tables I have found are telling me I need 215/70R15 so that's where I want to start but before I buy if you guys have any feed back on this idea I would appreciate it, Thanks.

[FleetMaster]

Did you check the condition of the idler/center link and adjust the tension to the proper pull?  If this is loose or worn it will contribute to wander.  Really sounds like a worn tie rod end to me.  Air pressure good in both tires?  Just making sure you looked over all of the basics when you inspected the front end.  Tires may have good tread but if tehy were alwasy steering tires they may have worn shoulders and be more prone to wander... did you rotate back to front or side to side?  WHeel bearings propely adjusted...

[joefrazer]

Without power steering, radial tires can increase turning effort at slow speeds. Conversely, they virtually eliminate road wander typically experienced when using bi9as ply tires.

I had radials on both my 54 Aero Eagle Custom and my 53 Manhattan and while I appreciated the better ride, I eventually switched back to bias ply on both cars.

[Bobm90]

Thanks guys for the reply, I didn't check the center link but I will give that a look if  I can, the directions are in the shop manual, I did check the tie rod ends and king pins, all seems good there I repacked the front wheel bearings and tightened them down correctly when I replaced the brake shoes. The tires on the car are suffering from dry rot and cracking, I plan to use the car as a driver and think it safer to replace them, I know Joe is correct slow speed steering will be a bear but I will sacrifice it for safety and being capable of staying in my own traffic lane , the size I now find is 205/75R15, that size seems to fit the specs of the old bias ply tires.