Radial or Bias

[Giffer]

im looking at picking up a new set of tires here for spring. im looking at some interco/ superswamper irok's. now im just wondering about what other people think, here so would you go with a radial or a bias tire??

[rainemaker]

well good timing  I just finished installing my bias ply 36x13.50 iroks and I am totally a bias person but I can tell you I have had a way harder time balancing bias over radial, I am using bb's (6-8 oz per tire)and I don't know if it would be any better with a radial but I have got them pretty balanced now. I never knew that swampers can flat spot while sitting so at first they are a little shaky but once they warm up the flat spots go away and the ride smooths out. I have only had mine a week so I am no expert but research is the only way to go so I hope I helped a little,have fun eh.

[SwampSinger]

if you use your vehicle as a daily driver.... go radial... if not ...bias ply all the way.


I run both... I have 37" bias ply for the trail & because I drive my heep to work everyday ... i run 35" radial in the road.

I couldn't balance the 37" for life of me... and I was getting crazy death wabble. I had no choice to get another set of tires for the daily driving.


hope that helps

[cotaman]

Dom.... that wasn't crazy death wobble..... that was DEADLY death wobble

[calltrex]

i got 37" radial iroks

love them.. and there lighter then most tires

Drove all the way to Moab and back no problem...

[Gearhead]

36 / 13.50" - 15"   bias ply Iroc's , no attempt has been made at balancing them .
These are on 15" x 10" beadlocks so I can air WAAAY down.

Great tire , I haven't tested them in mud yet , just winter conditions.

Yup , they flat spot overnight , and shake a bit , a very slight shimmy but nothing scary. I knew all of this before buying so  have no buyer remorse.

[cLAY]

I've got 36X13.5 16" IROKS bias ply. Fiest time I went out on the highway with them I thought I had a bad u-joint! I actually pulled over and checked the rear shaft. On the way back(I turned around at that point) and part way back it disappeared. After thinking on it a bit I realized it was the flat spot in the tires.

Balancing bias ply with weights is useless for this reason. I use about 9oz of BBs. A small scale and a package of stainless steel bbs cost me under $20 at Walmart. Works great.

I've noticed that even when aired down the bias don't bulge much and in Moab I hit a boulder doing about 50km/h. The impact DESTROYED the rim and shoved the control arm back into unibody hard enough to push the lower control arm mount half way up into the unibody. Tire was fine, I'm still using it.

As said if you are going to DD it then spend the extra and get the radials otherwise get whatever is cheaper.

[hps4evr]

the bias ply design will be stronger offroad, and aired down should work better. but the radial on the street will be way more comfortable and will let you have some handling ability.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-TSLs/
this is a link to a wicked good description of bias ply, radial ply, and a whole lot of other tire tech that most people dont know and dont need to know.