Discussion
You'd probably need to be really useless to crash because of that - it used to be advised not to mix them but that was probably to dissuade people from only buying one or two radials instead of a full set.
Crossply tyres flexed differently but the majority of drivers would have been blissfully unaware of any difference in feel.
Crossply tyres flexed differently but the majority of drivers would have been blissfully unaware of any difference in feel.
There's a difference in lateral grip between crossplies and radials, having a mix of them on a car could make for some extremely interesting handling.
It's similar to if you had a mixture of good, premium tyres and really cheap and nasty ones.
In good, dry conditions, it likely wouldn't matter much to most drivers, and they'd never notice.
But in greasy/wet conditions and going round a roundabout or a bend that tightens more than you expected, or needing to stop in a hurry, it could well get you into trouble.
It's similar to if you had a mixture of good, premium tyres and really cheap and nasty ones.
In good, dry conditions, it likely wouldn't matter much to most drivers, and they'd never notice.
But in greasy/wet conditions and going round a roundabout or a bend that tightens more than you expected, or needing to stop in a hurry, it could well get you into trouble.
Tom8 said:
As a kid I remember the ads where some bloke crashed his Austin 1300 because he mixed "crossply"? and radial tires. Never really got that, what was it all about? Anyone else remember it?
Probably this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTue5HcdSW4
InitialDave said:
There's a difference in lateral grip between crossplies and radials, having a mix of them on a car could make for some extremely interesting handling.
It's similar to if you had a mixture of good, premium tyres and really cheap and nasty ones.
In good, dry conditions, it likely wouldn't matter much to most drivers, and they'd never notice.
But in greasy/wet conditions and going round a roundabout or a bend that tightens more than you expected, or needing to stop in a hurry, it could well get you into trouble.
This. It was good advice.It's similar to if you had a mixture of good, premium tyres and really cheap and nasty ones.
In good, dry conditions, it likely wouldn't matter much to most drivers, and they'd never notice.
But in greasy/wet conditions and going round a roundabout or a bend that tightens more than you expected, or needing to stop in a hurry, it could well get you into trouble.
The only counter argument is the cost. Beyond that it's obviously better to have matched brand, quality, age wear etc, let alone different construction type.
s m said:
caiss4 said:
And I thought this thread would be about an old person getting tired. I'll get my coat 
I have to ask Y?Was looking forward to several pages of classic PH heated debate, including a departure into the merits of winter and "summer" tyres, "ditchfinders" v premium brands (maybe a foray into part-worns?) etc.
But alas no, not today at least
Tom8 said:
As a kid I remember the ads where some bloke crashed his Austin 1300 because he mixed "crossply"? and radial tires. Never really got that, what was it all about? Anyone else remember it?
Different construction, so the tyres behave differently. Pretty obvious really, failing that try Google or Wiki. Loads of info available.As i recall, when the changeover from cross to radial ply was happening, the advice was if you mixed at all it was to put cross ply on the front and radials on the back, radials assumed to have the better grip.
I never had cross plies at all on my own cars, fitted and repaired a few including many lorry tyres which were still on split rims in those days, but by the mid 70's cross plies had all but disappeared.
Had US made tyres on a couple of the American cars i owned, whatever type or make they were they were utterly terrifying in anything other than perfect dry conditions and were replaced with european made tyres pronto.
There were some bias belted tyres around that time, if my memory serves weren't they fitted to high end stuff such as Bristols and Bentleys and possibly Astons?
Without googling one would expect bias belted to be a marriage between cross and radial plies, but hapy to be informed if anyone knows chapter and verse.
I never had cross plies at all on my own cars, fitted and repaired a few including many lorry tyres which were still on split rims in those days, but by the mid 70's cross plies had all but disappeared.
Had US made tyres on a couple of the American cars i owned, whatever type or make they were they were utterly terrifying in anything other than perfect dry conditions and were replaced with european made tyres pronto.
There were some bias belted tyres around that time, if my memory serves weren't they fitted to high end stuff such as Bristols and Bentleys and possibly Astons?
Without googling one would expect bias belted to be a marriage between cross and radial plies, but hapy to be informed if anyone knows chapter and verse.
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