Radial ply tyres

• Thursday, 8 November 2007
• Allan Horne
• 0 Comments

In a previous item you suggested improving road holding on a 1960s Bedford by fitting radial ply tyres. A friend of mine that used to run these vans tells me that this will lead to extra wear and tear on the steering, as they were designed for cross-ply tyres. Is this true?
David Goode, by e-mail

ALLAN SAYS
Your friend is quite correct, as I think I made clear, but modern driving conditions call for updated vehicles. If the Bedford CA was being used as a commercial vehicle covering tens of thousand miles a year on daily deliveries, this would be a problem, but in my experience, most of these historic vehicles travel two or three thousand miles each year, so the increased strain will not be a problem.

If the tyres are kept at the correct pressure, and the steering is greased every three thousand miles as advised in the handbook, the safety advantage far outweighs any extra wear and tear. In the same way, these vehicles never needed the fitting of a brake servo, but in the year 2007 it is a worthy modification.