What are people using for front runners now?

Apparently gone are the days of heading off to Pep boys and grabbing a set of their store brand futura or cornel metric 165 15 tires for $25. They claim that they’re still in the computer but they don’t exist in real life… I tried merchants, goodyear, tirerack, discount tire direct…. A bunch of them list a kumho tire that is out of stock everywhere (they goodyear said that they _might_ still have some in Fl somewhere and can get them shipped up here for $30/tire plus whatever they cost). Apparently there is even a new kumho that lists that size but again, no one has any in stock.

I am leaning towards a set of street radials… yes, they’re slightly heavier and something 26-26.5” tall would fit/look better (added to the better roll out) then the typical 25.4” tall radial, but I sort of intend to keep some of the better radial stickies on the back of the car and the fact is that they will see street miles (I don’t trailer the car to the track, and I can bring myself to swapping slicks at the track, but front runners just seems like a waste of time).

I’ve stayed away from “real” front runners mostly because of questions about durability (do they last at least as long as the normal radials, which seem to last till the sidewalls get too cracked…), wondering if they will cause the radial/bias ply wobble with radials on the back, and well, price (usually about 3x what a set of 165.15’s run)? For those of you that run them, any opinions on them? Which are best? What sizes do you like on your f-body?

 

Mythbusters needs to do a show on automotive myths.

Having bias on the front and radials on the back will not affect handling. A bias will behave differently than a radial but would have the same differences as converting from 4 radials to 4 bias tires. Having a bias on one side and a radial on the other is a different story.

Another myth that needs to be put to rest is how a battery will go dead if it's left stored on concrete. If I took the time, I could probably come up with a few more automotive myths.

I haven't bought a pair of 165R15's in many years. You'll probably not going find the bias version but the radial should still be around. There's still old Volkswagens driving around that use these tires. Only a good tire parts man will know how to find it since there's no ratio number. Technically, they're around an 80 ratio so a more modern metric number would be 165/80R15.

The drag front runners are not street legal. They'll also wear out as quickly as a set of slicks if driven on the street.

 

I used a 205-75-15 its 27" tall I use 28" and 30" drag radials in the back.

 

195/75R15 would work as well. I'm running M/T sportman pros in 28x7.50,but they also make a 26x7.50 IIRC and have excellent street manners. They are bias ply though, but not like you can go road racing with a skinny, so I don't see there being a handling issue if you respect the vehicle's abilities.

 

Goodyear does list them as 165/80-15, but I believe that originally the tires without a ratio on them were 78 ratio.

Stephan, I’ve never tried bias on the front and radial on the back, but I have done the other way, radial on the front and bias on the back (for a long time I ran “stock” 215/65/15’s as skinnies on the front and McCreary dirt track tires or other bias plies on the back on a set of stock firebird rims for drag racing as well as the more traditional 165-15/slick combination and bias ply tires as well as assorted road race tires in both constructions have very different side wall stiffness so going over ruts and bumps you can have situations where one goes to the left and the other to the right causing a rather dramatic handing weirdness. As far as the battery, it won’t happen with a clean battery, but one that has had some electrolyte spilled on it will eventually go dead.
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I’ve always thought that a 185/75-15 would actually be the perfect front runner since it would be right around 26” tall, but I’m not sure if you could run a 185 – 195 on a typical 15x3.5” front wheel anyway, even if you did find one.

Those of you running 195’s or 205’s, what size wheels are you running them on?

 

i run the m/t 26 x 7.5 and they are bias ply, and even at 145 it doesnt do any thing weird no vibration at all, they are a dot tire but i dont drive it on the street so i cant honestly tell you about the wear, tales a few passes to wear out front tires at the track lol

 

28x7.50 on 15x4 rims, I would imagine the 195 would want a 15x4 or a 15x5 at least as well.