Bias and Radial

[justinshere]

This might seem like a stupid Q but ....
Whats the difference between Bias and Radial when i comes to tires?

Thanks

[ISUZUROVER]

Cross-Ply (also called bias ply) tyres are made of nylon cords/textile fibres that run diagonally across the tread of the tire.

Radial tyres are have radial nylon cords (right angle to the tyre rotation), and usually also have steel belts.

For road use, radial tyres have better or more predictable handling/cornering. Cross-ply tyres can squirm around more under hard cornering. Cross-plys are generally tougher though, and harder to damage offroad.

[chops]

can run lower pressures (10psi) in bias tyres too with less worry about damaging sidewall

[Big Red Toy]

BIAS for offroad






radial for on road

[ISUZUROVER]

can run lower pressures (10psi) in bias tyres too with less worry about damaging sidewall

You normally need to run lower pressures in a bias ply to get them to flex properly. I run 8-9 psi in my (radial) MTRs and I have never had sidewall problems or lost a bead. Many Michelin offroad radials are extremely strong, and some of them even have steel belts in the sidewall.

Cross-plys are slowly dying out, and apart from large-sized offroad tyres or trucking/mining tyres they are getting harder to find.