Somewhere along the line, between now and acquiring my van from my dad in 2016, I forgot to check the tire dates, and, what I thought were 11 year old tires were 19 and a 27 year old spare, being from 04 and 96, or maybe even 86, respectively.

I was on the way to Newport, some 130 miles, and had a belt go about 50 miles in. Pulled over, saw nothing, kept going, albeit slower. Noise became clanging some 50 miles later, pulled over, saw belt then, changed tire. The spare did what a 27 year old spare will do, which is blow up five miles later. Fortunately, I had 15 miles to go, and the tow company was right next to the motel. They picked me up, I did all the moving of the vehicle, and dropped me off at the shop. I walked to the motel across the street, and was back at 8am. We intended to replace the two bad tires, but we decided another tire was going*, so I bought 4 tires, 2 pairs, all same OD, and put the narrower ones up front. Kept the best road tire as a spare, and off I went to Newport, see other thread.

Car still has many problems, but rides a little better. Slightly more road noise now with new tread.

* If you look at the tire stack, you will see the dead spare on the left, the split belt underneath on the right, but a tire that was on the front that is cross section ROUND on top. I had no issue stopping with a violently blown back tire, but I do not want a front one going like that, which it about did. In case anyone cares, a tire failure at 50 mph sounds like a broken air line for 5 seconds, then a lot of **** hitting the fenderwell and a rough ride.

Van is ok, a couple paint scratches. I was more pissed than anything, but I had good tow and tire service right there, so it ended well.

 

Dang...that's probably the best case scenario for what could have been a terrible situation. Glad everyone is ok and no serious damage to the vehicle. When I was in the tire industry it was tough to get people to understand why you didn't run old tires no matter what the tread depth was. When I bought my 72 back in 2019 the tires still had nubs on them but when I ran the dates I found out they were from 1987 lol. Took them off and they were stiff as a rock.

 

Glad you are OK, and everything worked out in the end. Shortly after I bought my car, I had a 20-ish year old blow on the rear of my '68 4-4-2 the first time I drove it to/from work 40 miles away. Flat bed tow vehicle took me to the closest tire shop. They had exactly ONE 14" tire in stock. I bought it and limped home the other 30-odd miles. Bought a whole set of BFGs for the 15" SSII rims that were waiting in the garage.

 

I took a chance on some slightly dated tires on our travel trailer one trip. Got 30 miles away from the house and the tire separated and blew a 12” hole in the floor of the trailer. Put the spare on and drove home to the local tire shop. Gorilla taped up the hole while they replaced the tires and still had a good vacation. I never take a chance on tires after that.

 

Glad everyone is ok. Did you loose a hubcap?

 

John - Good write-up w/ images. Glad it turned out rather well.

 

Glad everything worked out for you, but I have to comment on this. AT my shop if the guys that mount new tires don't clean the white walls after mounting them I fire them....not really but I let them have it.

 

There was our NorCal Olds show this last Sunday, about 40 miles from me. Was going to go, and decided to check my tires, they are 13 years old, so I stayed home,. Was probably a good move. Trying to find new tire, without spending a lot as I don't drive much. Not easy buying new tires when the treads look like new. Have the same problem with my wife's car, only 18K on the tires but are 7 years old.

 

No, I put it on the spare, but took it off after failure. The Ford hubcap is a really good one. Stays securely, but removable and installable by hand.

I was helping the guy and we were moving. I broke them loose, and torqued them down, and moved hubcaps, and rolled tires and wheels, and moved jacks for the kid. Hard working man, I tipped him well.

My preferred method is tirerack.com and I take the tires and the rims with the old tires to a shop. This requires you jacking up the car and standing it while it waits. Many shops will only mount their own tires they bought, and they claim it is safety and liability, but it really is a markup money grab.

 

Glad it worked out OK for you. I really like that van. Very cool. When I was a kid my aunt had a music store and I grew up in the '72 Dodge van we used to move pianos and organs. That was a fun ride.

 

Old tires...never again