jeffreyalman

I know this has been discussed but my uncle just sent me this and it's excellent

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

compedgemarine

commercial trucks rarely ever run tires past 6 or 7 years of age. interesting thing is that I have had blow outs, lost tread, etc on both front and rear in years past, several at well above highway speed and have not had a problem controlling the vehicle. unfortunately many of the accidents are the result of low air pressure causing sidewall failure and the fact that there is little to no driver training in this country to get a license. another factor to consider is that most of the tire treatments that make them shiney and pretty are terrible for the oils that naturally migrate from the inside out as the rubber moves.

Lady72nRob71

Been there done that learned my lesson (I hope...)
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...e-dilemma.html

Olds64

I need to replace the tires on my 71 98. They are too old. Currently, I only drive it in town.

svnt442

Ya know I saw this when it aired and I'm not convinced about all of this.
I worked for Super Shops in the early 90s and we got "take offs" from peoples cars all the time. I had my first 70 Cutlass then and was in need of some "better" rubber for it.
Well this guy with a 75 Corvette comes in for new tires because it was just time. The tires he had were from 1976 and looked to have about 90% of the tread left and NO DRY ROT. I was very shocked at this and I snagged all 4 for the Olds. They were 255/60/15s and I was not nice to them at all. I pretty much tortured them with a fresh 455.
I will say this for them they didn't have the best traction properties, but they never gave me one hint of failure. I checked them over regularly not only because I beat on them, but because I wanted to make sure they weren't going to all of the sudden show the dry rot that I had expected to see after 18 years.

Just me experience with some old tires. Take it with a grain of salt.

gearheads78

I have seen plenty of old tires in sevice with no issue and near new tires blow up. Almost all tire issues I have seen were do to inflation.

Me too 92-98 went from busting tires in the shop to managing several locations.

Lady72nRob71

I also agree. I have experienced more failures with new than with old.
I have experienced one blowout and one internal belt failure with old (>6 years old) tires over the period of 25 years.

I have experienced two no-reason sidewall bulges and one internal belt failure with one set of new cheap tires (3 in all) within 4 years.
ALL 4 of my 2 year old michelins on the Caddy are extremely crackled in the sidewalls.

So there are 3 failures and 4 defects within just 4 years....
The quality of tires must be going down hill fast...

BOOWAH

The Goodyear Eagle ST's on my 72 Cutlass are now 14 years old. I've put only 20k on them and the tread is still excellent with no sidewall bulges. Problem is that I can't replace them anymore...the're extinct! In fact, the "ST" seems to be the muscle car tire of choice and all of them now on the road(and there are many) are well over 6 years old!
The question is should I replace them with the new Firestone Indy 500 raised letter tires or go all out and buy the original repro Firestone or Goodyear Polyglass and pay double the price? I can't go any higher in AACA as I've won Senor Grand National, so all I can get is preservation anyway. Last year I drove to Seven Springs for the Nationals (300 highway miles) without a problem, but one could wipe me out!

jeffreyalman

I have used up too many of my 9 lives already

gearheads78

I have delt with 100's of tires with sidewall bulges and I can only remember one that I could not point out signs of impact damage or installation damage once opened up.

svnt442

I agree. Sidewall bulges are 99.9% caused by an impact. And it doens't have to be a crazy hard smack either, just a good pinch in a curb at the right angle and the tire is toast.

I was there from 91-94 and was an AM when I left. Kei (forgot his last name) was my DM. I have a lot of good memories from there for sure.
It went down hill after I left due to Harry announcing he was selling the place and a lot of the vendors pulled out.

gearheads78

The one any only time I even rode in a private jet was working there. Jeff Forsythe showed up one morning in my store in West TX and said lets go for a ride. I'm thinking where are we going in your rental car? Well it was to the airport. We hit 3-4 stores that day ended up in St Louis Manchester store where he wanted me to move up to and take over.



ASAP is what killed it. They had the market cornered on the local stuff but wanted to go after mail order too. They got their asses handed to them after investing millions. One thing for sure to this day. If I ever have to swap out a Unilite module again it will be too soon.

svnt442

LOL. I have a comp 9000 unilite in my 455 right now. I have never blown one (knock on wood).
I remember Jeff Forsythe (or the name at least). I'm pretty sure he came through Chicago at least once when I was there.
I worked at 4 stores in the Chicago area. Mt. Prospect (113), Mundelein (88), Chicago (can't remember) and Glendale Heights (90).

Lady72nRob71

I would have had two more!
One bulged within just a few months and one bulged a year later. No impacts, potholes, curb kissing or anything. The bulges were inside, too. They were the cheapest 'Patriot' brand from discount tire. Just all of a sudden, vibration would start at high speeds. That was how I found out about these two. They replaced them, the first for free, the other for 25 bucks. No signs of trauma anywhere.
I how have waddling issues with one or more of these tires (now 4 years old) and expect to buy another (quality) set. This batch was just cheap crap.

Interestingly enough, in my crazy teen years, I beat the heck out of tires on that old Ford and never had an issue. Over curbs, through the woods, alleys, full speed over dips, down dirt bike trails.......
We always put on the cheapest no name brand we could get, thinking they will outlast the car, but that was 20 years ago. Cheap now is very poor quality...

marcar1993

The tires on my wagon are older than me (16) guessing about 20 years old and couldn't have more than 7k on them. The tires on my dad's t/a are from 95/96? With maybe 15-20k miles on them. The tires on my dad's 60 plymouth were from 89 when he replaced them 3 or 4 years ago. The are all on garage kept, well maintained cars. No dry rotting, no abuse. I see no reason to change them or worry about them for that matter.
The tires on my cutlass however are the tires I got it with, and the previous owner openly told me thye're junk yard tires and they will be replaced ASAP. They aren't dry rotted or anything, and there is plenty of tread, but I don't know the history or age.
I plan to run them though until I can afford good tires, and they are holding up.

I think the big problems are over and under inflated tires and damaged tires along with poorly manufactured tires. There is no reason for the tires to come apart at 6 or 16 years of age.

OLD SKL 69

I will second a lot of what is being said here. My 63 Riviera had a set of wide white wall General tires on it which I bought new back in 92. The car rode great with them on it and at 85mph, the steering wheel was steady and straight.

I started to see some dry rot between the tread in 2008 so I decided to buy a new set. I could only find wide whites in the specialty market (coker, diamondback, etc) so I bought a set of 4. With mounting and balancing, it cost me about $600. I drove the car about 100 miles and started to notice a vibration at 60-65mph. I went back to the place that mounted them and they showed me the radial run-out on the tires was way out of spec. They said anything over 25 would be noticeable and I had one tire at 67 and the other at 83! The guy said it must ride like a lumber wagon, it was terrible. Crappy brand new tires. At least the place I bought them from replaced them both free of charge and so far, everything is ok.

But had I not had the dry rot issue, I would have kept the Generals. Oh well.

gearheads78

If I remember right yours were not bulges in the sidewall like I am talking about. They were tread separation which is a tire issue and not impact related.

WhatIf

If you're looking for raised white letter, I think the BFG Radial T/A's are pretty good. Lots of the guys with old cars have been using these since BFG started reproducing them several years ago.

Lady72nRob71

No, bulges - like little balloons coming from the backside sidewall. I never mentioned these before on this forum, as the bulges happened over 3 years ago and were on my old Ford... These were the cheapest you can find made in china tires. I think the internal belts are separating also as the car is riding just like my Olds did when the internal belts failed. I need to take it to the shop and have a balance done and see what they find. This one set of tires have been all trouble since day one.

The problem I had with lady's old tire failure was from impact. Glad it happened close to home though.

68conv455

Interesting. I put 4 BFG's plus wheels, mounted and balanced from ASAP onto my old 65 mustang. Was a huge discount for buying the set.
Still have the ASAP sticker on the cabinet in my garage.

Lady72nRob71

I second the BFGs - they look good and ride well on the vert. I got them with a $70 discount. The Good Year Eagle looks cool but only available in 15"+. The Indy 500 is another good looking choice for 14 or 15.

Allan R

Holy crap!
I just went and checked my tires. They're Kelly Charger Radials (225/70/14). Less than 1000 miles on them and they still have the little rubber tips on the siping. Sidewalls look incredibly good - no checking or anything + they're always stored inside so UV/IR doesn't get to them.

Ready for this? Manufacture date: 090 (I have the original bill for these) they were made in March 1980 and sold to me new in 1986. That makes them 30 years old!!!

Richard / Randy I'd be interested in your opinons. Would you run them at 70 miles per hour on a hot highway for say 400 miles? There's absolutely no sign of bulging on these tires, but are they safe? That's the bottom line. I can replace tires, but I can't replace my family if there's a bad car crash due to tires. 600.00 for tires is really cheap insurance. If I was just going to drive them around town at less than 35 miles per hour all the time I would care less.

svnt442

Well like I said before I bought tires that were (at the time) 17 years old and never had a lick of trouble with them. And I beat them....HARD.
All I can say about the road trip....use your discretion on that one. 30 year old tries are a bit different from 17 year old ones. But are you really planning on a trip of 400 miles with a car that had seen less than 1000 in the last 24 years?

Allan R

og voutdr zi swold. Ehy eoulfn't zi esnt to fo thstz? Oops, fingers were on the wrong keys .

Yes, I still am going to do that. I'll go over the car very carefully and pack an emergency kit in case I need it. I don't see how it's any different than guys who find a barn car that's been stored for 20 years, fire it up and use it as a daily driver. It's not like the car has never had maintenance. The only thing it needs right now is a battery. After all, its an Olds and it hasn't been neglected, just hasn't been used a lot.

svnt442

No no I was just checking. But I, in good conscious, could not let my Olds sit that long and not drive it. The only reason I didn't drive my Olds for 8 years was I didn't own it. But I have it back now and drive it whenever I can.

jeffreyalman

any prolonged highway miles in any of those hard beatings?

this is my point. around town driving is quite different than a trip at 70mph for hours

I have had tires come apart from heat from speed, not any Oldsmobiles, but Cadillacs, and that was an awful experience

If I can avoid it, I will

New tires is a pretty easy way to avoid it.

svnt442

Actually yes. I drove it all over Illinois. It cruised quite nicely with those 2.56 gears, but went through a tank of gas in about 150 miles. It was a thirsty one for sure.

jeffreyalman

well I won't take the chance again, do not want to be in a fiery crash if I can help it, and I have used all my luck up in this area...

and I just realized that the 3 sets of "new" tires I have may have been old when I bought them

Lady72nRob71

It would be taking a chance, but usually there are warning signs before failure, like vibration or such, indicating to slow down and look for tire shops...

When I picked up Lady from South Carolina, her tire's date codes were near 460 - I guess late 1990s or I hate to imagine before.

Although she had not been driven for a long time, the PO had a mechanic check her out, replaced a few things in prevention, and told the guy "I would drive that car anywhere." I made it home fine, over 1700 miles, most in 98* heat on a hot highway with cruising speeds between 70-85.
Two years later when her tire failed, there was a huge scuff mark inside where it bulged, so prior abuse was the main reason.

An occasional 400 mile trip on your tires, garage kept in Canada? I would. For routine trips, I would replace them. The hot dry dry weather we have suck every bit of moisture from rubber. In your area, the freezes probably preserves them!

gearheads78

Personally you watch to many news expose' if you are worring about firey crashes from a blow out. Sure it happens and makes a great news story but very few blowouts result in a crash. Now damage to your car is something to worry about. Road 'gater flapping on a 1/4 or fender will mess them up good.

jeffreyalman

reminds me of the old joke "I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather did, not in a fiery crash like the passengers in his back seat"

Summerof84

If I had to replace all the old tires on my fleet, I would have to remortgage the house. My first car still has the first pair of RWL bias ply tires I bought for it in 1982. About 25k on them with 10k to go! An utility trailer I bought from my B-I-L in '85 still has a original Bias tire on it from '66! Says Jet-Aire on it. I used the trailer last summer to haul sand and just shake my head at it, the used spare I bought to get ready for it to go has been waiting 25 years for its chance. Its partner has been on the other side for those 25 years, it's a war to see if it will outlive me! No hiway miles for that thing though.
Radial tires tend to give quite a bit of vibration warning, so I don't lose sleep over any of my tires, I have plenty 10-20 years old, I rarely drive my collector cars on the interstate, that's what 2 lane scenic roads are for.

citcapp

The old tire thing is true. I have seen them come apart. The tires dry out and seperate from the steel or nylon belts. This is well discussed in the trucker and motorhome foruims as these tires sit on the shelves for years and when you pushing 30,000 to 80,000 lbs done the road it can be cause a disaster taking several cars with you. I put new tires on every 6 years because I only put 5-6 thousand a year on the motor home. I would be very concerned about old tires. My 2 cents

Lady72nRob71

A vintage set of tires on different rims would be great for show! If I had a set of bias plys, I would surely keep them for that reason.
Having another new set ready mounted on a different set of wheels would be nice to pop on for a long interstate trip.

Pat, did you just cut 'n' paste?