oldsF85Fan

I'm new to this forum. I recently bought a '66 F-85 that I'll be restoring. It was a car that had been sitting in dry storage for the last 20 years. I found a receipt for new tires purchased in 1991 when the car had 73,800 miles, and the car only has 600 miles on it since then. It just needs some minor rust spots repaired and and a few interior things fixed (headliner, new carpet, steering wheel, A/C repair). A new paint job and it'll be good to go. I had a '64 F85 I bought as a high school graduation gift to myself back in '81 that I sold 10 years later. I've worn out several pairs of shoes kicking myself for selling it!

citcapp

Sounds like a nice find, post some pictures when you get a chance. We all like pictures

jaunty75

I'd have those tires checked. Just because they have only 600 miles on them doesn't mean they might not need replacing. They're still 20 years old now, and in that time the sidewalls and tread could have dry-rotted significantly.

I purchase a '73 Olds back in January of last year. At the time it had a set of Goodyear tires that were purchased new in 1994, which was 16 years earlier. They had gone only 7,000 miles in that time and still had plenty of tread, but there was considerable cracking of the sidewall and along the tread itself on a couple of them due to age. I wouldn't be surprised if your tires show the same issue.

oldsF85Fan

I'll have them checked before I do any significant driving. They look to be in decent condition, no big cracks or anything obvious.

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

Glad you joined up.

jaunty75

Even if they don't have obvious signs of rot, it's very likely that the sidewalls will still be dry and stiff after so many years.

If it were me, I wouldn't even think about doing any kind of driving, especially at highway speeds, on tires this old. I would just replace them with brand new and have that peace of mind.

On several occasions I've come across tires half as old as the ones you're talking about that were bad. You can't prevent the effects of time.

Oldsguy

Welcome to CO and good luck with the car.