So it's been almost 8 years since I put tires on my '72 Supreme and I just wonder if I should look at replacing them. They're still in good shape with no dry rot or cracking, and I've only put 22,000 miles on them. I drive it quite frequently (at least 2-3 times a month) so I'm thinking I should be ok, correct?

 

10 years is about the limit.
I did wheels and tires 10 years ago. Seems like yesterday.

 

I have 12 years on mine with only 1000 miles. Just ordered new ones from Coker last night.

 

So...mileage, years or how often driven?....what's the deciding factor?

 

Mileage, you look at tread depth as well as pattern wear/abrasion. Years, you evaluate "type" & "rating" of tire. As stated by the Dr. - 10 yrs is the general rule; but, you don't provide much information. It would be very easy to say "...your basic average tire..." but that means nothing. Manufacture, sidewall rating, etc. If you see any signs of sidewall fatigue, change 'em.

 

Guess I'll check that out tomorrow or Saturday...

 

The problem with old tires is you don't often see the degradation until it blows out. 10 years is what I do because I've experienced what happens to an old tire that looks fine blowout on the hwy doing 70mph.

 

Replace by Age unless they are worn out under 10yrs.
After 10ish years the rubber starts to get hard, next the plys start de-laminating.
I've seen tires with 200 miles on them with the mold vent spru nubs still attached, 15-20 years old delam, blow out or simply not hold air.
Read the DOT date add ~10 replace. Cheap insurance.

 

So even if you use them and the car doesn't sit for any length of time, they can still degrade? (I should also note that I keep them covered to protect them).

 

I think the 10 years only applies to redials which is what just about everybody on here has.

 

this is what my experience with BF Goodrigh Radial TAs are. yep about 10-12 years before you have a cord go.. Even though they had little miles like <5K

I called BG Goodrich and they said you need to "excercise" the compounds more often i.e. drive it

They may look like new but don't hold up long term..

Fred

 

10 years is a good rule of thumb. I know my 71 98 and my Bullnose truck both need tires.

 

I replaced my Nitto’s at 8 years, they looked new at 12,000 miles.

 

Hardly any of us wear tires out on collector cars. We drive them a few thousand miles a year at most. It is difficult to replace a tire that looks perfectly good. I remember several years ago a guy in a 55 Chevy on his way to the nationals with tires that were 16 years old had a blowout and rolled the car. Wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was thrown out of the car and died. His best friend was following him. Don't take the chance guys. I say 10 years.

 

Did 55 Chevies even have seat belts?

I wore out the tires on my 96 98. I drove it over 40k miles in the few years I had it. It looked better with white walls.

 

Belts were first available as an option on Chevies in '56.

 

Good advice, over 10 years is gamble. I went 13 years once, knew I was pushing it. Unfortunately I am at 10 years on my fronts on one set and the other is at 9 for the front. I definitely won't stagger 14" tires again, so I can wear them out the fun way😀.

 

I go with age. Like others said, as collectors we dont usually wear them out. My bias-ply's are 12 years old with only 1000 miles but I just dont trust them running 65mph down the road. The $1800 I just spent on new Wide Ovals is way cheaper than fixing the quarted panel and a 20K paint job to repair the damage.

 

I wonder if bias plies last longer than radials?

 

Lots of smokey burnouts is about the only way to wear out tires on a non-daily driver. The factory Goodyears on my '98 T/A "felt fine" until 17 y/o, then one day on the way home from work I felt a new vibration in the rear that was related to tire rotation. Got it home and put on the lift and found the sidewall was bulged on the inside of the LR tire. By morning, it had blown-out and was flat as a pancake, making it a real PITA to get it jacked-up to get the wheel off. Now those tires (BFG G-Force Sport Comp 2) are now 11 y/o and will need to be replaced soon w/ only about 5000 miles on them.

Similar experience on the Cutlass' BFG Radial T/As. My first set of 4 went on in '87, replaced the fronts in '06 w/ 14,000 miles on them (19 y/o.........can't remember the reason), then replaced the rears in '13 with 17,000 miles on them (26 y/o, replaced due to vibration like w/ the T/A). These are on their last days since A) 17" rims needed for larger brakes planned this summer, B) lug nut holes in 14" SSI rims are shot.

Bottom line, if you feel a new wheel-speed related vibration, get it off the road ASAP. A 10-12 y/r replacement routine should keep you safe with some margin.

 

I ran some BFG RTAs some 16 years on my Chevy with 20k miles. That was ok. I recently retired some 80k mile 7 year old Michelins off my daily. That was ok. I also replaced the zero mile 18 year old spare which was dry rotted.

A few years ago, I had tire failure on my van, thread is here. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-tires-175072/ . The tires were from 04, and the spare was 96 or even 86. A belt went, and I kept driving. It broke the rubber, I put on the spare, and had a rapid failure of the spare. Both of these were under 50 mph. That is too long to keep tires. Also, being inside vs outside, hot sun vs not, matters. I would definitely go for 10 years or less.

When I bought my 72 H/O, it had 21 year old tires on it. I punched it off a turn and spun like a ****. The new tires hook much better, but, that was an "excessive display of power" as the offense would have been.

 

This is a good indicator they need to be replaced.

 

Actually you are passed the indicator in which they need to be replaced. You're in maypop territory.

 

There's still a long way to go before "pop" becomes a worry. The tread section of the carcass is the thickest and strongest part of the tire.

In reality those tires were replaced a while back.

 

Were those tires replaced simply because they had exceeded their allotment of smokey burn outs?

 

Ugh, that sucks. And it reminds me of a blowout I nearly forgot about that happened on my '70 C/S 'vert back in the early '90s before it was "commonly known" that tire age was also critical to useful life. We had recently purchased this car and took a trip to Wisconsin (family of 4, trunk full of luggage). Tread on tires looked fine, but I didn't know better to check age. About the time we reached Milwaukee, I sensed an increasing vibration and decided to stop and check it out once we got through the center of the city. We were on the freeway in the left lane when the RF tire threw its tread, bending the bottom of the front fender just behind the wheel and peeling off the wheel opening trim and the body trim on the fender and passenger door. Fortunately, the berm on the left side was wide enough to pull out of the way of traffic, but was still way too close to safely change a tire on the side towards traffic. I saw that the tire core retained air pressure, so I was able to back it up a few yards into a small triangular area under the bridge supports that gave me more room to safely change the spare. Still, emptying the trunk of luggage to get the spare and jack out and changing the tire as traffic whizzed by 10' away was not comfortable, to say the least. Luckily the spare got us to our destination and we purchased a used tire to get home days later. Don't ignore those new vibrations, it means pending failure.

 

Exactly what i was going to say. Quarter panels are not cheap.

 

I'm in the ten-year camp too. My BFG T/As age out this year so I will replace them, even though they're perfect (aside from the brown letters). I'm leaning towards a set of General Altimax RT 45s, which appear to be one of only a few choices available in a 225/70-14.