Hi everyone. I know there has been some debate about this. I have a set of firestone Indy 500 raised white letter tires in 225/70 r14.

 

Tire life 7-8 years under ideal conditions. Your tires are 14 plus years old.

Time for new tires.

 

As mentioned, unfortunately they are probably past their useful life. While excellent storage may help a bit, the age will nevertheless "do them in". The RV people generally don't trust anything after 7 years. You may "get by" on short trips, light loads, low speeds, and avoiding high temperatures, but they will likely fail anyway. Sometime they will just start leaking air and sometime they will totally disintegrate. Buying new tires to replace tires with lots of tread remaining seems to be the plight of the old vehicle collector that doesn't drive much. If you want to be less likely to be changing a flat, just "bite the bullet" and get some new tires and use these to plant flowers in or give them to a tug operator to better cushion his boat.

 

I'm kind of on the fence with the useful life of tires. There have been many studies that show UV is what causes a tire to disintegrate. However the rules are different for retreads, why is it you can reuse cores for longer than the recommended replacement suggestions?

I guess it boils down to what your driving habits will be. If more highway driving at extended high speeds is planned, I would change them. If your just going to tool around local, leave them on a while. Note that franchise tire shops will not mess with them if they are older then 10 years.

 

If one fails it could damage a fender, quarter panel or cause an accident. It's hard to say if an old tire is still good. Definitely would keep the speed low if it were me. Good luck.

 

 

$750 - 800 - 1k to avoid killing yourself and others or at the minimum damaging or totaling your car...you decide.

Not proud of this one but if it saves somebody I'm admitting it....I just changed my tires and rims 1.5 years ago because I knew it was time and I wanted to step up to 15" SS1s...It was then I discovered they were 28-year-old tires! They looked perfect, no sidewall cracking, no dry rot, dry garage kept, maybe 7-8K miles on them tops. Still had the mold nubs on the side walls. Suddenly one wouldn't hold air. When I soaped the tire down air was escaping from every inch of the tread area around the entire circumference. That's when the light bulb came on...I ran the date code because I couldn't remember when they were new. A two-digit date code, that's alarming right there. Codes came up 1988 or 1998! I knew it wasn't 98. Still, didn't comprehend it until I dug out the receipt. The year my daughter was born. duh! dumb azz (on both accounts here). When I popped them off the rims the inner structure was delaminating on all 5 (spare too)! I got lucky. Found my vibration problem as well...simply unsafe bad tires.

Google "tire date codes" or "when should I replace my tires" etc...Its recommended by the major manufacturers to change them anywhere for 6-10 years regardless of mileage.

I didn't realize just how old these tires were because of how time flys so fast nowadays and I simply wasn't paying close attention like I normally do. Most of us don't put enough miles on these cars to wear the tires out, so we have to go by the date codes, that's why they are there.

I know my story is on the extreme end of the stupid spectrum... BUT the bottom line is, buy new tires! 10-12 years is it IMO anything past that and you are shootin the dice.

 

Dr Olds,

 

Well, I have had experience with old tires that appeared OK and were fine during around town driving for many years but failed after less than 10 miles of 70 mph highway driving going to a show in Tucson. The tread separated and beat the crap out of the fender. No busses full of nuns and orphan children died in a fiery crash, it was simply tread separation that beat the fender well, and after a tire change all was well. There were indications of age as in sidewall cracking, had I actually paid attention. Never expected the tread separation, though, but now I'm aware of the signs and wiser as to the ramifications of running aged tires.

 

Maybe this will help some.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=11

 

I only know of one old tire blowing up. Do you know why? The tires were pumped up to 80 psi! The car sat for many years, moved and ran on occasion. A very nice 68 Thunderbird. If it is nostly a town car, run them till there is obvious signs like cracked sidewalls and tread seperation.

 

I looked very closely like Sherlock Holmes with a magnifying glass at the sidewalks and the inside and I didn't see any obvious signs of cracking etc. I also looked where the tread meets the sidewall and nothing. Since
these tires never saw any real flexing or heat and cold cycles in their existence and they've been off the rims for so many years these signs might not be so obvious.

 

Your advice is a formula for disaster. What you are not understanding is that the tire determination often starts from the inside out and is not related to the obvious exterior signs of aging.

Take 2 min and do a google search on old tires and the results of running them. You will quickly realize that not all dangers are apparent.

 

Keep the old tires on the rims and use them for winter storage. I bought an old out of date set for my builder cars and storage. The car looks great sitting on the floor and if the tires get a flat spot it's no big deal.

 

I would mark them all "out of date "or "do not use "so there's no chance of anyone using them that comes by them after you discard them. There are people out there that would sell them to an unsuspecting swoop if they are not marked junk.

 

Do not drive with those old tires I do not
want to be the one who gets it by you Even if I drive a Stage 1
buick I prefer Oldsmobile think safety
Alain

 

If he is driving around town, it is no big deal. Driving at 70 mph is a different story.

 

When I bought my 442 it had off-brand raised white letter tires on it that looked mint and clearly had low mileage. I checked the date code and they were 2002 or 2003. The car had always been garaged while it had these tires on it, contributing to their appearance. They still came off.

 

Great info in thread, is there a sticky on subject with I.D. info on year of manufacture, like tire rack in thread? Thanks for info, will check my cars tires, tires are not cheap but neither is an accident.

 

No. It is a big deal. It's your continued dismissal of the facts that is the problem and choosing to deny that there is an issue doesn't make the issue go away.
Do not drive on 14 year old tires. They are done. Period.

 

I appreciate all of your insights and personal stories. Thank you! Chris

 

I wouldn't run any tire that's more than 8 years old no matter how little mileage I put on them through the summer months. Tires heat up and pressure builds on hot July- August days & nights. I wouldn't want to take someones life nor mine and whoever is in my car, just not worth it. They could let go at any time.
I would do what Olds442redberet mentioned- use them for winter storage only, that's a great idea.
Eric

 

How many have you seen go bad, in a bad way? It is only at 35 psi, not 100 psi like a big truck. The 30 year old tire that blew at probably 70 mph did minor damage to the Thunderbird despite it being pumped up to 80 psi. I personally would blame recent rubber production more than anything, look at wiper blades for instance. What is the maximum age you run for tires? I am replacing the two maybe 10 year old BFG TA's on my 88 since my daughter will be driving it and they are wrong size for the speedometer. Those tires are going on my boat, goes a whole mile at time and sees 40 mph. The boat is nearly done and the tires might as well match. Now my current boat's tires on those rims are unsafe and need to go, the sidewalls are badly cracked. Big truck tires are a different story, sitting at 100 psi. You wouldn't believe some of the tires that I have seen pass safety, probably why MOT is cracking down here. I was pissed I had to run tires nearly bald on our fuel truck, not cool.

 

How many need to go bad in a bad way to say its too much? That's like the argument of don't penalize all the good illegal aliens for the few criminals & terrorists that slip in

 

It looks like 10 years old is the max age recommended, enough said.

 

I think this is a very important discussion presenting itself here. The reason I had originally asked the question about whether or not the tires were safe was due to their low mileage (50 miles would be a high estimate) and they never saw any service about 40mph. All of the 50 miles on the tires were driven in a residential area at 25-30mph and the car was then sparked in the garage. The tires were then dismounted from the rims in 2011 or 2012 and have been in my garage attic ever since which doesn't get below freezing very often. However, I appreciate all of the information you have all provided, and it appears that the general consensus is that despite the low miles and no evidence of any sidewall cracks or delamination on the inside, that they are potentially not safe due to chemical reactions that occur despite lack of wear. I thank you all!
Chris

 

I still see Goodyear Eagle STs on show cars and cars for sale all the time. Wayne Carini on Chasing Classic Cars drove a real 427 Cobra that was being sold by the widow of the owner that had a set. Goodyear hasn't sold them for like 15-20 years right? Let that be a lesson to home restorers, don't buy new tires early in the process. The car might sit on them for years.

 

I'm dusting off this old thread because I was kind of embarrassed to chime in before about this. So here's my confession:

Hi, my name is Frank and I have 25 year old tires on my car.....yep, it's true.
The previous owner was gung ho on the 56 Super 88 in 1992- rebuilt the engine, new exhaust, new shocks, new General radials. He drove it for a couple of days and blew the Jetaway and got pissed and put it in his barn in New Hampshire and I found it in 2012. Little by little, I got things fixed, including the transmission at Steve Pelosi's in West Roxbury Ma. Been driving it on those brand new 1992 tires. Not highway, but an occasional 60mph on the back roads of Maynard and Stow and Boxborough.

Anyway, just got a set of new tires from Calli (thanks Tedd for the recommendation) and this week I finally opened it up on I495 for a half hour.

Round tires are pretty good!

 

I just posted a thread last week, I have the same fire hawk tires as Chris. mine are in perfect shape low miles kept inside no cracks etc etc. they were on the car when I bought it in 2011

I just checked the date code, 503. Indicating 50th week of 1993 or earlier. So Frank you're in good company w 25 year old tires!!!

Long story short I'm in the market for some new sneakers too.

 

I just retired 15 year original goodyear eagle ls in my newest Olds (alero)
Only had 9k and they looked great! But it's headed for the nationals and 8.5 hrs one direction on the highway, not to keen on having a wrecked sheet metal.

I went with Kelley edge hp's. Nice looking tire and USA made


Pat

 

My spare tire was an original bias ply tire that was in the trunk when I got my car, it sat in the tire well for probably 30 years and it looked good. I swapped it out a few years ago in fear of having to use it to limp home some where in the middle of Montana or some other place not handy. I love reliability... Tedd