Hot Rods Age of tires

Oh, I see. So if I don't favor a crappy, ancient design tire type that has been demonstrated countless times to be completely inferior to radial tires in every way conceivable, i'm a Hot Rod hater? Do I have that right?

I'm sorry...that statement is just plain stupid. A better correlation would be to say that "Saying that hand crank starters suck is like saying that all Hot Rods suck." Or maybe "Saying that hand operated, non-hydraulic brakes suck is like saying that Car Culture sucks". Give me a break. You don't have to cling to crappy, outmoded technology in order to be a hot rodder. ALL of my cars have, at a minimum, front disc brakes. Some have rear, too. Wanting your car to stop instead of plowing into the back end if a minivan full of kids at a stoplight does not mean that I don't appreciate Hot Rods. It just means that I acknowledge that disc brakes work far, far better when it comes to bringing two tons of flying steel to a stop. Tires are just as important as brakes.

I have a set of Goodyear Polyglas F70 15 tires in my garage. They are still mounted to the Mopar rally rims that I had them placed on decades ago. I found them in a tire yard in the early 80's and bought them because they were almost brand new...and they were cheap. I put them on a 67 Plymouth Barracuda that I used as a daily driver. Like all bias ply tires, they didn't conform to the road surface at all, resulting in an inferior grasp of the road surface. They grabbed at every groove, rut and crack in the road and subsequently made the car wander all over the place. Further, ALL bias ply tires were replaced long ago, before water channeling tread designs were developed. If you hit any water on the road in a bias ply tire, you are guaranteed to experience some form of hydroplaning...even if you don't readily feel it.

My cars sometimes remain parked for months at a time. With radials you can expect your tires to remain round. With bias ply, you can expect a flat spot in the tires where they contacted the ground.

Expiration dates: Expiration dates weren't mandated onto tires until the late 1990's. Bias ply tires were replaced as standard technology 40 years prior to that date. If bias ply tires had been subject to an expiration date mandate by our government, the last one would have expired 50 years ago.

I get that some guys like to run them. I get that guys like the way they look. I even agree with that sentiment. I don't know why I still have that old set of Polyglass tires stacked up in the corner of my garage...but I do. I loved they way that they looked on that old Barracuda. I hated driving on them, though. That doesn't mean they aren't inferior in every way to a radial. And that's why I went with Sidewinder 3 1/2" whitewalls on my last set of tires, instead of an old bias reproduction. My 70 Challenger has four wheel disc brakes, 17" wheels and modern rubber. All of it, including the rear discs....(not including the wheels and tires) came from a junkyard.

 

My father bought a new 66 ford 428 auto. Replaced the 2ply Uniroyal tires with bias ply. firestone 500's. I was barely 16 at the time. and every time I drove that car by myself I would bury the speedometer needle. and never once thought the car handled poorly.

 

This is a traditional Hotrod site...enjoy your allowed inspired tires and disc brakes...in the Hokey Ass Message Board Forum

They will never ever be considered traditional here and I'm good with that...

I have had no issue ever stopping in my 4 years of cruising from 0 to major highway mph speeds...ever with Bias and drum brakes.

Flat spots...never been an issue and if they are there it does not bother me.

My Bias tires are animated at times but this is part of the essence of a tire produced for the 65 and down era focused on here...you can hate and belittle them all you want...I will never have a radial tire on the Ole Hotrod.

Obviously you have to drive according to condition and the rubber hardware you choose. If it's raining you slow down period...its basically known limitations which exist in so many aspects of a vintage car...

Please do not belittle the mass of membership who enjoy the Bias Plys...they owe no one apologies or reasons why...they just prefer a complete period feel.

Remember go ahead and run your radials and discs. It makes you feel safer but I see no good reason to not remain back in 1962.

Your 70 Challenger is also OT here as has been much of the vehicles and circumstances referenced here including the Bias Plys Suck...but I brought that down to your level as the Poster was talking Large Trucks which really are in a different league.

 

We seem to have strayed from the subject Age of Tires to the debate between radials and bias tires? I myself certainly entered into the bias versus radials discussion. But ya gotta admit I posted some pictures of some very old Aged tires. LOL

 

It has strayed a bit as they are being lumped as the same as radials which really actually was the original posters subject matter...the Thread title also leaves room for confusion...

Bias age and Radial age are not the same...when disposal or usable life are discussed.

 

Your vintage tires although not Hotrod material do highlight a feature that the radials fail in when they age...

Yours Hold Air...and Theirs Go Flat...

The steel belts are very sharp and may contribute to the failure at earlier timeframes that we are witnessing...just my assumption of course. Obviously there are other reasons.

 

My 37 Chevy p/u has fiberglass fenders so I can not let the radials get too old and the more I think about it is they were put on in 09 so it might be time to replace soon even though they only have about 5000 miles on them.

 

JunkyardJeff, I was in the exact same boat as you, fiberglass fenders, '37 truck, 10K on 18 year old tires. For $200 I replaced all four and after reading this whole thread, it was the right think to do. The truck is much nicer to drive, and I don't have to worry about blowing a fender off, or worse!
Spend the money, you will be glad you did. Sold the take offs on craigslist for $50 for four tires.

 

Talk about lucking out. The Ala. Highway Patrol banned Firestone 500s after a couple accidents with blown out new 500s killed Troopers. Was on the local news (Mobile, Ala.) at the time, but it was later maybe early 70s.

 

@George I think @Old wolf may be talking of a different tire as the Firestone 500's were Steel Belted Radials...and you are correct there were problems...

https://www.autosafety.org/firestone-500-steel-belted-radials/

@Old wolf were these the tires or were they a Bias ply Firestone offered with a similar name?

 

Just remember to check the DOT on your new tires that they are new and not 2 or three years old as the 10 yrs starts from manufacture...You paid good money for new fresh tires. There is no guarantee that there might be problems early but you eliminated age as a problem...good on you...

 

I need to start buying tires where you buy yours..$200+each is my typical tire purchase.

 

I think I will go another year and those tires will go on my winter beater.

 

This was in 66 five decades ago.and they where not radials. I cold be remembering wrong but I know they where firestone bias tires.

 

That's what I thought I believe there was a tire referenced as the Firestone 500 but may be a size and it seems to look like the Deluxe Champion Piecrust Bias Ply.

That said Coker has a complete line of different tires offered using original molds in the era timeframe all bias plys albeit not bearing a 500 name.

Six pages of different Firestone offerings all Bias Plys...

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/brands/firestone-tires.html#p=1&tire_build=10763

 

Just another article on tire knowledge and age for reference.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2010/02/16/tread-carefully-with-older-tires

 

I think my tires expired since the start of this thread.

Been wondering if the failure I posted earlier might be due to not rotating in same direction. What tires did/does that apply to?

 

If the tires are rotation direction specific they will have an arrow specifying so. If you install them incorrectly what will happen is braking, handling and wet weather performance will suffer as the tread is designed to work the arrowed direction.

You can side to side rotate a direction specific tire however it must be dismounted and reversed and rebalanced to keep direction correct.

If all 4 tires are same size directional tires get rotated front to rear and rear to front on same side. Then tires don't need dismount and rebalance.

The side to side dismount rebalance occurs when fronts and rears are different sizes typical of Hotrods with big and little rubber rakes.

I have Big and Little Bias on the Coupe so I have to go side to side however I won't have to dismount and rebalance as tires are not direction specific.

Rotating achieves balanced wear so if you don't perhaps wear may be uneven and potentially lead to a premature failure.

 

In the 70's Ive picked up vehicles from the rear and towed them behind the wrecker turning the front tires backwards from their normal direction of rotation. and bias plys where ok. but sometimes the radials failed. I got leery and would set them in the tow dolleys just to be safe. They where customers cars. and we towed lots of broken down vehicles from I40 in the Conway ARk area.

 

You wonder if they may have been just anomalies, damaged or even perhaps the failed Firestone 500 radials that were the focus of a nationwide recall I posted above.

You don't really have any idea what those tires that were on those vehicles...the driver could have ran over curbs at 90 degrees and kept on going...you just never know.

 

I would recommend that you not chance reversing the direction of rotation on any tire. especially radials.

 

I've got absolutely nothing to add to this except for some trivia.

The Fireball 500 movie car featured Firestone tires.

My 1st set of radial tires were Firestone 721. Got a great deal on an almost new set of take offs in the late 70's, after they'd been recalled.
-Dave

 

I believe the 721 replaced the 500.

 

Something had to...the Iconic Company had a failed product, faced a huge crippling hurdle and has still lived on through sale, evolution and perseverance.

It again highlights the fact that radial tires even through innovation still suffer age related problems and have a shorter lifespan however ten years costed out is still good value...Six which depending on location of course sucks a little.

 

Ok been a day without internet. I found one of those Firestone 500 bias ply om a Cold war Motors video. Its a actually a Firestone premium 500. And its exactly the same tire I remember on the 66 Ford. About 14 minutes in to the video they show the tire.

 

And along the same topic. Look at the gem I dug out of my hoard. Its a Phillips 66 4 ply nylon and look at the deep tread! Perhaps maybe I will remount it on a 6 hole chevy rim and use to on one of my trailers?

 

@Old wolf that's pretty cool a previous use of the Firestone 500...mind you it's a Firestone Premium 500 and you know what you had back then good memory...



That 2nd tire you show has a DOT I wouldn't be able to guess how old it is...4th month of 1959...who knows yeah yard wagon...sounds good...

 

I forgot the premium part. But it was over 5 decades ago. I guess I don't have Altzimers just yet.

 

I had a peak at Coker...it seems they don't reproduce that Bias tire but they do many other different Types of Firestone Bias Plys covering many periods from teens to sixties