Hot Rods Cracks in my tires!.......GRRRRRRRRRR!

There was a time not long ago that a national discount tire dealership was selling new tires that were already 4 years old! I believe there may have been a recent law passed that companies can't sell new tires over 2 years old.

One of the local farm stores had a stack of 4 new never mounted tires that were marked down nearly 50% because they were already 2 years old. I make sure the new tires I have put on my vehicles are less then 6 months old, the last set I had mounted Tuesday had a Dec 2021 dates on them. Two of the three vehicles I've put new tires on in the last year will probably wear them out before they time out, but that other vehicle will probably time out before it wears it's new tires out.

 

If they are cracking, it's time to replace them. Use the old tires for rollers or a trailer that never goes on the road. When rubber cracks, it's time to replace it. No magic glue is going to make it one piece again.

Mine are cracked and leak down on the Lincoln, so I don't drive it over 4-5 miles from the house right now. Got some things I want to do to it before it gets driven more, so tires will wait until spring on it.

 

And do more burnouts!

 

Surprised was I, when passing through Communist Bulgaria, Every parked car used a large cardboard square to keep sunlight off the tires.

Decades, later working for an opportunistic dealer, I installed a pair of tires that the fine print stated "made in Romania". A month had passed when the customer returned, to complain. What do think his beef was? ( I guess should have given him some cardboard with his purchase )

Because of this kind of crap, I sought sought other employment. Oh well.

 

Another subject, product of our times, since majority of tires are now made overseas somewhere we are getting a load of crap. Thinking where you live is a part of the problem, I live in Wisconsin, rarely hot, never dry, Winter in Arizona, hot as hell (summer), rarely rains, Az, winter better than Wi. summers, so tire life is subjected to entirely different environment plus the garage deal is important, the SUN is a mean bitch. I've never had a tire problem cracking except for trailer tires in later years, Chinese tires, they always sat outside going back 50 years, back in the day we wore them out before they cracked. I have some OT hobby cars, always garaged, not driven much and the tires are past the 5 year BS deal, look like new, NO cracking, I run them with confidence. Note I covered the shit Chinese tires on my enclosed trailers and they still cracked in around 4 years.

 

Just out of curiosity, are they bias ply or radial?

 

Shoulda stated.....Radials.
6sally6

 

Just as we like fresh donuts fresh radials are key...6 yrs...check the DOT if its 2 yrs old you have 4yrs...new or not...your should get them unquestionaby discounted...

It's been mentioned here already...if your paying you should be well aware of those dates on each tire...

Bias plys age differently and are composed of different materials so 6 years does not apply...

I'm actually curious about what a DOT number on a Bias Ply says...IF there is one...mine have to be 10 yrs old now...

 

You can try filling the cracks with Bondo. Oops! It cracks, too.

 

I spray 303 protectorant on all rubber. Soak a few days before putting on then one a month for wiper blades. Tires the same. It’s tough to remove 5 yr old tires on a truck/ car with 20k miles on them knowing they still have 30k left. My 56 tires are 4 yrs old with 4000 miles on them in the garage with a protective car cover during the week. 303 every 2 months and no cracks I can see. Same for my wife’s 2015 Honda with 13k.

 

Last April I took a 400 mile round trip. 95 mi from home on the way back one of my front tires blew out which was a BF Goodrich tire with less than 5,000 mi on it but it was 9 years old. None of the tires ever saw anything over 80 mph in their lifetime. Believe me girls and boys they are made to fail in 10 years. I just wonder how many people have died from their planned obsolescence?

 

I don't think they are made to fail...it's a very abusive career they have to fulfill...and again the steel belts encased in the rubber are flexing with everything they encounter...and when bending metal over and over eventually it will fracture and what the eye can't see is very destructive...I'm not even remotely close to a tire guru but I think it along with rubber aging you have something that gives confidence for a tried and tested efficiency...6 not 10...this is again a characteristic of radials and we know how popular they are with the crowd here...

 

The design of a radial tire is to flex on the sidewall so the tread surface mostly stays on the ground, giving better traction. The tire cords run from bead, straight across the tire to the other bead. As the tire rolls across the ground, every 1/8 inch it moves flexes (and unflexes) the sidewall as the tire rolls. When that radial tire has to turn the car, the sidewalls not only flex, but also twist a little. Most radial tires have belts of material that run around the tire under the thread to farther stiffen the thread surface. Is there any wonder the sidewalls crack over time?

Bias ply tires have stiffer sidewalls that don't flex nearly as much as a radial sidewall does. The tire cords run at an angle from one bear either forward or rearward across thread surface to the other bead. Bias ply tires then have a second set of cords the angle the opposite direction then the 1st set as the go across the tread surface. The stiff sidewalls means the tread on the tires has to move as the tire rolls or turns. Often times bias ply tires will have cord belts that run around the tire on under the thread surface to provide a more stiff tire thread, these belts reduce the amount the thread rubber has to flex as the tires roll and turn. Bias ply tires don't tend to develop cracks in the sidewalls, but the belted versions have a problem with the belts shifting, and the tires cracking at the edges of the thread surfaces. Because most of the tire flex happens on the thread surfaces, the thread tends to wear down faster then the thread wears on a radial. The thread life of a belted bias ply tire usually lasts longer then the non-belted bias ply tires. Most bias ply tires wear the thread off the tires before time catches up with them and the rubber starts to deteriorate, but not always. Bias ply tires also have a time limit life, but since most people drive vehicles with radial tires, you heat about their time limit much more. Gene

 

I think steel belts are a factor too, due to rust or corrosion and maybe tread separation?

 

I had heard of 303, but I didn't know anyone who had used it.

It sounds like a private-branded version of something like 303. Their claims are similar to what 303's fans say about it online.

 

i don't think its a good idea to run 60 year old bias plys because they are hamb correct. old tires aren't safe, especially if you are a hooligan.

 

My brother in law used to use 303 on everything rubber on his camping trailer, including tires.
He swore by it. I have some left from him, but never have tried it. Guess I will. Gene.

 

where can you get 303?

 

Good question...

 

I don't think anyone was implying to run sixty year old Bias plies...I have about 10 on mine. Most of the Bias plies these days are produced by Coker in original molds so there is a newish factor to the modern Bias experiment...

 

You bring up an interesting point highlighting another form of abuse radial and bias tires endure under the Hotrod/Custom Culture ...Smokey Burnouts many very prolonged...I'm sure that has a rubber and belt stretching effect to throw into the Why did my tires blow up phenomenon....

 

The greatest marketing tool I have seen was a Discount Tire in AZ that had a tire pressure check lane. First thing they did was check the DOT date.

 

Me thinks many could care less about air pressure relating it to a sales tactic...its a game many are willing to take but it makes for a good Thread every once and a while...

 

My tire shop won't work on a tire older than 7 years. They have a useful life. I bought a used trailer to haul around my Mysterion reproduction. It had a brand new spare inside, out of the sun its entire life, and had obviously never been on the ground. Trailer was a 1995 model. I took the tire out to replace one on the ground that was a bit worn. Set it against the block wall to install the next day. This is what I found in the morning.

 

holy!

 

I see what you did there…

 

“There are none so blind as those who will not see”.

The tires are made to perform very well for a period easily long enough to wear them out in normal use. That being loosely defined as the average mileage driven by the vast majority of vehicles that use them. If you don’t use within those parameters, that is on you, not the manufacturer. The tires were never advertised, promoted or guaranteed to have an unlimited useful life. Stop with the ‘victim mentality’ bs.

Example: You buy a container of milk with a “best if used by date” of , maybe, 8 days later, If you still have that milk after 16 days, well…….you get the idea.

Ray

 

I bought bias tires for my soon to be completed '26 Ford T modified from a reputable tire seller at the local BIG swap meet in the year 2013. Got them home, checked the date codes, they were 2011 manufacture date code.

GRRRRRRRRRR!

Fast forward, year end of 2021, still do not know when i will complete, and make drive-able that '26 Hot Rod, it is so close to being finished. Yes, I will need new tires.