Hot Rods Running older good condition bias ply tires

Folks,

I'm posting this here on the HAMB as my question will be met by a huge sampling of classic car/hot rod folks. I have something that is keeping me up tonight as I have to deal with it tomorrow. I wanted to get your .02 cents. Recently, I picked up some 1939 Plymouth steel wheels (without Safety Rim) that came with 6.00x16 Nankang 6-Ply Nylon Bias Ply Light Truck tires (Manuf. 2002). These tires are not dried out, cracked or rotted. I've had two tire shops look at them and they say that they are great. I've mostly run Radials in my life except in my VW days where I've used bias. My question is not about whether I should be driving on Bias vs. Radials...as I've considered that to be a holy war discussion. My question is as they are in good condition, and with the age of the tires (2002), am I fool hearty in running these tires? The reason I'm running 16" is because I have Lyon Whitewalls that I'm going to run.

One last detail, I'm going to be using RADIAL 16" inner tubes in these bias plys. A larger store in Long Beach wouldn't mount the tires for me because of their corporate rule of 6 years. I have friends that have been running tires on their cars WELL past the 6 year mark. Tomorrow I have them put on the car, but this has me questioning whether I should do this or not. I figure I have them and I should try them.

This afternoon, I was certain of what I was going to do. However, if it means my safety, the safety of others and mainly my wife...I need to make all the considerations. Radials for such a skinny wheel are soooo expensive. Coker Bias are soooo expensive as well. Do I save a penny and be a pound foolish?

Any input would be appreciated. I already know how some people in the SoCal Plymouth scene feel about this. I wanted some other opinions of guys that run Bias Ply. I really want this to work.

Thanks,

FG.

 

One more thing...I never go on the freeway, nor do I go over 55 or 60. I hope that helps.

FG.

 

Before every man and his dog jump on ya, do a search, then grab some RADIALS and enjoy happy trouble free motoring. Just piss the bias tyres off!
Rod

 

6 years old is like new to me. Ive got some bias 8.25 x20 on a 66 ford F600 that are 40 years old. A radial will go bad sitting. Ive had 2 brand new Yokahama radials on the semi I drive come apart this year. We have four 8ply bias mud grips on our stock trailer that have been on it for ten years. and they where old when installed. I reciently hauled a load of cattle to Ash Flat about 40 miles one way and didnt worry about the trailer tires. It had radials when I got it and it always had tire problems. Go look in the junk tire pile you will see many radials with goodtread and almost all the bias will be worn slick. Yes I would run them but you do what you want. OldWolf

 

I would run them , radials are for late models !

 

The rears on my roadster are god knows how old and work fine.

 

All the help I can offer is my experience.

You have to be the judge and asking Hamb members their opinions your going to get every conceivable answer possible,,I run bias ply on my 32 Sedan and my pickup.

I also know the hazards that are inherent with out of date code tires,,the rear tires on my sedan are more than 7 years old but I do have tubes in them and and they have not let me down yet.

Tire companys use the date codes to protect themselves,,does that mean the tire is no good after a certain date?,,I don't know.

 

is a few hundres bucks worth of tires worth the cost of replacing your ride...... yes i know new tires have issues. Ill bank on a new set

 

I'd run them.

 

run them bias ply hell if they are not dry rotted hell i got a 25 year old bias ply on my fleetwood as soon as my cars done im gonna run which by the time thats done hell they could be 30 yrs old (radials are for posers)

 

Brakes and tires...use good sense. Don't take a chance. What would be the point?

 

The front tires on my roadster 155-16s were bought on Ebay NOS They were still wrapped with the factory applied wrapping paper. How old are they? It's been a while since they wrapped tires with paper. Some people will panic about the age of the tires. There are no cracks so I run them.

I am not going to run the tires that came on my 56 Ford. Beautiful deep tread but the sidewalls show signs of dry rot and cracking. I'm not afraid that they would cause me to wreck. I just don't want to be changing tires on the side of the road.

Only you can make that decision. There will be people that think running old tires is endangering the entire eastern seaboard. Do what you think is right.

I've had several blowouts from hitting metal pieces in the road over the years both front and rear but I never lost control.I had a rash of them about 6 years ago. 70 MPH and then suddenly an instant flat. I just slowed down and pulled over.

 

Run what you brung .My motto

 

carry a spare.

 

.......I'd run them.......

 

I know there are some threads here about running "old" tires, you might want to search them out. 5 years is about the max I'd use tires, from date of mfg, regardless of mileage or storage conditions. Hell, the TAs on my 37 were "dated" before I first drove it after an 8+ year build. I did use them for testing, but replaced them before going out in earnest. They still had the little nubs on them but I considered them unsafe. I've known two guys who had tire failures by seperating tread on their rear tires when using old tires that "looked good, didn't have any cracks, held air fine, etc." Luckily, the failures didn't also cause a crash - just one destroyed fender and, or for the guy with the T-bucket, it didnt rip his left arm off.
If you really like the way it rides, get some new bias to replace what you have. Or upgrade to radials and enjoy better handling and ride -- and spend the rest of your life getting hasseled about them by some of your friends on the HAMB. Gary

 

I saw a 60 minute show where they explained how tires are dated. and how they start to dry rot from inside out after 6 years. maybe you can try to look it up on utube. they also said in the uk there is a law about selling a tire over 6 years old, but there not one in the us. it made me check all my tires. I think about it like this, maybe I could save afew bucks now but if a tire blows out. what will it take with it. maybe a fender.

 

Radials and bias plys are two different animals. I would not run a radial tire that is 6 years old or older. They use a ton of petrolium in them and the older they get the less stable they become.

I have run bias plys that are from the late 60's and many very old sets and have had no problems. They are constructed completely different. They are tough tires that are designed to work. That's why they are still the tire of choice for off highway construction vehicles and off roaders in general.

My tire of choice.



BloodyKnuckles

 

"Radials are for posers", quite possibly the most stupid statement I've ever heard. I love the look of bias ply on the kripple kart, but I know for a fact that my eight stone wife who chauffeurs me around everywhere hates driving them on our terrible motorways at 70 miles an hour to keep up with the rest of the traffic. Therefore I sacrifice "the look" and run radials because I like to spend as much time as I can driving comfortably in my favourite place in the world i.e. my Kustom. Where does choosing ride quality over good-looking anaesthetics become "posing"? If your vehicle rides well on bias tyres good luck to you, and I am not afraid to admit that I am envious.
Peace and goodwill
Paul, the poser.

 

Maybe this will help .......

In the past 20 years or so I have run MANY used & Old Bias Ply Tires, Had only 1 Fail & that was due to I didnt run tubes cus i was in a Hurry & didnt have any avilalable on a Sunday .... Those Tires were from the Early '60's

All it did was went Flat Slowly & I ruined the Side wall in town driving.

I bet I have run 30-40 Old Bias Plys in 20 years.

I Recently put 4 Old but Very good looking Radials on a '65 Chevy Pick up, Front were N.O.S ut Prolly 10 years Old....

Bubbledd up a Front one 150 Miles from home on the First Outing with the tires, Replaced them on the Road.

Bubbled up a rear one at about 400 miles & had to limp it home about 30 miles with a Load of '34 Ford parts in the bed.

So this is where I stand :::

I will run Bias Ply Vintage tires In good condition ANY TIME I FIND THEM.

I wil NEVER run Old RADIALS again, Matter of Fact .... I only run Radials on my '65 Chevy Truck .... EVERYTHING else runs Bias Ply

 

not trying to be a d*ck just my 2 cents doesnt mean its right or wrong

 

There are guys at Bonneville going near 300mph with Firestone tires that were made in the 50's and 60's.

Not quite the same as your situation, but food for thought. If your 8 year old bias ply tires are in good shape, you will be fine.

 

Well, in my case, at least, if someone said to me give me $700 or I will kill you, your family and a few innocent bystanders, I'd give him the $700.

Rubber has a finite lifespan, radial, or bias-ply.

 

No, don't - get some new ones.

A couple hundred bucks is worth knowing that at least you have some peace of mind.

Yep, others run them aged, I wont. My camper tires were made in 2005 - and had tread and sidewall splits and cracks this spring and were replaced. Another camper had 3-4 year old bias plies and two blew out in the driveway. My '06 F350 DD also had sidewall cracks this spring and were replaced. Expensive year for me with tires - but safety has to be first, looks don't mean a thing from the pine box

 

I have 8 year old bias on my truck and they still look good and never had problem with them. Never even have had to put any extra air in them. I think I rotated the fronts once a few years back, but can't recall for sure now.

 

2 years ago I bought 170 old tires from a tire shop going out of business. Mostly bias, probably 100 or so. I sold a lot of them and let everyone know what they were so there were no questions about the age of the tires. I have had about 15 or so failures, all radials and the radials were much newer than the bias. What I have heard is the radials will get rust in the steel belts and cause them to fail. All I know is my roadster has 4 bias tires of unknown age, but the company that made the fronts went out of business in the 80's and the rears are N50-14's (how long has it been since anybody made one of those?) I drive it everywhere, no tubes, and the only thing I do is keep the sidewalls lubed up so they dont crack. I think tires are like a lot of car related items, the older they are, the better the quality control was, people gave a shit, took pride in their product and it wasnt just about collecting a paycheck. I have had a lot of tires and never a failure from a bais. Usually they just start to drive crummy and leak. If you're still nervous, get some new ones and sell the old ones, someone will run them.

JW

 

Run 'em

 

the thing that bias ply tire do better than radials...... BURNOUTS! go till they blow!

 

I had a set of old bias ply mud tires on my power wagon. I never had a problem with them ever! The truck weighed 6200 lbs empty and I ran it thousands of miles full of camping gear and fuel. I went places that you will never ever, ever, ever take a car and had no problems. Over rocks, branches, broken rock logging roads, through old mine sites etc. Radials on the other hand are done after a couple of years. The ones I just took off my daily were two yers old and were starting to weather check.

 

Folks,

My bias ply tires were worked on by a local tire shop, examined and mounted on my newly sandblasted and powder coated wheels. (I used Radial race inner tubes with the bias plys.)

For the piece de resistance, the Lyon Whitewalls that I purchased have been added. And soon, the hub caps will be added for the following effect.



For now, until the hub caps are polished and cleaned, the car looks like this.



Success! And I don't know why anyone making such a fuss about bias plys being deadly or defective. I drove on them for 10 to 20 miles, sometimes a jut here and there as the road changed. It has just made me more aware of the road, my driving, my speed and common sense. Let the flaming begin.

I am VERY happy with the outcome. The car drives better, steers better and is lighter. Frankly, I love it.

FG.