I've seen "never used" spares w the nubbies still onem EXPLODE -- literally, typically on the spare racks on jeeps, suvs, & motorhomes -- the sun does horrendous things to exposed rubber
My 56 Bel Air 2 door post had 4 B.F. Goodrich radial T/A's that had all kinds of tread but were between 10 & 12 years old. As a matter of fact they looked brand new. I drove it a while always expecting the worst. It wasn't worth it worrying what damage or the safety implications they could cause. Finally broke down and bought replacements. It was well worth it for just the peace of mind.
This is America dammit! If I want to do stupid stuff I should be supported... The real problem is putting others at risk. It's not OK to put others at risk while you're driving an unsafe car on public roads.
I saved the unused spare from an '89 F250 when I junked it. I had the tire put on another wheel to use as a spare on one of my trailers. That tire exploded sitting in the bed of the trailer. It had zero miles on it. New (radial) trailer tires are said to last 3-6 years. I was going to be the guy to disprove that. I always keep my tires inflated properly and kept the trailer tires out of the mud when parked. While refueling on a trip to MN I noticed one trailer tire's profile looked different. Rather than being slightly rounded it looked more wedge shaped. The other tires looked fine. I drove 8 miles to the nearest tire store. In those 8 miles another tire did the same thing! Those tires happened to be on the side that is exposed to the sun when the trailer is not being used. I'm a believer now....at least when it comes to radial tires. Old (don't know about new) bias ply tires are another story. Protect them from the sun, ozone, and keep them properly inflated, they can last (and be safe) for a very long time.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is it, in a nutshell, right here folks. If ya wanna play with fire, have at it. Just don't put me or my loved ones in the game. Well put, Dane.
Absolutely true!!! The Sun causes ozone degradation of the rubber. Same thing happens to rubber window seals and such. The key to longevity with tires is keeping the vehicle garaged (carports don't count!) AND the tires covered with tire covers! I did this with a set of GoodYear Eagle ST tires I bought for my '66 Dodge in 1993. They had about 6,000 miles on them when I sold both the wheels and tires to a guy, and I sold these in 2010! Yes, seventeen-year-old tires, and they were in great condition. I told the buyer about the age of the tires, and he understood exactly what he was buying. He bought the set more for the wheels than anything, anyway. On that car, it was garaged when not in use, and I had tire covers for the tires. They rolled just fine, had zero cracking or visible degradation, and were still soft and pliable. And, they were never below 30psi. Never, ever used tire "coatings" like ArmorAll or the like on them, either, as they are the WORST thing you can do to "preserve" a tire!!! All I did to clean them was to use a bristle brush with dish soap, and rinse with clear water. If you take care of your tires the proper way, there is no excuse why they can't last ten years or more. As far as storing tires goes, I've stored tires mounted, aired, covered up, and placed on their sides for three years or more with no ill effects. Now, I have had tires explode off a car with it just sitting still! This was on a '64 Dodge I bought many years ago, that had an old set of Sears whitewall tires on it. Tread was great, but they'd been on the car, in the Sun, and sitting for over fourteen years. Trailered it home, rolled it into the shop, and began working on the 383. After about twenty minutes or so, I heard and felt a loud POP and the driver's front went down immediately. Not three minutes later, the right front did the very same! Obviously, these were not stored correctly, and daily exposure to sunlight, combined with inactivity, caused them to go away. This car was never going to go anywhere without a new set of tires anyway, because although the tires had great tread on them, they were severely weather-cracked and hard from exposure.
I cant speak for other shops, but as a former Discount employee I can confirm that this a company wide rule. They aren't allowed to work on anything over 10 years old no matter the condition of the tire it self and it boils down to the bottom line which is covering their asses in a increasingly litigious world. Also, shortly before I quit, a tech in a northern CA store was airing up an old tire and had it blow up. The steel rim hit him in the head and caused him irreversible brain damage. I remember when they gathered us up in our shop to tell us, we all were thinking it could just have easily been us. That's around the time Discount started getting stricter with their safety regulations AND the enforcement of them.
[ I replace *mine* & my family's when they're half worn ] retaining them to pass on to those less fortunate I meet on the road, that I can provide them a measure of benefit --[/QUOTE] Slightly off topic...but back when we were dirt racing, we had a guy that would buy a new set of tires almost every week, and sell his old set to one of his competetion for 1/2 price...and we were all dumb enough to think it was a good deal cause we were getting cheap tires. One day a friend explained it to me " Ya'll S.O.B.'s are stupid. You're paying half price for USED tires and he's payin half price for NEW tires"
yep, the spare laying in the back of my mom's 3/4 ton Ford that she tows her 5th wheel with blew up that way. laying out in 100 degree sun and bang no more tire and lots of rubber chunks in the back of the truck. Back to the original subject of the thread. I've never quite been able to figure out why guys tie up a lot of build cash in a set of new tires and wheels on a hot rod build that may take several years and end up with an old set of tires on the car when they finally hit the road with it. I do understand having the correct size of tire and wheel for the build to get things squared away but it takes me too long to get a car together to want to have a set of tires sitting there getting old while i work on the project.
Slightly off topic...but back when we were dirt racing, we had a guy that would buy a new set of tires almost every week, and sell his old set to one of his competetion for 1/2 price...and we were all dumb enough to think it was a good deal cause we were getting cheap tires. One day a friend explained it to me " Ya'll S.O.B.'s are stupid. You're paying half price for USED tires and he's payin half price for NEW tires" [/QUOTE] haha now that is an intersting truth! Never thought of it that way!
Whaddaya do, drive around with half-worn tires in the bed of your pickup, so that you can give one to somebody in need?
In Rochester NY there are several used tire stores in or near the "Hood" doing a great business.Ya know,4 decent tires mounted and balanced for about 120 bucks . Lotta people can't afford 120 bucks per tire.....Do these "Uneeda Tire" outlets go by date codes??? No idea. Out in the more rural area near me is a large late model recycling yard selling used and new tires.I believe they might read date codes, I'll ask them.
There's a lot of good information on this thread. The variables in this topic are countless though. I have bought new Goodyear Frontrunners for my drag car, mounted them immediately and found checking on the outer cover within a few weeks of mounting them. I have Hoosier Slicks that bite like a pitbull. Simply put you only need to change them when they are worn out i.e. wear indicators almost gone. Age doesn't seem to affect the characteristics of the rubber or sidewall. Of course these tires have spent very little time outdoors. Michelins, hard compounds seem to just get harder with age, never had a problem. Different brands, different problems, different usage= varying life expectancies.
I believe there are newer federal regulations in place concerning tire repairs also, i.e., plugs,patches, etc. The techs need to be "certified", much like someone who does a/c work. Not very traditional, I know.
Every time I buy tires from Walmart, it is the same dance... Me "I need 225/75 R15" them what automobile do you have, this goes on 2 or three times and then I tell them I will be carrying them out and they still want to make sure I am getting the correct tires......they cant sell you the correct tire size if the speed rating is less than what was installed on your car even though speed limit is 75 at the most........I get it.... but some day I won't be able to buy tires and carry them out and ill have to have whatever tires someone tells me I have to have.
I bet people like that also have the same opinion about driving these old cars that are part wood!!! Good god someone get me a prius and a helmet.
Had new Les Schwab tires on the wifes buick. She picks up a drywall screw in Las Vegas. No Schwab dealers near & it is a Schwab brand that no one but Schwab will honor. No one would repair it either as the screw was in the outer part of the tread. After getting nasty with Schwab They finally agreed to ship me another @ my expense & I had to pay to have it mounted & balanced. Cost me $50.00. No more Schwab dealings for me. Was going to drive my 66 vette to Az & the michelins were fine on tread but over 16 yrs old so went to commercial tire to buy a set of coopers. They would sell me the tires but wouldn't install them on my vette as it had K O wheels. Found a cooper dealer 35 miles away he done them for me & gave me the same deal. Tires have a 80,000 tread life but only 3 yr warranty. Big O said their tires are made by cooper but wouldn't sell me cooper brand tires.
well, no, but I save em in a shaded area out behind my barn for use in incidents like thisun not too long ago, I stopped to help a feller on the 163 SB JNO the 5th St off -- down from Mercy hospital -- fella looked like onea Clint Eastwood's "salty lookin dude" w jailhouse tattoos, bulgin muscles, shaved head -- had a beat up earliy 90s Tbird w a BO tire & no spare -- been asittin there fer several hours in the heat -- he'd called a friend to bring him a spare -- didn't fit the hub -- he was from outta town -- just IN town to pick up a friend of his outta jail -- I arrived jist as his friend w the no-fit spare got there -- friend was "interestin lookin" as well, they was both bummed -- I gave him my card and took his wheel w the BO back to my "20" and put a decent tire on it that i keep various sizes of fer JIST this purpose [ got bout a hundred or so out behind the barn ] -- took it back to him and put it on the car -- turned to leave -- he grabbed my arm w tears in his eyes, he said I'd "blown him away" -- he'd sat there in his car readin the card i'd gave him -- he hadn't really believed i was comin back w a tire for him -- nobody had ever done anything like that for him before! maybe made a convert outta a convict that day anyways -- coupla weeks ago came across a fella w a BO on his worn pickup that was heavilly loaded w carpet rolls -- bad tires all around but BOTH front tires w steel showin due to front end bein outta alignment -- [ it was a rear tire that blew ] spare was flat as well -- he was havin a hard time makin it -- well I took the BO and brought it back to my shop and installed onea my saved for this purpose tires -- took it back and put it on the truck -- thinkin bout his situation all the while -- gave him my "pass it on card" I give to everyone I help, but also gave him one of my "information" cards w my address onit tellin him to follow me to the "ranch" cause I just happend to have 3 more tires of that size that he could have as well -- mounted em up for him and gave him the card of an alignment shop I favor and told him "now take the money you were going to have to spend for tires and GET the truck aligned" w tears in his eyes, he said he would I DO love surprizin folks Coyote -- "trickster" strikes agin As I turned around on the Sunrise Highway OC at the farthest point of my Eastern I-8 "search loop" I noticed a small white car at the end of the offramp in the dirt shoulder with a flat LF tire. Nobody around -- SOO I reentered highway lanes headed Westbound. Couldn't stop my nagging "voice" that said "GO BACK" however SOO I turned around again, went back, and took a closer look Not only was the LF flat and shredded but the apparent spare was flat and shredded also lying beside the car Car looked like it belonged to someone who could USE some help [ overall condition not good ] SOO I snagged one of the blown tires - headed back to base 20 and mounted up a decent tire from my stock I keep for purposes such as this -- returned to mountain location and installed it on car I'd LOVE to see the look on the persons face when they returned
I have two BFG 285-70-15 tires that I've been using for rollers the past ten years . I was thinking about selling them , they Were bought new , and have no cracks and have never been on the highway , but after reading this thread that might not be a viable option .
I got new mags and tires for my first build, all shiny and new and inspirational, even. Then 8+ years later I got the 37 running and hit the freeway to see what she'd do. Man, what a dumb fuck move that was! Then I drove it for a year or two more (including several long interstate trips) before I heard about tire mfg dates and longevity. This was also about the time of the Ford / Firestone blow-out issues. I got new tires the next day and also got some lottery tickets. The tires were Comp T/As and the build was garage kept during the construction. The tires seemed fine when I replaced them at about 10K miles, but I still think it was super stupid of me not to be aware of the age issue with tires. And... of dealers that will sell you a "new" tire from inventory that could already be several years old. Check your tire codes lately? See: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11 Also... car dealers and repair shops also check for tire size to make sure you aren't going to alter your speedometer calibration. I learned that a few years back when asking the Dodge dealer about installing slightly larger tires on my Dakota. The guy at the parts desk looked up the approved sizes AND sold me a new speedo gear to correct the speedo for the exact tire diameter I wanted. If they didn't have the appropriate gear, then the change in tire size would have not been "approved." I suppose digital / GPS gauges make that a moot point these days, but how many of you guys "approve" of digital gauges? Gary
There are programmers that correct for tire size calibration only. Also my Edge insight corrects for tire size and gives a digital display. http://www.hypertech.com/products-speedometer-calibrator.aspx
I had an issue with a kid at Discount and I lost for some reason I can't remember a tire on the front of my 82 Dodge work van, And they said that they would have to move a rear tire to the front and put the new tire on the rear. I said no I wanted the new tire on the front cause logic being if you blow a rear you still have some steering control with the front vs blowing a front and loose steering control. Nope Store policy says all new warranty or one replacement tires go on the rear. Went over his head and they magically warranted another old tire and I had two new front tires. Anyway I worked in gas stations when they were gas stations and tire shops when i was a younger man and that's the policy I was taught new on the front. I still use discount Tires, they have always taken care of me pretty good except for this policy. It's funny though, when I was young and poorer, if it held air it was good enough and lol,And we went many a mile over the south west deserts with out too many problems. Always had out jack and a four way ready. Pretty sad that they got to make a product that they put a shelf life on like that now a days. If I have a questionable tire problem now a days I go to our local Hispanic tire shop, and we have many to chose from and they'll put anything on anything you want , no problem. YRUHOT.......Doug
I had a set of new tires that were going in my project car about 12 years but had to redo it all over again. My tires sat in my shop put away from all the elements. About 1 year ago I mounted them on my 83 S10 Blazer . I went into my shop one day to see the Blazer kicked to the side, one trie was flat so I thought I ran over something. After jacking the Blazer up I see on the bottom of the tire is blown out, soon after the other 3 tires went too. Glad I wasnt driving when this happened.
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