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After reading Don's post on white walls for his '55, I have a question: I have four tires for my '55 that are about 15 years old, still in the wrappers, never been mounted. A tire dealer told me anything over 6 years old is too old to run on a vehicle. The tires have been stored inside and on thier sides, any opinion on thier usefullness or just buy "newer" new ones?
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How much is your car worth?
There is no practical way to tell when a tire is "too old" and may fail. A good rule of thumb is to look at the cost of a new set of tires vs. the possible damage to your car from a failure - destroyed fender, wrecked car, injury /death /disability to yourself, a passenger, or an innocent bystander and realize that the average tire manufacturer designs a tire to last about 50,000 miles and they consider that the average driver will do that in about 5 years.
For a trailered show car, as long as it holds ar=ir, who cares! On the street, I would probably swap tires every 8 or 10 years, but that's just my opinion.
Mark -
Re: Old tires
mark
i have a 1980 vette with 20,000 original miles and still sporting their original tires. its an early 80, built in 79. thats close to 30 years ago and the tires have no sign of dry rot.Comment
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doesn't matter how they look
It is impossible to assess the structural integrity of a tire by looking at the outside. You may get lucky and be fine with them, or you may suffer a catastrophic failure and lose a lot of $$$ and maybe your life - it's your choice! I have personally been driving at about 65 MPH when a Firestone tire let go and I was lucky to keep the car on the road. The tire was about 4 years old with 30,000 miles and I always do a walk around inspection prior to driving and that tire also looked fine prior to the trip. It's all about how well the rubber inside the tire is still holding onto the belts and that cannot be assessed accurately. Ultimately, the choice is yours.
Good luck,
MarkComment
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Re: Old tires
Who is the manufacturer, and what is the model and size?
Based on your statement that they are 15 years old I am assuming they were manufacturered in the early ninties. What are the DOT date codes?
DukeComment
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Re: Old tires
Duke, tires are Firestone, DOT E4479 made in New Zealand. I bought them in the early 90's Still in wrappers.Comment
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Re: Old tires
Bias ply type? Radial? The size designation will tell. Does the tire have a model name?
DukeComment
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Re: Old tires
Duke, thanks for helping, they are Firestone Deluxe Champion, gum dipped whitewalls. 6.70 -15 Bias, 2 ply Rayon tires. Under the made in New Zealand mold, is a number: 1-MA-4BD21781-A
Regards, MikeComment
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Re: Old tires
The have been discussions in Congress and DOT on placing a life limit on tires, but it appears they have come to the realization that any limit is purely arbitrary, which is the correct answer.
Tire dealers are in the business of selling tires. They are not tire engineers.
The potential time life of a tire begins with material and construction quality. From there it is influenced by the environment the tire lives in, and the three big enemies are heat, UV light, and ozone. If new tires are stored in a cool location with minimum exposure to UV and ozone, shelf life can be many years assuming the tire was built with quality materials and processes, but this varies considerably.
DOT tire standards are now nearly 40 years old. The durability qualification test is 85 MPH for one hour at full load at maximum cold pressure, which is not much in my book. Most radial tires are built to the European speed ratings, but anything less than "H" means the tire does not have a nylon cap belt, which will usually keep a tire from disintegrating if there is an internal structual failure, There have been many lapses in quality and materials over the years on cheap tires, and some non-cap belted speed rated tires (up to "T") clearly did not meet the speed rating standard placarded on the sidewall.
Bias ply tires are somewhat more resistant to high speed tread separation because they do not have a heavy steel belt package that is being pulled away from the carcass by high centrifugal force.
It appears that your Firestone Deluxe Champions are reproduction tires that were probably manufactured in an independent tire plant. If they pass visual inspection - no cracks, surface contour irregularities, or obvious deterioration of the exterior surfaces or interior liner, I think they are okay to use for in town and short freeway jaunts, but I would be somewhat leary of using them for a long highway trips, especially in hot weather.
You should maintain a minimum of 32 psi cold pressure (The higher the pressure the less the tire flexes and the cooler it will run.), and inspect them frequently for cracks, bulges, or other surface irregularities. Also be keen in recognizing any sudden increase in vibration or wheel pull, which could be an indication of internal structural failure.
I don't think these tires are much more risky than a low quality set of S-rated radials that most guys seem to run on their vintage Corvettes.
DukeComment
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Re: Old tires
Duke thanks for your response. I appreciate you lookinginto these tires. I only plan short trips, no long hauls. Eventually, I'll pick up a new set to avoid any issues. I just want to use these to get to the alignment shop for now and to make sure the car rides at the proper height after the front end / frame restoration. Thanks again, I appreciate your views.
MikeComment
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Re: Old tires
I think most are wary because for the cost of new tires, you risk a greater cost in damage. Basically, is it wise to try and save $600 or so using old tires versus the several thousands of dollars one could have to spend after a wreck or worse?
However, I think Duke wisely took into consideration that the tires are unused and still wrapped. Wrapped, they would have not been exposed to UV. While it would have been better had they sat inside a sealed garbage bag all that time, they are still essentially a green tire. This means they have not had any heat cycling on them at all. So it is new rubber. However, they probably are hard from sitting as that happens as the rubber naturally ages and cures regardless of use.
After a few short trips around the neighborhood or town, you will be better off in evaluating them, as they may soften some with use, may show signs of failure (cracking, bulging, or lumps), or they will appear to be ok with the ttread showing signs of normal wear. If they begin to chunk pieces of tread, they have hardened too much to recover and you will have to replace them immediately.Comment
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Re: Old tires
I too liked the replies in this thread and was appreciative of Duke's comments. My tires sound exactly like Mike's and I was surprised that they were made in New Zealand as well because I saw no manufacturing at all of any kind in New Zealand. I just took them off and bought a new set of Firestone r deluxe champions from Coker tire, but the reason I cahanged is that the whitewall had turned yellowish
I drove my 55 vette 175 miles to Orlando on the old tires at speeds up to 60 mph and had no problems, in fact the new tires are still slowly leaking.Comment
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