That was a good video it is hard to think (no not really)these people are out only to make a buck. Looked at the front of the coupe 18 years old got news ones on the way.
I usually retire old tires when they no longer hold air. I had one that was so dryrotted it started leaking right out the sidewall last night. I had another wear on the inside so much it wore through. And the mate to that somehow picked up a hole in the bead area. I was going to put a tube in it when the other one wore out. I personally think this replace old tires thing is as much because they want to sell you more new tires as it is a safety thing. I've run cars on shitty old tires for years, hundreds of thousands of miles, only had one blowout for no real good apparent reason.
Isn't ABC the same network that rigged a test several years ago to show how "dangerous" the side mounted gas tanks on Chevy pick-ups were? They got caught using igniters in the tank or something like that. When the two "test" trucks collided, boom! There are a few discrepencies in this tire "report".
I use to own a tire store and have been around the business all my life. I saw this problem first hand and it is real. You don't have to worry about bias tires it is the radials that the problem is with. After a radial gets old the steel belts will rust internally and come apart. You might get lucky and have a set that lasts but it is not worth taking the chance
So,if you knew the history of the tire,e.g. it being properly stored indoors and temp controlled,what type of lifespan could/can you expect from the steel belts? My thinking was that the encasement in rubber pretty much excluded the oxidizing elements from reaching the belts,and the problems began when the typical "dry rot" and checking showed up in casing itself. Is that the stage at which the belts are MORE susceptible to corrosion? I realize that rubber is somewhat "permeable",and I thought that was why we use nitrogen at work as the filler for aircraft tires ,to exclude moisture and allow a more stable pressure. Does a tire used in parts of the country where the roads are "salted" have a shorter lifespan on said belts? No contradictions here,just trying to learn! Thanks
Think of all the legal crap that can come of this. His tires were past the date code and he slammed into me...the horror! It use to be you had some commen sense mixed in with buying tires. Now the tread depth doesnt matter their old buy new,sell more. We need a governement inspection on these or your insurance could be pulled... or better yet fines and taxes...
Here is another post about old tires. An old tire blew out, and totaled a 40 Ford and almost killed 2 people. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276216
Had Dunlops on my truck for 12 years. No cracking, always parked in the garage and not even half worn when the left front peeled off just like a recap. Screwed up the fender in the process. The tire never lost air. It's like Russian roulette.....
I just had a curious thing happen yesterday. This was on a dump truck with 1000X20's tube type. The tires were not that old 5-6 years, not cracked or rotted but the two inside rears were flat. Took them apart, could find nothing wrong in the tire to cause a flat. But the stems got sucked in and ruined the tubes. Changed tubes and I thought this is strange not finding a reason for the flat. but what the hell, air them up and go. So we are leaning on the side of the truck, and the first one we did blows out while we are standing there. Turns out the flap went bad and the tube was trying to come around the flap into the stem slot in the wheel. And blew out the new tube. So what happenned was the flaps went bad and dryrotted. I've never seen this happen. This is a change in the material, cause we used to always reuse a flap until they got hard enough that you could not assemble anymore or they go tore up. We are ordering 6 new flaps and tubes and gonna do them all. And now we don't have a choice, they are all made in China. So we'll be doing this every few years. And we see a lot of car tires that are made in China now, too. What kind of quality is there? Frank.
Yep It' s the radials that are the problem. In a radial design much of the sidewall strenght is only the rubber as the cords do not cross each other like a bias. Once a radial starts showing weather checking on the sidwalls it's on its way out.
if you have a rv or trailer those tires are rated in years from "date of manufacture" and next time you have a flat check the tire date. had a flat getting repaired and the guy fixing it showed me the tire was 11 years old, 6 years past the expiration date. chinese tires have been around forever, how do you think discount tire could offer 4 tires out the door for $99 bucks 10 years ago. the kings of "no brand tires!
Radials have been around for a long time and people have always known about old dry rotted tires, I question why this is suddenly popping up on a lot of news stations and web sites. I Have run really old tires and I had one begin to come apart, lucky for me I went to a friends house and we both noticed one of my tires had a huge bulge in the tread and I heard what I thought was the sound of cords in the tires snapping as I pulled in his driveway but I still believe this is just a campaign from tire companies to make people buy more tires.
I am sure that is part of it. But more so, in the story, they go to several tire shops and find 10 year old "brand new" tire in stock. I think the biggest thing is when you buy "new" tires, check the date to see if they are actually new. My daily driver is only 9 years old, but the date code on my tires puts them at 11 years old.
I question how much a tire deteriorates setting in a warehouse. Just another thing for the gov't to regulate. Think about how old the recapped tires are that are ran on trucks. Those are radials, have alot more miles on than passenger tires. I am not going to loose sleep on this one. Should be able to get good deals on old tires. Neal
I hope your old tires work out for you guys and others on the road around you. This is not new news, the TV stations are just now getting on the band wagon. I have told friends and family about this for years. I don't know how many new spare tires I have seen that blew apart in the trunk or spare rack that had never seen the road. I still do a few tires for my friends and keep myself in with the wholesalers just to keep in touch with the business. My thoughts are every time a car is rolling it's tires are wearing out not to mention the average size tire will turn 42.2 million times in 50.000 miles, even a fraction of that is allot of twisting and flexing not to mention the trash on the road you pickup and spit out. With all of the cars that are on the roads today I don't think tire manufacturers have to make up anything to generate sales, things slow down and sales will slip but then its gangbusters and it all works out, people are still traveling. I think too much of myself and my wife and kids to take these chances and I would hope fellow Hamb members will at least take this thread as a warning and give it careful thought, please don't just blow it off as BS.
It is illegal to run recaps on the front axle of big rigs. I had a traded for a Vette once with real old radials. The tires looked fine, but at the end of the 1/4 mile, I was all over the road. Rebuilt the front suspension and added new shocks. It wasn't until I bought new tires, that the problem was fixed.
And if you really think in terms of how long a tire lasts divided by what it costs, the cost per year, or per mile is really low. So upgrading to new rubber before they fall apart is not really that expensive. It's a big hit at once, but spread the cost over the years and it ain't much. I'm guilty of running them to the end,too. But everytime I do buy new, It's a really nice improvement. New rubber does behave well.
scared me for a second, the tires on my delivery are about 25 years old... but they're bias ply, and they arent cracking. so i should be ok. car only does 50 anyway
There is a guy out here with a 64 Falcon, he drives it 60 miles to work every day. when the tires show cords on the inside, he dismounts them and puts them on the other way, until the cords wear through on the "new side". I'm not defending him, I think its quite dangerous. But it shows the extremes people go to trying to save a buck. i am totally guilty of using used tires exclusively for over 20 years on every car I've ever owned. I've only had one or two actually blow out. But now I will try to find used tires that are not as old as some might have been. The only truck I buy new for is my tow truck.
No : It is illegal to run REGROVED tire on a steer axle of a big truck. Before I started building rods again I collected big trucks Petes KWs Autocar's etc. But still don't want either on the steer. Also they date check the tire cores before re-capping ,too old no can do.
Tires are made from EPDM rubber which is not permeable or porous, but does degrade over time when exposed to sunlight (UV) & time. EPDM material never really bonds to the steel cords of the belts, but it's all held in place kinda like a sandwich. So even on a new tire, stupid-people tricks like running a radial tire under inflated can generate enough heat to allow things inside the tire carcass to get hot & move around. Old & under inflated radials can generate a lot of heat. I have witnessed a lady on a Detroit freeway running a near flat tire long enough for it to combust! We finally got her to pull over before the fire hit the gas tank! Nitrogen IS more stabile & doesn't expand under heat, but it has no value in the "real" world, only in racing where tire diameter affects handling. It's basically a marketing scam by tire stores to swipe an extra $25-$30 out of your wallet...
The hospitals and graveyards are full of people who thought "it can't happen to me". With as much work, money and sweat it takes to build your hot rod, why take a chance in destroying it or hurting yourself or someone else with old tires? Not to mention the reduced braking and handling you get with old tires. Shit happens, especially when you use shit to build your car.
I had a set of tires on a driver that were just over 20 years old. A coworkers sister wrecked her brand new J2000 with mags in the 80s and the wheels sat in a climate controlled garage covered by a tarp until the day they went onto my $250 beater. All risks of tread seperation and structural failure aside, it's a bad choice. I've never, ever driven tires that slick in the rain, the aged rubber was like iron. I put 30K on em without any discernable wear. And yes, did end up rear ending somebody in the rain because the tires locked at 15 mph, and no I won't be using ancient tires again.
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