Tire Tread Design

Can it be documented when Good Year first produced the diamond tread design that are used on so many pre-WWII cars today?

Goodyear should know, or one of the big vintage tire dealers.

I would think through personal research you can.

Not sure what type of documentation you're needing but Ebay has some ads that lend clues and if you study other avenues such as library research or google books I'm sure you can find the answer. 1919 or 1922 ads on ebay right now if that helps.

Love your signature by the way Curt... So true.

Any dealer brochures or early pictures would help. I do not put much credence in peoples identification of their products on eBay. I have talked to a couple of tire dealers, but they are a bit clueless.

I have Good Year diamond treads on my Auburns. Now I am hearing rumblings that that tread design was first introduced in 1939.

According to Goodyear, 1908: "First All-Weather tread design adopted - a diamond-studded pattern used with only minor modifications for nearly 40 years....Forerunner of research and development departments originated."

Goodyear produced tires for the Packard Wingfoot Express with a diamond tread in 1917. My guess is that the diamond tread "evolved" over the years making a definite "not before this date" extremely difficult to pin down. I grew up in Dad's recapping shop in the 1960's when the B F Goodrich Silvertown was the tread to have.

Factory photo of my '33 shows a diamond style pattern like the Goodyear "All Weather" tread. And the build card for my car lists the tires as Goodyear.

According to Goodyear, 1908: "First All-Weather tread design adopted - a diamond-studded pattern used with only minor modifications for nearly 40 years....Forerunner of research and development departments originated."

You might know that Mr. Peterson would have the answer My grandpa told me the design was here in 1919 and likely before that. He says that a design that lasts that long can't be all bad ( lol ) !

Wayne

Curti,

I would recommend you call John Kelsey at Kelsey Tire in MO. 800-325-0091. He is the one that owns and controls the Goodyear Collector Series tires being reproduced. And yes, Goodyear themselves would have the documentations you are asking for. 1908 was the year the diamond tread "All Weather" tire was introduced by Goodyear. I will add that the diamond treads on your Auburn are most correct. Your 16" tires came out in 1935 so disregard those rumblings.

Call Mr. Kelsey. He'll give you quite the educational conversation.

Curti,

I would recommend you call John Kelsey at Kelsey Tire in MO. 800-325-0091. He is the one that owns and controls the Goodyear Collector Series tires being reproduced. And yes, Goodyear themselves would have the documentations you are asking for. 1908 was the year the diamond tread "All Weather" tire was introduced by Goodyear. I will add that the diamond treads on your Auburn are most correct. Your 16" tires came out in 1935 so disregard those rumblings.

Call Mr. Kelsey. He'll give you quite the educational conversation.

He'd probably educate me on why there is not enough demand to make the Goodyear All Weather tire in the 17" size my car uses. Closest I was able to get about 30 years ago was the Bedford Famous Coach but they stopped making them decades ago. Now I'm forced to buy tires that just don't look correct on my car.

This thread has been most helpful! As always the knowledge base out there is great!

I just got off the phone with John Kelsey. Ply 33 you are So right. Good Year diamond treads As we know them, became available in 1935.

Thanks Fellas!

I have one of the original Goodyear diamond pattern on my 1933 Graham, tire date code of July 1932, now a side mount. The Graham has just a tick over 30,000 original miles.

That is great!. Post a pix of your car, There is nothing like a true survivor.

. . ., tire date code of July 1932, . . .

They had tire date codes back then? Wow! What does that look like?

They had tire date codes back then? Wow! What does that look like?

Ya, Graham Man, please give us a pix !

I thought the tire might be original so I contacted the Goodyear historical guys, they said they have always date coded production Goodyear tires, sure enough there it was. I will get some pictures to post.

I thought the tire might be original so I contacted the Goodyear historical guys, they said they have always date coded production Goodyear tires, sure enough there it was. I will get some pictures to post.

Hey Graham Man, did you ever take some pix of your date coded Goodyear Diamond treads?

Sorry about the slow response, my life is crazy!

The car is my Grandfathers 1933 Graham, he owned it till 1952, the car had an interior fire on the dealers lot in 1952 before it was sold, so it did not have a front seat till I got the car back in the family in 2000. The car had 30,000 mile on her when he sold it, and it still has 30,000 original miles. I was able to track the engine number through the state of Wisconsin to my Grandfather's name, it is his car without a doubt.

When putting tires on the car, so I could drive it, it had four bald tires but this one Goodyear looked pretty nice, so I saved it for the dual side mount passenger side (for show, and it was the correct size, the other 5 were not). I sent this picture to the Goodyear historical person, they told me the last three numbers are the month and year of production, so I am thinking it is an original to the car tire.

The mystery deepens : I have a pair of the same tires for spares on my 1927 Cadillac. Serial nos G64146277C and G94722377 . Each serial no is then followed by a small T in a square box. My tires are 7.00 - 21 . Also would the serial number have to bump up a digit and signify a 4 digit code for Sept - Dec production ? Sure wouldn't work here , I'm afraid . Back to the good ol' drawing board ? Carl

Uh , oops , the 2nd serial no also ends in C , for what it is worth. Proof read more carefully , old man . Roger that , Carl

I raided my collection of Graham-Paige factory pictures and could not find any photographic support. With the piles of factory pictures out there we should be able to answer this question.

Thanks for the pix Graham Man. This will settle a friendly dispute.

Thanks for the pix Graham Man. This will settle a friendly dispute.

Good morning , Curt and all , If the pics settle anything with an implied date code , we would have to square the encrypted system with the serial nos on my tires. And a last 3 digit code does not work here. I can not figure out how a 3 digit code would work in a civilization which has a 12 month calendar. We have all seen date codes which use LETTERS for the month. With the exception of the small T in the box at the end of my serial nos , all letters on both Graham Mans tire and mine fall sufficiently early in the alphabet to serve as month codes. Curt , are the tire serial nos on your Auburns easy to read ? If so , where do they fit in ? I am getting curious about this. My tires came with my Cadillac in a parts pile including 4 wheels , but no rims . I would like to mount them up and use dual spares for touring. If there is any need for photographic testimony , I could email to anyone who knows how to post pics. I can also send a few pics of my '27 Cad that everyone falls in love with . It is in exquisite original unrestored condition. But as to to the encrypted date code , if indeed there is one , we here have not deciphered it yet. If it works for one , it must work for all the rest . Otherwise it does not work at all. Should John Kelsey be put upon to help resolve this ? Would it help to add to the database from participants surviving tires ? Do we really want an answer ? I hope all you great guys and gals get to do a lot of happy cruising this and all years , and may you never have to use your spares ! Carl

C Carl , I don't have any old Good-Year diamond treads. Mine are all new from the Kelsey tire company. It happens that there is a fellow in the ACD Club that contends that Good-Year did not use that tread design until 1939. If that were the case all Auburns and Cords would have a point deduct in judging.

Was there a standard date coding format across tire manufactures in the 30's? I do have a couple of old used mid 30's double wide whites , the manufacturer of which doesn't come to mind right now .

I have a factory picture from the 1932 Paris Auto show showing a 1932 Graham Blue Streak with double white walls, so they were available in 32, but I was told they were more of an European deal? You would think someone at Goodyear has the information we are looking for, somewhere somebody will be able to decipher the date codes, but they most likely changed the codes over the years? I wonder how long these tires would last, dirt and gravel, not sure how that effects tire life? I am guessing today 25-30K would be it? I am positive through the Depression and WW2 people grabbed tires anywhere they could get them, and ran them till they blew out several times.

Thanks for the pix Graham Man. This will settle a friendly dispute.

Hi all , just got off the phone with Kelsey. Bad news ( please don't slay the messenger ) . " There is no date code embedded in these numbers . Goodyear did not do that in the '30s . They are plant codes and have other internal significance ".Good news for some of you fortunate ladies and gentlemen is that some sizes of this attractive tire are available to you. Check their website , and I hope you will be among the lucky . Bad news for me is that 7.00 - 21 is not to be had , abscent about a 3/4 million $ set up cost . Also takes at least a couple years . Consolation for all of us is that we are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy these pursuits and speculations . We got to be born and live in this Great Country where lots of even middle class people have such hobby capabilities . Very best regards to everyone . A particular thanks to Curt , for giving me insight to judging . My 2 old Cadillacs '24 & '27 are great candidates for originality..............Hmm , so many plans , so little time . Carl