Sears Allstate tires

[8E45E]

13 minutes ago, Nina1984 said:

i have 40 allstate tires at my house how much are they worth

You'll have to find the right buyer for them.  If they're too old, they won't be safe enough to use on a vehicle.

 

Perhaps someone will do a replica of a vintage Sears Auto Center and will want them to fill a tire rack and Allstate tire stands in front with them.   

 

Craig

[JimKB1MCV]

If I recall correctly the Sears-Roebuck Allstate brand was about the only choice for many of the pre-WW2 tire sizes.

I can remember making the rounds to the local garages ('tire stores' did exist at the time but were ~40 miles of back country roads away) shopping for 4.75x19 tires of any description and getting the brush-off or 'go to Sears/Roebuck or Western Auto, kid'

That was in October of 1957. 

Lucky for me there were five Allstate 4.75x19 tires underneath the Christmas tree that December.

They were on the Model A Ford when I sold it four years later.

[Packard Don]

Allstate tires are one thing but the Allstate Guardsman tires are reproductions of vintage sizes. However, you did not say what it is you have so can you post photos and details? I did find the size I was looking for and got a set in excellent condition for my non-running car and may need one for another car but I would never consider driving farther than around the block on any tire so old tires, even new old stock, likely have little actual value.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Packard Don
Corrected a typo (see edit history)

[huptoy]

I worked at the Des Moines, Ia Armstrong plant from 1965 thru 1969.  During that time, 52% of their production were Sears tires.  They also made Firestone truck tires & Goodrich car tires.  The company name is now called Titan.

 

[Packard Don]

The tires I was looking for were made specifically for vintage cars and had wide whitewalls so if you have any of those, can you please post sizes and photos?

[Bloo]

Any 600:16?

 

[414TATA]

I just  have to join in here. My very first purchase on credit was two Sears tires when I was in the Navy and home ported at Long Beach Ca.  1968 for my 1960 Olds.  only could afford two. never forget Sears for allowing me to start credit.  Can't remember the price but paid them out on time.  "those were the days"

[61polara]

I have 4 6.50x16 Allstate tires still wrapped.  White wall. Can deliver to Hershey.

Edited August 11, 2019 by 61polara (see edit history)

[Packard Don]

Still no listing or photos so do you have 7.50 X 16 blackwalls and do you ship?

[Vila]

edhd58

 

The car looks great with the new tires and I am glad to see you went with black walls.  

Way to many people are going with white walls on antique cars that most likely would not have originallly come out of the factory with them.

[stutzl6]

Sears did not make tires in house .  Armstrong Tire Co in CT. made most of Sears tires. I was a Armstrong Dealer in CT.  stutzl6

[Packard Don]

Quote

The car looks great with the new tires and I am glad to see you went with black walls.  

Way to many people are going with white walls on antique cars that most likely would not have originally come out of the factory with them.

 

In this case the car needing the 7.50 X 16 blackwall tires is a 1951 Henney-Packard military ambulance where whitewall tires would be totally out of place but also the car doesn't even run yet (I'm trying to get it semi road-worthy again) so I just need something inexpensive to use on it while the work is being done. Summit appears to have some but they're tubeless radials (but have a bias ply appearance) so I'm not sure if they will work or not on these wheels.

[padgett]

And just for some date coding information:

tires in the 80's were three digit wk wk yr

tires in the 90s were three digit and a diamond or triangle.

this century tires have four digits wk wk yr yr

[PaulH]

Sears "Sport Radial" model tire. Made in France printed right on the sidewall. Michelin factory. 2 codes that could be dates. One is "7206" that looks like it was an interchangeable die stamp. The other is "75 C" that looks moulded into the sidewall. Came with a vintage Porsche out of long-term storage. The tires appear early 70s.

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by PaulH
Better photo (see edit history)

[bryankazmer]

educated guess:  either June 1972 or the sixth week of 1972.  European companies often refer to dates as the nth week of the year, with n 1-52.

[Olsarge]

On 7/7/2016 at 10:41 PM, edinmass said:

Best guess is March of 1959. I think Alstate was gone by 1969. It's common to find them on cars and as spare tires. They were cheap tires when new, they made car, truck, motorcycle, and small off road tires. I wouldn't trust them even for a test drive in a parking lot. Don't ask me why. Ed.

I just replaced the Sears Allstate tires on my '32 Chevrolet in February with a set of B.F. Goodrich from Coker. The Sears tires were on the car when I bought it in 2008. Other than the white walls turning a little yellow they looked virtually new with only very slight cosmetic cracking. Between 2008 and  2020 I put well over 1,000 miles on these tires with no issue at all.  I still have the old tires and will check the date code but I very seriously doubt they are 50 years old. Here's the tire I pulled off. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by James Wright
Addition (see edit history)

[John_Mereness]

Trivia: Sears was one of the first places in the United States to distribute Michelin made radial tires - a huge boost to their business. 

[Gunsmoke]

Interesting read. In the "what would you do" vein, here's my recent experience. I'm restoring a 1931 Chrysler CCD8 Roadster and was looking for 5 tires as good display quality, rollers, or even driving. Takes 18x5.50. A few months after letting people know (and I won't need drivers for 2 years or so), I got a call inidcating someone was advertizing 5 Sears 18x5.50 tires, with brand new tubes, still wrapped in original packaging. Went to see the guy and sure enough he pulled them out of his garage, whitewalls still wrapped in cellophane, said his Dad had bought them for a project 10-15 years ago, asking $600. I realized the implications of old tires and that these werre likely 40+ years old, and settled on $350 (about US$225) for everything. I'm running NOS Goodyear tires on my '31 Chevy that were bought new in 1967, and after 1000 miles or so, no signs of any deterioration etc, and rubber seems pliable still. Key is to keep good tubes in them and pressure at 35-40.

 

I know I'm taking some risk, but only drive around at 25-30MPH. In any event, I will decide what to do with these Sears when the time comes, and even if I use them for rollers or display, I think price was reasonable.

[Olsarge]

On 4/5/2020 at 12:17 PM, James Wright said:

I just replaced the Sears Allstate tires on my '32 Chevrolet in February with a set of B.F. Goodrich from Coker. The Sears tires were on the car when I bought it in 2008. Other than the white walls turning a little yellow they looked virtually new with only very slight cosmetic cracking. Between 2008 and  2020 I put well over 1,000 miles on these tires with no issue at all.  I still have the old tires and will check the date code but I very seriously doubt they are 50 years old. Here's the tire I pulled off. 

I had a chance to go to my warehouse today where my '32 is stored and check the date code. It reads 430. I have to assume that is the 43rd week of 2000 since the tires were on the car when I bought it in 2008. That means they were almost 20 years old when I pulled them off. BTW they're available to anyone who wants them locally for free. I won't ship them. They're not pretty but they are serviceable especially for someone who just needs tires to move a vehicle around during restoration, etc. 5 - 5.50X18.

Edited April 6, 2020 by James Wright
Spelling (see edit history)

[TTR]

As "padgett" (and perhaps others) pointed out couple times on this thread, manufacturing date code wasn't common or required until in early seventies and initially for first three decades was three digit number (last three), like in the case of James Wrights tire (see above  "430") 43rd week of either 1980 or 1990, i.e. 30 or 40 years old.

The coding was changed to (last) four digits in year the 2000, after which anything is like "... 2009",  which means 20th week of 2009 or "...0219" means 2nd week of 2019.

 

And as I and others have pointed out before, it should be considered idiotic and downright reckless to drive on public roads and among other traffic with tires older than +/- 6 years of this manufacturing date, regardless of how or where they've been stored and even if they appear new or have never been mounted.

I know there are many who disagree and believe tires are safe far past that date, but I always hope that I or anyone I hold dear don't have to share the road in near vicinity of such morons when we're out driving.

OTOH, there are thousands of other idiotic things people continuously do to or with their cars (even antique/classic/vintage/etc) that are incomprehensibly dangerous and beyond stupid...

.. and on those too, I just wish Darwinism would work more swiftly and selectively without causing direct harm to anyone other than those deserving it. 

[Olsarge]

Boy, TTR tell us how you really feel. I'm trying to decide if I'm an idiot or a moron. I've been called both, and worse, before. 

[Olsarge]

According Coker's website 1971 was the first year for date coding tires with a three digit number. As stated above in 2000 it changed to a four digit number. So the tires I pulled off my car were manufactured either 43rd week of 1990 or 1980.

Edited April 7, 2020 by James Wright
Typo (see edit history)

[TTR]

46 minutes ago, James Wright said:

Boy, TTR tell us how you really feel. I'm trying to decide if I'm an idiot or a moron. I've been called both, and worse, before. 

You may not really want to know how I feel as it could be a shocking revelation on public forum, perhaps enough to get me outcasted.

Besides, I too have been called both and worse. Heck, at times I even tend to think of myself as one or both and then have to try my darnnest not to live up to such "expectations". 

[32buick67]

Any guesses at the age of this Sears Allstate tire and tube?

I know they have been on the car since at least 2001, and had about 1000mi on them since then.

 

They are very hard, nothing soft about them anymore. 

 

Thanks