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How “new” are your new tires?


greenie

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5 minutes ago, broker-len said:

I did what every one said not to,,,,,they told me it was unsafe,,, that the tire would be dry rotted and would explode ------I bought a set of tires ---15 to 20 years ago from a place in Hershey PA for my 32 Plymouth----had them stored in dry basement,,,tubes in unheated garage   put them on a year ago---did just a little driving at this point  no cracks, no separation . and after taking the weights off my wheels and painting them they seem to drive down the road with no shimmy or vibration----with a 6 wheel car just did not want to go for   $ 1000  plus-------am I just lucky ?

PLYMOUTH pa.JPG

Plymouth A.JPG

 

1 minute ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

For now...

 

Non-Belted, Non-radials tend not to do as much damage when they let go, and sometimes it it chunks of tread chunking off, but when a belted radial goes, typically you have substantial bodywork damaged.

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Just ordered new tires for my "Roadster" couple of days ago to replace now worn +/-4 year old ones and they should be here by next week.

DOMs are "expected" to be 4020 and 4520, so quite "fresh" and I'll likely wear them out within next 3-4 years, long before they become "too old", i.e. before their "use by" date (= 6 years, max).

 

I also recently had another client car brought to my shop for various services, but its tires with less than 2K miles on them (since I replaced them for him in 2006) have DOMs of 5203 and while they still "appear like new",  I told the client I can't/won't road test it until new, "fresher" set is on it, so I'm placing an order within next week or two. Cost will be about $2K for a set of 4 and worth every penny for the safety of mine, his and everyone else’s on the road(s), not to mention his car.

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
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I buy the cheapest tires I can for my daily drivers. Because they age out anyway for most of them. And, the last  set of Michelins I had threw a cap on the interstate, whipping a front fender. Even the cheapest wear waayyy better than those tires from the 60s and 70s that I started driving on. I have so many daily drivers none get more than 20K miles a year on them. The 84 Ford truck averaged 600 miles a year for the last ten years! I replaced the snow tires in 2018 that I put on when I got it in 2000!😲

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Bear in mind that if everyone starts insisting that they will not buy new tires more than 2 or so years old manufacturers will simply stop producing the slower selling sizes.  Why would a seller pay for a run of say 25 inch tires knowing it might take 5+ years to sell the batch? But what do I know?  Dad was in the recapping business and I ran recaps on my Jag 140 for over a year, including some very high speed runs. Would I do that again?. No I would not but I would have no problem with 5 year old tires if they were well stored. 

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With all things considered, including what is literally running on them and the amount of proverbial "abuse" they receive during active use, "fresh" and good set of tires is probably easiest, simplest and most cost-effective maintenance/service item in any vehicle, modern or vintage. 

 

Besides, I believe if all self-respecting, safety conscious vintage car drivers/owners "insisted" and replaced their tires more frequently, manufacturers would likely sell and produce more which could possibly even allow pricing per each be less. You know, supply and demand.

 

Of course if the subject vehicle is only intended for static display (at museums, shows, etc...) new tires are as moot as any other functional/operational feature.

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
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But then again, what do I know after only +/-40 years and few hundred thousand miles of driving/enjoying dozens of vintage cars, being diligent about the age and condition of tires in them has limited my personal roadside tire emergencies to less than a handful.

 

Most of my roadside tire change/repair experiences seem to have stemmed from voluntary assistance offered to other road users with theirs, although vast majority has been something other than vintage vehicles.

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
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I have a set of “brand new” Cooper Cobra tires on my 57 Chevy that unfortunately will not get any mileage on them. I put them on when I started building the car thinking I would have it done quickly, but that didn’t work out. The have zero miles but are 14 years old now and will get pulled off and replaced. 

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1 minute ago, AURktman said:

I have a set of “brand new” Cooper Cobra tires on my 57 Chevy that unfortunately will not get any mileage on them. I put them on when I started building the car thinking I would have it done quickly, but that didn’t work out. The have zero miles but are 14 years old now and will get pulled off and replaced. 

 

Sorry this happened to you-

Some of us have learned to use "ROLLER" tires during a restoration,

and to order the new proper tires when nearing completion.

Don't feel alone as many of us have gone down this road before -

Live and Learn, but be sure to get the new ones on before any serious road work,

and good luck with your '57 restoration.

 

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I will probably use them on the initial neighborhood drive around my culdesac but since I will switch over to a common size for all 4 I will swap out wheel and tire before it leaves the neighborhood. 
 

 

E02D5692-AEB1-4746-9A1D-DF4E16057A79.jpeg

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I'm not sure my tires even have date codes on them. They can't be a day over 40 years old. Probably have 95% of the tread and are as round as this laptop. Good thing I only drive back roads and never over 70 mph. The rubber is so hard that rocks run in fear when they see me coming. 😲

They will get replaced this spring. 

 

 

 

Edited by Fossil (see edit history)
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14 hours ago, AURktman said:

I have a set of “brand new” Cooper Cobra tires on my 57 Chevy that unfortunately will not get any mileage on them. I put them on when I started building the car thinking I would have it done quickly, but that didn’t work out. The have zero miles but are 14 years old now and will get pulled off and replaced. 

I’m not sure if it’s any comfort, but you’re far from first (or last) to make this, one of the most common rookie “mistakes” in this hobby.

Probably done daily by many others all over the globe.

 

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
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