Brand new old tires

[ws23rt]

Got to thinking about the tires on my 69 coronet the other day.  I bought them soon after I bought the car in 1980 (too soon).
I got the car running in 09 and they have been indoors with 1982 air in them since.
Now they have about 100 miles on them and at close inspection they appear as new.  (BFG TA radials).
With a little searching I found that these tires are done.  Some advice is 6-10 years.  
If ten years is a tires (safe) life span than how unsafe is 20 years--30 years?

It's a hard pill to swallow and I know I should toss them but they look so new.
I'm looking for opinions as well as alerting others.  I hear about many that have a set of vintage/correct tires for their cars that are saved for a variety of reasons but apparently using them when they are old is not a good one.

[Dino]

I would not have any problem using them to roll on and off the trailer to show the car, but you couldn't pay me to drive with them.  They may never bust or you may end up in the ditch and the risk is simply not worth it.  You've owned them for over thirty years, the money was spent and I'm sure you got over it financially.  That's my opinion.

[myk]

I'm with Dino; your life, the lives of your passengers and your car are not worth the risk.  $500 for a new set of BFGTA's is cheap peace of mind.

I have a friend with a '55 Crown Vic who refuses to replace the bias-ply tires that have been on the car since the 80's; he says the need to replace tires at intervals is a marketing scheme to get people to buy more tires.  I think of it as saving the quality of life as well as ensuring it...

[ws23rt]

I would not have any problem using them to roll on and off the trailer to show the car, but you couldn't pay me to drive with them.  They may never bust or you may end up in the ditch and the risk is simply not worth it.  You've owned them for over thirty years, the money was spent and I'm sure you got over it financially.  That's my opinion.

:2thumbs:I'm over it

[ws23rt]

I'm with Dino; your life, the lives of your passengers and your car are not worth the risk.  $500 for a new set of BFGTA's is cheap peace of mind.

I have a friend with a '55 Crown Vic who refuses to replace the bias-ply tires that have been on the car since the 80's; he says the need to replace tires at intervals is a marketing scheme to get people to buy more tires.  I think of it as saving the quality of life as well as ensuring it...

I agree. It's easy to rationalize this sort of thing as being a sales pitch. But the cost of replacements is small and the peace of mind is great. I know it will take the bug out of my ear.
For those that want to display their old original tires--go for it but don't pop them next to me on the road.

[Charger RT]

Heres my 1998 TA Radials. They popped just sitting in my garage last April. I lowered the pressure in the last two until I get another set of tires. They looked great no cracking lots of meat. They only had about 3000 miles on them.


Tim

[green69rt]

Problem with old tires is that the rubber sets there and hardens but you can't see it if the tire is not on the car.  The older the tire the harder and stiffer the rubber gets.  But since the tire is not flexed, like when it's being rolled around on the car, you can't see anything.  The tire looks brand new.  Put the tire on a car and start using it and the cracks show up pronto!  If things are extreme, then it starts to delaminate.  How many folks look at the spare in the trunk over the life of the car?  Not many so they get a flat and get out the spare, use it to drive to the local tire shop, the spare goes flat and then they think it is a faulty spare.

[ws23rt]

Heres my 1998 TA Radials. They popped just sitting in my garage last April. I lowered the pressure in the last two until I get another set of tires. They looked great no cracking lots of meat. They only had about 3000 miles on them.


Tim

Thanks for the pictures--they make tossing mine much easier.
Trying to identify their age was not as easy as an internet search.  The code is 4 digits --1050.  The two tire dealers I went to were not sure but since I know when I bought them I'd say they were made in may 1980.
Another odd thing is both dealers said they looked fine to them and would drive them

[70mopar500]

you could do some smoke shows in front of the house to use them up 

[moparnation74]

Heres my 1998 TA Radials. They popped just sitting in my garage last April. I lowered the pressure in the last two until I get another set of tires. They looked great no cracking lots of meat. They only had about 3000 miles on them.


Tim

Those pictures summed everything up for me on tire age issues.  I am glad that happened in your garage and not on the road!

[Charger RT]

those tires on my car looked great. car didn't just sit either most weekends backed out of the garage to use the garage to work on other things. At least once or twice a month drive it in a loop around town. A third tire the belts shifted. The last two are still on the car but at 25 psi until I get a new set. No cracking at all.
Tim

[tan top]

 imo old tires ok  for pottering round a show field , on & off a trailer / transporter etc , don't risk them on the street 

[Mike DC]

                          
I have a broke friend who was buying used tires for his daily beater for a while.  He would get maybe 10-15,000 miles out of each one at most, and many were going flat in less than 5000.  It didn't matter how new they looked & how deep the treads were.  He finally stopped buying used ones after surviving several hi-speed tread separations in one summer.


I sometimes wonder if modern tires are getting less age-resistant than they used to be.  

[Ghoste]

                         
I sometimes wonder if modern tires are getting less age-resistant than they used to be.  

I blame aliens, that extraterrestial conspiracy dude on tv with the goofy hair has been asking some dangerous questions.

(that or maybe Mike is on to something- modern rubber compounds maybe? )

[ws23rt]

So today I had new tires mounted to my old school rims. I must have been the big story at the tire store.

To fill it in a bit--I bought my BFG TA radials at this store in about 1982. (they have about 100 miles on them). The guy I talked too was great and was reluctant to sell me new tires.
So I dropped off the old ones to be refitted and as I drove away I saw 4 guys all over my new old tires. ( I do hope they don't try to use my old ones on the street.)
BTW the store manager was 4 years old when I bought the old tires. (he didn't remember me).  As I left I said I'll see you when you are my age for a tire change.

[don duick]

glad this was brought up as I realised I have been driving on BFG TAs that are over 22 years old, I wondered why they were so slippery.

[myk]

Nah, those tires are like that brand new...

[maxwellwedge]

I have a car with the original Polyglas tires on it that I drive a lot. Probably not the best idea......but then again it probably wasn't a good idea to bury a 150 speedo (more than a few times) on bias ply tires back in the mid '70's....Lol.

[bill440rt]

My car is wearing a set of Polyglas GT's that I realize now are going on 25 yrs old. There is not a crack in them and they still look brand-new. Hardly any tread wear.
Although the car is only driven occasionally, I think after all this time it's probably a wise idea to invest in a new set of tires. 

[ws23rt]

It was a tough call for me to toss what looks like perfectly good tires.  But I looked at it this way. Tires are kinda like food in the fridge. They are organic and will not pass time like metal things do.

A frequent and good recommendation we hear all the time to someone that is getting an old car running is to replace all the belts and hoses. The same good practice is to replace old seals that may not hold in the lube as intended.

An old tire that looks just fine may not be as flexible as it should be inside where the plies bond and when separation starts it will not heal.

[Patronus]

                         
I sometimes wonder if modern tires are getting less age-resistant than they used to be.  

I blame aliens, that extraterrestial conspiracy dude on tv with the goofy hair has been asking some dangerous questions.

I know exactly the guy

[Charger RT]

The same good practice is to replace old seals that may not hold in the lube as intended.

So my 46 year old seeping pinion seal is toast and won't get better?
Tim

[HeavyFuel]

I have a friend with a '55 Crown Vic who refuses to replace the bias-ply tires that have been on the car since the 80's; he says the need to replace tires at intervals is a marketing scheme to get people to buy more tires.  I think of it as saving the quality of life as well as ensuring it...

    That's awesome....

[myk]

I have a friend with a '55 Crown Vic who refuses to replace the bias-ply tires that have been on the car since the 80's; he says the need to replace tires at intervals is a marketing scheme to get people to buy more tires.  I think of it as saving the quality of life as well as ensuring it...

    That's awesome....

  he says as long as the car rolls it's fine.  All I know is that I'm not riding in or around that car anytime soon...

[Mike DC]

 
With that kind of certainty he'll probably never change his mind, either.  The tires can come apart but he can always blame other factors for it to preserve his viewpoint.