KENS78SILVERANNIV

OK... got a set of BF Goodrich Radial TA's on the '66 that look brand new.

They are 265/50/R15's on a set of American Racing slots. Just got them balanced and a 4 wheel alignment. All good.

The tech tells me the DOT date on the inside is 2000. Tires don't have a mark on them. Stored inside constantly. No cracks, discoloration, bulges... nothing. Perfect.

Are they safe to take on a long cruise? Less than 10k miles on them.

Opinions?

Nowhere Man

I think most use the ten year mark. also those tires are nothing special and can be had at any tire store for around 90 bucks each. how much is your car and attaching fiberglass worth to you

cv67

Nope I wouldnt its the degrading that you cant see that causes the most damage.

Go ahead and spring for another set no telling how long they wil still make that size. Coopers got em.

denneys69

I think it's time. Especially if your doing high speed driving. Not a huge expense for your favorite car.....

Gary's '66

with the other guys. I know how you feel. When I bought my car it had a nice set of BFG tires on it. Hell, they looked almost new. Then I looked at the dates and found that they were 18 years old!!! As much as I hated to do it, especially since I knew I was just in the beginning stages of spending lots of $, I reluctantly replaced them.

KENS78SILVERANNIV

Actually, they are rare. BFG doesn't make that size anymore. In fact, the only manufacturer I can find who makes big, wide tires in that size anymore is Hankook.

Point taken on the glass though... Thanks for your opinion.

Frankie the Fink

My split window had 11 year old tires when I bought it. My 'go to' guy at Discount Auto said they don't touch anything over 10 years old...a safety issue IIRC. So I pulled them off and bought new ones... Not worth the extra margin of danger to me...on a $70k-$80k car...

Zoomin

At a minimum, the rubber gets hard therefore pretty slick.

A friend of mine bought a new to him 65 and the tire blew 45 miles away from home, taking the rear fender off in the process.

I feel your pain. I just bought a 70 and the tires on it are just as you describe. Hate to change them out.

Gary's '66

VERY NICE! I want one sooooo bad but I just can't fit in one unless the top is off, then my head sticks out over the windshield.

KSL '67 101234

My '67 came with Coker Redlines with only 8k miles that appeared to be in great condition, even being 9 years old. They would not balance due to hard spots in the rubber due to their age. My tire guy advised me to dump the tires no matter how good they appeared and buy a new set.

Bottom line, don't be fooled into thinking low-mileage old tires are safe to drive on - they aren't.

Nowhere Man

Not to fuel the fire Coker tires have been known not to be able to be ballanced when new

ralphspears

I have 37 year old tires on my 1973 GR70 x15 Uniroyal I drive it about 100 miles a year

bbxlr8

Check this out. I am a bit embarrassed as I definitely know better, but it is spot on topic & should convince anyone on the fence!

The top one was on my 442 for a LONG while. I bought them new and were relatively low mileage with NO signs of anything wrong (have to check the codes now after posting this!)

The bottom was the backup that I had sitting around not intending to ever use again having used them for burn outs & smokey launch practice. Stupidly put it on just to get back on the road and that occurred during my test run at low speed about a quarter of a mile down the road - same day! Lucked out on both counts.

I show this whenever it comes up at shows/cruise nights and deservedly do catch rafts of "stuff" from friends

LT1driver

i had the spare blowout in the container on my 70 sitting in the garage,,,original spare
my 67 has tires that were on it when i bought it over 30 years ago, of course i don't drive it at all...storage queen currently and selling this year.

ghostrider20

My dad's Lund Tyee boat trailer had the original tires (12 yrs old) looked new, very low miles and stored inside. On a trip to Canada fishing 200 miles North of Winnipeg, one blew out and destroyed the fender and brake/turn light. 50 miles later pulled off to the side of the road for a break and I heard an air leak. Found the other trailer tire bald, cords showing. There we were with no tire. About 4 hours later and another camper and boat came by and loaned us thier spare to get to the next town. NASCAR would be proud of my tire change time, the mesquitos were deadly

Roger Walling

I had a series of blow outs on my daily driver many, many years ago.
The first notice is thet the tire kinds rummbles, and you wonder about it. Within a few miles the tires will explode. I lost five, thats 5 tires, before I was convinced that tires go bad with age. (Firestone 721's 1980's)

emccomas

Some auto manufacturers are recommending changing tires that are 6 years old or older.

There are lots of factors involved in tire deterioration, but to me it is a simple equation.

How much is my life worth? How much are the lives of my loved ones worth?

There have been numerous fatalities involving old tires that got put on the road for one reason or another.

One that I specifically recall was an SUV that had fairly new and good tires on it. SUV got a flat, so the spare was put on. 200 miles later the spare exploded, flipping the SUV and killing the driver. The spare was 11 years old and had NEVER been on the ground. It had been stored in the spare storage area since the car was new.

I recently prepared a presentation of tire safety for my group. It was an eye opening experience as I researched the topic.

There is a group of attorneys in south Texas that are collecting information, and actual damaged cars, where old tires is a / the contributing factor in the vehicle accident.

I had a ten year old radial explode on my 79 Vette while the car was jacked up and sitting on jackstands. No weight on the tire at all, and 30 lbs of air in it. I hear this "boom", run out to the garage, and there is my tire with complete tread separation and of course no air.

The crash that recently killed actor Paul Walker was blamed partially on 9 year old tires, and of course excessive speed.

If you want to read some sobering stories, google "old tires and accidents".

Get rid of tires that are over 6 years old. Don't sell them to someone else, don't put them on another vehicle, regardless of how good the tread looks. You are just passing a potentially serious problem down the line.

The original Goodyear Eagles are on my 18K miles 2004 Corvettes. They are due to be replaced Saturday. I just got the car yesterday. They still have great tread on them. However, once they are dismounted, I am requesting that a hole be drilled in the sidewall of each one. I do not want these tires back on the road, period.

If you want to read some sobering stories, google "Old tires and accidents".

emccomas

Ralph, that is incredibly dangerous. Think long and hard about that my friend.

Plasticman

Just replaced my 14 year old TA Radials. The grip had definately faded due to the rubber getting harder, and for some reason the rears were worn much more than the fronts.........

Remember when tires were "retreaded"?

Plasticman

jim lockwood

In the '60s, the hot road racing tire in northern California used to be a set of Bruce's Recaps.

Seriously.