believe it or not

Johnnydidd

Johnnydidd

Well-known member
I had a 53 Victoria that was sold to a gentleman in Indiana, he picked up the car in KC, Drove it to Indiana on Interstate 65 and 70 mph, drove great, nice car. it had 50,000 miles on it, I thought it was second time around. It had Wide White Walls Firestone 710-15, with real wire wheels. Now here is the point, the car was pulling to the right when brakes were applied, took off front wheel found wheel cylinder stuck, while they had the wheel off they looked up the serial code which indicated the tire was made in 1958. True or not???????????

I had driven the car many times at 70 plus mph, kinda gives the me cold chills.
He put on new Radials found the tubes were stuck to the tires, came out in pieces
 
I have pre DOT tires on my 55 Bird, that would make them before 1970. Of course I rarely drive the car, and if I do it never gets over maybe 40mph.
 
My 1948 Seagrave Pumper with 3300 miles has it's original BF Goodrich Silvertowns still on it and they look and drive great. I attribute this to the inside storage and proper maintenance it has had the last 69 years.
 
I think tires will last a very long time if keep out of the sun and away from dry climates.

Sal
 
scicala said:
I think tires will last a very long time if keep out of the sun and away from dry climates.

Sal
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Not the radial that I had on the back of my VW camper.
It was was new, stored inside for many years.
On the highway at 70 mph, it went off like a shotgun.
Took out some of the fender well.
Another old tire on my Explorer, exploded at about the same speed.
I think maybe I've seen a pattern.

Karl
 
I have seen several places that radials are more prone to catastrophic failure than bias-plies when they age.
 
tubman said:
I have seen several places that radials are more prone to catastrophic failure than bias-plies when they age.
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I have also seen this while I worked at a highway repair garage when I was in school.
How would they know they’re from 1958? I tried to find out when the DOT started date coding tires but I wasn’t able to....... Mark
 
flatford8 said:
I have also seen this while I worked at a highway repair garage when I was in school.
How would they know they’re from 1958? I tried to find out when the DOT started date coding tires but I wasn’t able to....... Mark
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From what I remember from my days with the anal-retentive folks known as "Corvette Enthusiasts", it was about 1970. I know all of the mid-year guys I knew were always looking for "non-DOT" tires.
 
tubman said:
From what I remember from my days with the anal-retentive folks known as "Corvette Enthusiasts", it was about 1970. I know all of the mid-year guys I knew were always looking for "non-DOT" tires.
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So, in the tractor world, corvette guys would own and restore john deeres?
 
I have what I think are pre war ribbed racing tires. They would have been made with natural rubber. They are so soft you would think they are new. I last drive them in 1980 for about a mile. I would hate to blow one up. I would not take them over 30 mph.
 
I own a 37 half-ton stake streetrod. It has been together for 23 years and has a total of about 4000 miles on it. I am currently redoing it. It has never been rained on in the past 23 years, never washed with soap, only water, and never parked outside except when I take it somewhere and it is in a parking lot for a few hours or so. Back in May I put it up on jackstands and took the four tires/wheels off to work on the underside of the truck. Overnight one of the rear radials failed just sitting there leaning against the rear tire of one of the other vehicles in the shop. The tire only had 35psi in it while sitting there. The tire was 22 years old according to the date code and there was no sign at all of imminent tire failure. I am glad I wasn't driving when it happened. I replaced all of the tires even though the other 3 also had no outward appearance indicating imminent failure. I also changed all of the tires on my car trailer which is also rarely used and stored inside but had decade old tires on it. I will change out the tires on my 37 pickup that is not a streetrod before driving it if I ever get around to putting it back together. It has "new" 6:00/16's on it that have never been driven on since being mounted on the wheels but they are over 20 years old and after I saw the catastrophic failure of the radial just sitting there, I will never trust tires that old again.
 
Here's a photo off of my 1988 motorhome with 34,000 miles on it. The blowout happened in 2009. Tires rot from the inside. I had the same problem on my 2004 boat trailer in 2013 but no photo. I do not keep tires over 8 years.
 

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I don't think there even WAS a DOT in 1958, they used 3 digit codes starting around 1970 or so? 4 digit date codes around 2000

Whatever "recipe" is used for rubber articles in general must vary depending on quality or price. Some items turn to stone, others seem to be almost as good as new. Surgical tubing for example. Tires are different of course, though Sunlight and ozone or chemicals factor. Overseas parts particularly brake components concern me as the parts vendors want to keep prices down and the suppliers are happy to oblige. Rubber is important stuff, Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec 7th 1941, and seems to me the history books state by February, 1942 tires were rationed. No more than five (5) tires could be in one's possession.
 
i have some 1950s tyres i'm not keen to remove as they'd get damaged. However, they drive well and appear to have been retreaded once. No sidewall damage or cracking at all. Not sure how i'd get them retreaded again, and i don't think i'll find super high sidewalls again. Pretty sure they might be dry rotting though.
 
dumb person said:
i have some 1950s tyres i'm not keen to remove as they'd get damaged. However, they drive well and appear to have been retreaded once. No sidewall damage or cracking at all. Not sure how i'd get them retreaded again, and i don't think i'll find super high sidewalls again. Pretty sure they might be dry rotting though.
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Depending on what South Pacific Island you are on -There is a guy in Palmerston North (NZ) Who will retread tires and had done heaps sucessfully -Karl
 
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