Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

[Bob B.]

OK, so we all remember the infamous Firestone 500 recall in the mid 70's. Tread separation, blow outs etc.
I blew one out in 76 at over 100 mph, but that is another story, and a new quarter panel etc.
I have a nice survivor 75 Convertible that I thought I would be clever and put a set of original NOS Firestones 500's on-
very period correct, mabie even original to my car, my spare was a brand new Firestone 500. I hunted Ebay and finally bought 4 brand new spares, never used, marking on the treads, mold marks etc, clever, unusual- not so bright. See the attached photos,
2 out of five have exploded just sitting in the garage. They all were very low on tire pressure, so I inflated to 32 psi just like the side of the tire says, AND BOOM. Had they been in the spare, right next to the gas tank, or near somebody, let alone on the freeway . . . ??? fair warning- these tires are more dangers now than ever.
Photos attached
Bob
#967

[Michael B.]

[Patrick H.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Most I know will have tubes placed inside them, and inflate to 20-24 psi.
I'm not surprised yours blew.

[Mark D.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

I have a set of 1973 original white lettered 500s in the basement. Lowered the psi to 12. One blew out on the rack:-))

[Bob B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Most I know will have tubes placed inside them, and inflate to 20-24 psi.
I'm not surprised yours blew.

Patrick- good advice, I will do that THANKS< Bob

[Danny P.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

OK, so we all remember the infamous Firestone 500 recall in the mid 70's. Tread separation, blow outs etc.
I blew one out in 76 at over 100 mph, but that is another story, and a new quarter panel etc.
I have a nice survivor 75 Convertible that I thought I would be clever and put a set of original NOS Firestones 500's on-
very period correct, mabie even original to my car, my spare was a brand new Firestone 500. I hunted Ebay and finally bought 4 brand new spares, never used, marking on the treads, mold marks etc, clever, unusual- not so bright. See the attached photos,
2 out of five have exploded just sitting in the garage. They all were very low on tire pressure, so I inflated to 32 psi just like the side of the tire says, AND BOOM. Had they been in the spare, right next to the gas tank, or near somebody, let alone on the freeway . . . ??? fair warning- these tires are more dangers now than ever.
Photos attached
Bob
#967

I think NCRS should ban the use of NonDot for Judging and give credit for the repro. as long as its the same make and size that factory spec. used, members are trying to get the extra 4 point and drive around with these 55 years old tires on there car.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Had one blow on my old 73 with less than 20,000 mi. on them the Corvette and also tore up a rear fender back in the 90'S. Would not have them anywhere around my garage.

[Bob B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

i think NCRS should ban the use of NonDot for Judging and give credit for the repro. as long as its the same make and size that factory spec. used, members are trying to get the extra 4 point and drive around with these 55 years old tires on there car.

ABSOLUTELY !!!!!!
Same with BATTERIES

[Mark D.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Hopefully, NCRS will uphold the high standards and not give in to the incessant whining of the vocal minority.
Long live NCRS, real tires, windshields, shocks and batteries!

[Bob B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Hopefully, NCRS will uphold the high standards and not give in to the incessant whining of the vocal minority.
Long live NCRS, real tires, windshields, shocks and batteries!

Incessant whinning ???? Really ??? I am all for our high standards, and long live NCRS

BUT lets have a open mind to reality and safety. Shocks and glass, absolutely original is best.
Tires and battieries our national judges might want to take a look at- IF the MAJORITY thinks a 50 year old Firestone 500 is safe, so be it.
Batteries are a whole different deal, who has a 50 year old battery ? You have not lived until you are close to a battery when it explodes.
Keep smiling
Bob #967

[Steve B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Shouldn't the guy who goes to the trouble of putting tubes on his 500s so that he receive full credit be rewarded? I had a 900 mile 75 L82 4 speed convertible so I understand that the 500s are absolute junk. I would never consider putting them on a car without tubes. My 2 cents is that a 5 point deduct for repo tires is more than fair, in fact it borders on being too generous.

[Bob B.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Steve- you are 99% correct, if a guy hunts down 5 original Firestone 500's or any other original tire proper for their year car, then YES
5% add vs repros is earned. I did it for my 75 Convertible. The idea of putting a tube in the tire is interesting, Nascar does it on speedways,
but I spent some time of the internet looking up the purpose of tubes- they are meant to hold air in the tire- I can not find any mention of additional safety preventing blow outs. Coker recommends against using tubes and they are pretty experienced. IF we have any qualified tire engineer members how about your input. For the time being I will keep my 500's off the car, safely stored, put them on only at the last minute for judging and keep tire pressure in the 15-20 PSI range and cross my fingers. One of the real beauties of NCRS and Tech forum is the open discussion of petty things like this that we care about, Its not incessant winning so much as a open forum to exchange ideas and information.
Long live NCRS and our Corvette Thanks all
BTW I made up a very proper tire pressure sticker / drivers door for 73-75 had to make 100 minimum, if you need one let me know

[Duke W.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Shouldn't the guy who goes to the trouble of putting tubes on his 500s so that he receive full credit be rewarded? I had a 900 mile 75 L82 4 speed convertible so I understand that the 500s are absolute junk. I would never consider putting them on a car without tubes. My 2 cents is that a 5 point deduct for repo tires is more than fair, in fact it borders on being too generous.

A tube will not prevent or mitigate a structural failure in the tire carcass.

The first set of radials I installed on my SWC in 1964 were tube type 6.70-15 Michelin X. Michelin was very specific that THEIR special construction tubes had to be used due the different deflection characteristics of radial versus bias ply tires and they warned against using conventional tubes intended for bias play tires.

I suspect the same may apply nowadays, but are redial tubes available today given that tube type radials haven't been available for at least 50 years?

Duke

[Robert R.]

[Guy F.]

Re: Firestone 500's more dangerous than ever.

Robert,

I took the original set off my '75 in in 1976. I store them in the basement. I try to maintain the pressure at 12-15 psi. No issues ever, other than they lose pressure over time.

I took one out for a photo op for the 3rd revision of the 1975-1977 TIM&JG. I pumped it up to 20psi for the pic. Tires are for display purposes only