1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
I want to advertise these tires in the driveline but I need advice concerning the value. I know Firestone 500 radials are scarce because they were recalled by Firestone. I took the wheels, tires and trim rings off of my mother's 75 Corvette in 1977 because I thought they were unsafe. They have about 8,000 miles on them. Since they are not new, do they have still any value to collectors? The date codes are the 7th and 8th weeks of 1975. I have been using them to support my 67 chassis, but they will not allow for a body drop.
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Are used but almost full treaded OE tires worthless? Does anyone repro these tires? I am clueless but I thought there would be some informed opinions out there. -
Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Patrick-----
As far as I know, the Firestone 500 tire is not reproduced. Are almost full tread OE tires worthless? That depends upon what OE tires you're talking about. 63-72 OE tires usually sell for a king's ransom. Firestone 500's I don't know about. However, I would think that for SHOW ONLY purposes, there would be some folks willing to pay good money for them.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Pat,
There are no reproduction Firestone 500s -- probably for obvious reasons. I would think there is a market for them, but I would not go so far as to put a value on them -- they are outside my area of knowledge. Hang in there -- someone will help you after they get back from Carlisle. Some have to travel farther than others.TerryComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Pat, I worked in a Firestone Tire Store in the early 1970's. I still remember the Firestone Steel Radial 500 tires. At that time I would cringe when someone would drive in with a set of those tires on their car. At that time they were considered quite unsafe as there were quite a number of blow-outs with these tires. The Steel Radial 500 was a really good looking tire with an aggressive tread pattern. I never heard what caused the problems but they were replaced by the Firestone 721 tire. A buddy of mine at the time who was in the local Corvette Club had those on his new Corvette. The right rear tire blew. It looked like explosives were used to blow off the quarter panel. My buddy was able to stop the car safely. He was only slightly injured as he had the passenger window rolled partially down and chunks of the tire flew in and hit him. Those tires might be all right for a static display but I would not consider driving on the road with them. Brooks Glover (2141)Comment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Patrick
If you go over to the C3 section -parts for sale at the CF forum and search for firestone 500, there has been a number of spares for sale over the last few yrs. Looks like they range 150 no rims to 350 with rims. Also some slightly used at 1000. But check for yourself.Steve L
73 coupe since new
Capital Corvette Club
Ottawa, CanadaComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
A neighbor kid was killed when a Firestone 500 tire blew on his 1977 Vette. I had mentioned to his father a few weeks previous to the tragedy that the tires were recalled and he could get new ones at any Firestone dealer. I sure wish that he had immediately followed my advice or that possibly I could have been more forceful in our discussion about the tires.
My wife's 1975 Beauville van had Firestone 500s with 40,000 miles, no problems, but we got brand new Firestone 721s as free replacements. My 1976 Vette came with the 500s and were replaced by 721s shortly after the car arrived in May 1976.
JimComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
My 77 was delivered with the 500's on as well - and I still have 1978 dated photo with them installed... They really looked cool (with those white letter scripts)!
When I got the car in 1992 those tires were long gone, and I am running white lettered Good Year Eagle GT II's now - but I wish those 500's were reproduced...........
(A while ago I wrote an article about those tires for the Restorer. Unfortunately it never got published...)Comment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Tread separation - failure of the bond between the steel belts and the radial carcass - same as the tire failures on Ford Explorers back in the nineties.
It can still happen to tires with speed ratings less than "H". H-rated tires have a spiral wound nylon cap belt that will contain the steel belts if they separate, which prevents the tire from explosively disintegating.
That's why I always harp about buying H or better speed-rated tires. Even if you never drive over 65 MPH, H-rated tires with that sprial wound nylon cap belt provide substantial safety margin over tires that don't have the spiral wound nylon cap belt, which includes all tires with less than a H speed rating.
DukeComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Despite the past history of the Firestone 500, they should still be of value. They're probably not much less safe than any 35 year tire. When I met my wife, her Dodge Dart had Firestone 500s on it. The only problem was that they wore out in less than 28k miles. They were replaced with 721s, which only lasted 22k miles. I never cared that much for Firestone, but this, combined with the recall issue with the 500s is the reason why I've never bought Firestone since.
Here's an old joke from the period: "Do you know what a kamikaze wagon is?...A Pinto with Firestone 500 radials."Comment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
My new73 came with a set of Firestone 500. One split an inside sidewall while it was parked. Another sprouted a huge bulge while driving on a freeway and started to shimmy in a poor area of Detriot. Got to a better area to replace it with a spare Firestone 500. Another started showing the steel belts sticking thru the tread. One more developed a wobble in the tread when I slide gently into a curb sideways on an icey day. That leaves one left, that I still have.
And that's my history of Firestone, Never bought Firestone again.Steve L
73 coupe since new
Capital Corvette Club
Ottawa, CanadaComment
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Re: 1975 Firestone 500 steel radials
Thanks for the tip to check the prices on CF. The Firestone 500 is an historical artifact in that it is the first of two disasters that ended Firestone's existance. Firestone is now just a brand name owned by Bridgestone who bought them after their final disaster. The second disaster was the Firestone Wilderness AT made for Ford Explorers. Ford demanded a tire cost that drove Goodyear out, but that Firestone met by supplying a version of the Wilderness AT lacking the belt edge plies of the Goodyear tire and maybe other cost cutting measures. The Wilderness AT tires for Toyota 4Runners and other SUV's did not contain the cut cutting ommisions of the Explorer tires and did not result in the tread separation that occurred on the Explorers. Rear tire failures resulted in about 240 fatal rollovers of Explorers in about a year. Since about half of the 1995-2000 Explorers had Goodyear tires (before they were priced out) and half had Firestone tires, but about 95% of the rollovers occured with the Firestone fleet, Ford was able to shift the blame to Firestone. The subsequent lawsuits drove Firestone to sell its assets to Bridgestone. Sadly, the Firestone 500 debacle did not teach them the danger of selling an inferior product.
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