Tire life?

[Leif A.]

Re: Tire life?

Bias ply tires are fairly safe for many years. Radials, another story. I will not drive on a radial over six years old. Problems rise exponentially after five years.

OK, now I get to go spend a grand with Coker for a new set of redlines for the "67. Mine have about 4,000 miles on them and look new but they were born 4105 (41st week of 2005)....grrrrrrrrr!!!! Unless, y'all have a better vendor.

[Dick W.]

Re: Tire life?

OK, now I get to go spend a grand with Coker for a new set of redlines for the "67. Mine have about 4,000 miles on them and look new but they were born 4105 (41st week of 2005)....grrrrrrrrr!!!! Unless, y'all have a better vendor.

Your Cokers are bias ply are they not? If so unless you are doing high speed driving or have run the tire (s) seriously low, I would just keep an eye for dry rot and cracking on the sidewalks and in the tread grooves. Absent of that I would not be uncomfortable driving short trips and an occasional highway run. Keep in mind UV rays and ozone are enemies of rubber.

[Jim D.]

Re: Tire life?

Bias ply tires are fairly safe for many years. Radials, another story. I will not drive on a radial over six years old. Problems rise exponentially after five years.

The last time I checked, radials tires were made of the same rubber as bias ply tires. I love how internet legend/B.S. turns into the truth. Add in a little B.S. from the tire companies, so they can sell more tires, mix it with a bit of lawyer/liability B.S. and instantly, you have indisputable fact.

[Dick W.]

Re: Tire life?

The last time I checked, radials tires were made of the same rubber as bias ply tires. I love how internet legend/B.S. turns into the truth. Add in a little B.S. from the tire companies, so they can sell more tires, mix it with a bit of lawyer/liability B.S. and instantly, you have indisputable fact.

Think what you want Jin. I saw several failures first hand. In a past life I worked in fleet maintenance management. of a fleet that ran several thousand vehicles. We experienced failures in passenger car and truck tires. We noted the build dates of all failed ties. After six years the carcass failure rate rose exponentially.

Sure rubber is rubber, but the construction differences are day and night apart.

[Duke W.]

Re: Tire life?

The last time I checked, radials tires were made of the same rubber as bias ply tires. I love how internet legend/B.S. turns into the truth. Add in a little B.S. from the tire companies, so they can sell more tires, mix it with a bit of lawyer/liability B.S. and instantly, you have indisputable fact.

Radial tires are more subject to tread separation failure than bias ply due to the heavy steel belt package, but the spiral wound nylon cap belt on H and above speed rated tires will almost always prevent the tire from disintegrating if there is an internal structural failure. Heat is the enemy, so underinflated or overloaded tires are subject to failure in freeway speed service in hot weather. H and above rated tires can handle higher temperatures due to better design and materials.

Corvettes have high total tire load capacity relative to their weight, and what I call the "load margin" - the total tire load capacity at maximum COLD pressure placarded on the sidewall divided by gross vehicle weight is nearly 2:1.

Tire load capicity goes up with inflation pressure. The placarded maximum load is at maximum recommended COLD pressure, which can range from 35 psi on typical S or T rated tires to 51 psi for very high speed rated tires.

I recommend 32 psi cold pressure for small block Corvettes and 34/32 for big blocks due to their increased front end weight.

The service life of a tire begins with the quality of design, materials, and construction processes, and the higher the speed rating the better they are. Then it's a function of service. A daily driver's tires that bake in the sun all day are subject to UV degradation. A high quality tire that spends most of its life in a dark garage and doesn't accumulate a lot of annual mileage should give at least a couple of decades of safe and reliable service.

The above is why an ytire life limit is completely arbitrary. There are too many variables. A few years ago Congress was considering a law to limit tire age, but fortunately industry technical experts convinced them for the above reasons that such any legislated age limit is totally arbitrary and not in the best interest of the citizens.

The UTQG data placarded on all tires has letter codes to indicate wet traction and heat resistance. Don't buy a tire with a heat resistance rating of less than A unless it's an H or above speed rated DOT legal racing tire. Some of them are designed to heat up quickly and don't qualify for an A, but they can handle the heat.

Duke

[Calvin M.]

Re: Tire life?

One of the popular vintage tire manufacturers told me that their radials for C1 - 2 cars, with optimum use, would be safe for a good 20 years. 'Optimum use' was characterized as maintaining proper pressure, inside parking, very low mileage, and inspection of the tread and sidewall for cracks.

[Jack H.]

Re: Tire life?

So, according to you, I should buy new tires for my 08 truck that has only 15K miles. I don't think so. It took 12 years to wear out the tires on my old truck. Never had a tire issue.

And you better hope that you never do...at least in a few more years.

I also have a truck that doesn't see as many miles as it does years. It's got 10 year old Michelins on it that still have over 1/2 of the tread left. They USED TO BE great tires. Unfortunately, they are hard as a rock now and are borderline unsafe, especially on wet pavement which I avoid driving on until I get new tires. I also found out the hard way that its very hard to get anyone who will service them. Had a flat and every place I took it to looked at the date code and refused to work on it...claimed they are not allowed by law to service a tire that is older than (I forget now, 8 years old maybe) except to deflate and replace. I had to keep driving until I found an old Mom & Pop place that didn't care about regulations. Seems like most new tires don't have near the shelf life that they used to with everyone driving more and more miles these days. Cars/trucks that sit don't fit their business model.

Just a data point I thought I'd share.

[Leif A.]

Re: Tire life?

Your Cokers are bias ply are they not? If so unless you are doing high speed driving or have run the tire (s) seriously low, I would just keep an eye for dry rot and cracking on the sidewalks and in the tread grooves. Absent of that I would not be uncomfortable driving short trips and an occasional highway run. Keep in mind UV rays and ozone are enemies of rubber.

Dick,I'm running Coker's radial redline (205/75-15). Car lives in a climate controlled garage 99% of the time...only out on nice Saturdays and Sundays for short driving trips and occasional highway.

[Robert K.]

Re: Tire life?

I had a BF Goodrich all terrain tire explode on my pickup at 5 years and 33 days after purchase and took the rear fender with it. I was empty driving about 60 mph on the interstate. Tires were properly inflated. I mean it exploded with no worning. Lessons learned. Read the fine print, most tire manufactures only warranty tires for 5 years from date of purchase. I see some do 6 years now. BF Goodrich rejected my claim for damage, I still had 5-7/32s of tread left. I filed a claim with the Better Business and then BF Goodrich was more than happy to prorate a new set of tires and pay for the damage to my truck in order to settle the claim. Thank you BBB. Sure would hate to see that happen to one of our vettes.

I had another BF Goodrich throw the thread on the rear of another truck, but that was because I had loaded my camper in the bed without increasing my tire pressure. My bad.

I too have a set of, what else, BF Goodrich (G70x15) that are over 25 years old, under 2000 miles, never been in the sun very long, etc. and it is scaring me to drive it.

[Ralph E.]

Re: Tire life?

I had a BF Goodrich all terrain tire explode on my pickup at 5 years and 33 days after purchase and took the rear fender with it. I was empty driving about 60 mph on the interstate. Tires were properly inflated. I mean it exploded with no worning. Lessons learned. Read the fine print, most tire manufactures only warranty tires for 5 years from date of purchase. I see some do 6 years now. BF Goodrich rejected my claim for damage, I still had 5-7/32s of tread left. I filed a claim with the Better Business and then BF Goodrich was more than happy to prorate a new set of tires and pay for the damage to my truck in order to settle the claim. Thank you BBB. Sure would hate to see that happen to one of our vettes.

I had another BF Goodrich throw the thread on the rear of another truck, but that was because I had loaded my camper in the bed without increasing my tire pressure. My bad.

I too have a set of, what else, BF Goodrich (G70x15) that are over 25 years old, under 2000 miles, never been in the sun very long, etc. and it is scaring me to drive it.

This should be a reminder to all the trailer queens, You better change those trailer tires.

[Dick W.]

Re: Tire life?

This should be a reminder to all the trailer queens, You better change those trailer tires.

I do not trust ST rated tires over three years, there is something about the construction of the carcasses that does not lend credence to a long lived tire.

[Bill W.]

Re: Tire life?

A friend has a 74 with GT Radials that had less than 1000 miles but were about 8 to 10 years old . One night they heard a boom in the garage and went out to find a fist size hole in the tire .