Old Firestones

[larryconnors]

My P15 sports a set of whitewall Firestone Deluxe Champions. The only other marking other than the 600:16 size  and made in USA is that they are gum dipped. The have almost no tread wear but I suspect that they are 15 or twenty years old. They do not have any sidewall cracking but the whitewalls show age. I have done trips at 60 mph for and hour or more several times with no problems. I know tire manufacturers recommend replacing any tire that is six years old or older. Do they still make these? Would they have a dot date code on the opposite side of the tire?  What do you  folks recommend doing in this situation ?

[TodFitch]

There may be a DOT tire manufacture and date code on the non-whitewall side. However it turns out that the suppliers of tires antique and vintage vehicles have an exemption from putting the DOT code on the tires so some tires don't have it.

 

I think the issue with tires deteriorating with time varies with construction and environment. The old cotton cord tires probably went bad regardless of how well they were stored. Newer tires with nylon or polyester cords might not suffer that same fate. But exposure to ozone, sunlight, etc. will degrade the rubber regardless of the cord material.

 

But I consider tires a safety item and figure I should replace a tire if I have any doubts about it. Sounds like you have some doubts, so in my book you should replace them.

[wdoland]

I don't believe tire manufacturers when they say you must replace your tires every 5-6 years regardless of the use. I think they made it up to sell more tires. We use to run our tires till they became "slicks" Then sold them to drag racers.......just kidding. But I'm not about to spend close to $1000.00 on four wide white wall tires only to throw them away in 5 years.

[David Conwill]

The 600-16 Firestone Champion Deluxe whitewalls are reproduced.  You can get them through Coker, Summit, and I'm sure other places.  My understanding that the big culprit in breaking down tires is oxygen, which is basically impossible to hide from.  I didn't believe that song and dance at first, because it did seem like a convenient way for tire places to refuse to mount or repair older tires, but then I had an NOS bias ply from the '80s come apart on the freeway last summer.

 

Good luck!

[desoto1939]

Flat Spots on your bia ply tires after letting the car sit for a period of time.  Do you have this same issue.  I was at a major car museum that has very high priced Number 1 cars and every car had bia ply tires on them and were all sitting on a concrete floor.  BUT the curator of the museum notes to us that every car inthe collection is driven, to prevent the tires from getting the flat spot they placed a piece of rug under each tire.

 

This prevents the flat spot from happening.  I have alwasy stored my 39 Desotoin my garage that has a concrete floor and have an old rug that sits entirely under the car and all four wheels. I have owned the car 25+ years and I can not remember ever having the flat spot so I guess  he was correct to use the rug under each tires.

 

I think moisture will also affect the tires and the breakdown of the rubber and cords.  JUST a GREAT FYI.

 

Rich HArtung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Don Coatney]

 We use to run our tires till they became "slicks" Then sold them to drag racers.......

Reminds me of Burt Monro in the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian". He used a borrowed kitchen knife to cut the tread off of his motorcycle tires. Then used Shinola to cover the cracks in the sidewall. Then went down the Salt at over 200 MPH.

 

It appears he did know the difference between chit and Shinola

[doctor dirt]

Car or motorcycle old or new the brakes and the tires have to be in order!

Bias ply is fine for in town crusins' or short shopping trips but if your going "over the road"

these days radials make the ride smoother and safer.

I bought 4 from Diamondhead for a 1,000.00 for 4in WW, that won't happen again. I could get the same

Hancook with a base whire wall or in a blck tire for more the half that cost. It was ok the first time.

I have a 51 P22 being deliverd in a few hours that has Coker radials 3.5 WW on it and their fresh.

Black walls will be next, I like a good looking car but the prices on red lines and WW is to high just for cosmetics.

 

get the radials, get the front end aligned and let em' roll.

don't forget your brakes too.

Doc

[plymouthcranbrook]

Unless tires wear out or get dry rot cracks I try to use them as long as I can.  I run radials on everything and my biggest concerns have been dry rot and broken belts(wire sticking out of the side.).  I do use either silicone spray or tire dressing to try to protect them

Edited April 11, 2015 by plymouthcranbrook

[soth122003]

I'm with Doc on this. I am on a budget and WW are way out of my price range just to make the car look better. I ordered a set of 4 Hancook's from wal-mart for about $260 and they look great on the car. Something else I found out was instead of balance weights on the rim, I use 3.5 ounces of air soft BB's inside the tire for balancing. And man I get a very smooth ride out of that car. 

 

Joe

[wdoland]

Just watched some YouTube videos of people painting white walls on their tires. Has anyone tried this or heard of it being worth doing? 

[captden29]

joe, you just put the bb's in the tire when mounted? why 3.5 ounces? seems too easy to get a proper balance.has to be some negatives. capt den

[soth122003]

Captden,

 

This is the link that got me thinking about the beads.

http://aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/balancing_beads/

 

This is the video that pretty much made me try it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

 

And here is the tire sizing chart.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/chart.htm

 

Since I am running 205/75/15, 3 oz is what is recommended. I added the 1/2 oz so when I mounted the tires if I lost some of the beads it wouldn't go below the recommended weight.

 

Again it is just an option for those that don't want the ugly lead weights on their rims.

 

Joe

[TodFitch]

Captden,

 

This is the link that got me thinking about the beads.

http://aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/balancing_beads/

 

This is the video that pretty much made me try it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

 

And here is the tire sizing chart.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/chart.htm

 

Since I am running 205/75/15, 3 oz is what is recommended. I added the 1/2 oz so when I mounted the tires if I lost some of the beads it wouldn't go below the recommended weight.

 

Again it is just an option for those that don't want the ugly lead weights on their rims.

 

Joe

 

Interesting. I have read about it but as captden29 wrote, it seems too easy. It is good to have a non-advertiser give a testimonial that the concept works.

 

My reason for interest is that even though my wheels are straight and balanced the moment I put a tire on one the balance is way off. At least that has been my experience with the last three sets of tires I've purchased. Seems that the available 550-17 tires are not as uniform in weight distribution as tires manufactured for more common wheel sizes. I've got access to a very good bubble balancer (1950s or earlier commercial shop tool) but it usually takes a couple of ounces of weights on each wheel to correct for the tires. I would be nice to have a magic solution to that.

[Don Coatney]

Perhaps if the tires are mounted correctly balancing may be easier. Most tire jockeys is stores that sell and mount tires are clueless.

 

Follow this link----->  http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/20070813/ISSUE/308139967/are-you-seeing-dots-those-color-coded-sidewall-markings-serve-a

[soth122003]

Good read Don. Used that procedure when I was Air Force and built up tires and rims for aircraft. It still applies to all tire mounting as well. Some of the other color dots are a weep system to bleed any air pockets or bubbles out of the sidewall of a tire.

 

While everyone has a preference, I also like using the beads due to the fact that they are self balancing for the life of the tire.

 

TodFitch, you could always try and if you don't like it, all you have to do is break the bead on one side and remove the beads then rebalance with traditional weights.

 

Joe

Edited April 11, 2015 by soth122003

[TodFitch]

Good read Don. Used that procedure when I was Air Force and built up tires and rims for aircraft. It still applies to all tire mounting as well. Some of the other color dots are a weep system to bleed any air pockets or bubbles out of the sidewall of a tire.

 

While everyone has a preference, I also like using the beads due to the fact that they are self balancing for the life of the tire.

 

TodFitch, you could always try and if you don't like it, all you have to do is break the bead on one side and remove the beads then rebalance with traditional weights.

 

Joe

 

I agree it is a good read. But I haven't seen dots on the 550-17 tires I've purchased in the last twenty or so years. By the way, I mount my own tires as I had a very bad experience with a local place putting tires on for me when I first got the car.

 

Joe, I'd probably have to swap the tube out with a different one. I've never seen a tubeless tire for that 80+ year old wire wheel and even if it existed I'd harbor doubts about the wheel itself being leak free.

[soth122003]

Sorry Tod, I assumed incorrectly, that you were using steel or aluminum rims with tubeless tires. Airsoft BB's won't work with tubes unless the valve core hole is big enough to accept them. Even then with a dual layer of rubber, the tube and the tire, I don't know how well the beads would work.

 

If you ever found a tubeless tire for your wheel, You would have to seal the inside rim area with a rubber based paint/sealer.

 

Joe

[Uncle-Pekka]

Folks

Any of you who are planning to replace 5-6 years old low miles radials due to the manufacturer recommendation - please contact the undersigned. Will be glad to take the old ones off your hands. Especially if you have kept the car in garage and driven it at least some times every year, I'll gladly arrange the freight overseas...

U.P.

[JBNeal]

just my 2 cents:  I worked for a couple of years while going to engineering school in Lubbock at a Firestone service center, and I learned quite a bit about tires & cars & people.  The knuckleheads I worked with that were kinda lazy and prone to screw-ups would quit & go work at the quickie-lube up the street...so I try to dissuade people from using the discount service centers cuz I know the caliber of their workers that have the ability to do extensive damage to your vehicle.  But the more expensive places are populated with knuckleheads too, so getting a little work done is purty much a carp-shoot no matter which way ya go.

 

When it comes to tires, I always lean towards the middle to higher end of the performance spectrum of tires.  Cheaper tires are good for low usage applications where tire wear is not the issue but belt separation and weather cracking are more of an issue.  Cheaper tires are also good for high mileage applications, when tires become worn before succumbing to weather cracking or belt separation.  The reason tire manufacturers recommend replacement at the 7 yr mark is because that is the end of the designed life of the tire under extreme weather conditions.  The materials used are designed to wear out at this time, and I have seen plenty of examples of tires with lots of tread left start to come apart at the 6-7 yr mark.  Having also seen the consequences of tire separation at speed, it is MUCH cheaper to invest in decent tires up front than it is to clean up the mess that might occur down the road.

 

As for tire flat spots from storage, these can be avoided by lifting the weight of the vehicle onto jack stands