The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 20 year old tires

Would like to hear some comments about NOS tires. I'm involved with a purchase of an old truck of which the individual has these 20 year old tires which have never been mounted(stored indoors) and have been lying on there sides for much of this time...would these tires still be worthy of mounting and considered an additional asset or, a potential hazard or whatever???

I think they would be dry rotted.I would check for cracks in the side walls.

I hope your not talking about the same guy who told me about these brand new 20 year old tires he had free. I drove 50 or more miles to see these things and instead of free he wants $50 apiece for them and says he won't run them, too old. He wasted my time and gas.

Yabica, where these tires 16's from JCPenneys? And was his name Marv? And where they in West PHX at an empty house used as storage.

I have some 30 year old Firestone tires that I took off my 75 Vette. They have about 25000 miles on them. They did develop some flat spots from the vette not being driven enough. When I got new tires, I had the dealer look the originals over very closely. He said that they could be used for show purposes, but not for extended driving. I am the original owner of the Vette. He said to store them in black garage bags in a cool dry place. No dry rot at all, but he felt a heat buildup on extended driving would destroy them. Hope this helps

New, Old Stock is kind of a oxymoron term.. since when most folks think 'new' they think unused, in fresh condition.

New, Old Stock parts, especially ones that are 20 years old or better, are not often as nice as they were when they were, say.. less than 5 years old. You often hear phrases assoiciated with NOS parts, like:

'In great condition other than shelf wear'
'Item exhibits light surface rust'
'Sold as-is, no warranty.'

For the most part, if the NOS part you're looking at is all metal, and dosen't have any plastic, bakelite, leather, or rubber and has been kept in a dry, temperature controlled enviroment hermedically sealed in a containment vessle, then you might be alright.

No way i'd pay any money for 'New, Old Stock' tires, especially ones that are 20+ years old.. and I certianly wouldn't spend hundreds of hours and countless dollars restoring a truck just to slap ancient tires on it.. unless I was going to just park it in a museum some place.

I wouldn't buy NOS tubes, either.. at least, not the kind you put in tires! (NOS RCA Blackplate 6L6's are alright, tho!)

Other NOS things i'd probably avoid..

NOS Tolit Paper
NOS Medicine
NOS Dairy Products
NOS Gasoline
NOS Rubber Bands
NOS Fan Belts

You get the idea.

Some things just naturally break down over time, regardless if they've ever been used, or seen the outdoors at all.

Now, granted, tube tires are a little more sturdy than their tubeless bretheren.. some say that cracks and 'weather checking' on tires isn't a problem.. so long as chunks aren't falling off the tires.. but it sure isn't something i'd go tooling around town on.

The final thing to consider is, even if a tire looks alright, you never know whats going to happen to it when you slap it on a rim and start exerting force on it thru the installation, inflation, and normal driving process. I've seen relitavely new junkyard tires do that.. looked great till you slapped 'em on and put some air in 'em.. then they started looking like Liz Taylors face before facelift #3.

I would definately not run 20 year old tires. They would be dry rotted. We got some free tires for our carhauler . The tires had a lot of tread on them but the first time we ran them one on them blew out

when I got my 57 panel long ago [it was maybe 35 yers old], it still had the original factory spare hangin under the back, never been on the ground - being in Canada it was the CDN version [Dominion Royal I think], and the place where I got new tires [Uniroyal dealer] gave me free radial tubes in all 4 if he could have that tire

old tires should be fine if they've not been exposed to UV, that spare was certainly "live" enuff to have been used, but I wouldn't count on them lasting as long as new, and I wouldn't pay much, if any, extra to get'em

Bill

If they have been in temp & humidity controlled environment, & no sunlight they would be fine, the rubber is much higher quality than we get now. If not, I wouldn't run them except show/parades etc-although I pulled two off of my old black truck when I bought it that hadn't been manufactured for 25-30 years-still held air & looked OK. I even cut one apart, the dry cracks were just on the surface. brian

When I rescued my 38 a little over a year ago it had been sitting in an unheated barn for about 30 years on flat tires. I wasn't sure if the tires would hold air & how much of a fight it would be to get it home if they wouldn't hold air. I brought my 30 gal compressor with me just in case. I put air in the tires & they came up OK and held the air. The 38 sat in the garage for several month on those same tires while I got her running & road worthy again. Before I took her to the county seat to get her inspected and legal again I checked the air & all four were still above 30 psi. All four were severely checked. I have replaced the two rear tires but still have the old tires on the front and haven't had to add any air to them. I don't drive fast on them and will get two more for the front when I can afford it. My point is that if the tires are free take them, inspect them for dry rot, if they look OK put them on and keep an eye on them to see if they start to go to pieces. I wouldn't be that scared of them if they aren't coming apart. I would also keep in mind that they ARE old and would drive accordingly.

I don't have anything that takes 6L6 tubes.

I've got a couple, though.

You know, my '46 2 ton had sat in a pasture since the early 70's, and all the tires were up, and i've not put any air in any of the tires.

Being able to hold air while they're sitting, and wanting to drive down the road at 50MPH on 'em is two different things.

The tires in mention are L78-16LT, tube type made by Firestone for JC Penney with an 8ply rating, and again they have never been on a rim...dot #188

I understand we're comparing apples to oranges because the original poster is asking about tires that have been unmounted & unmolested for 20 years and we're talking about tires that have been mounted and very molested but I've gotten 5 months out of the two front tires so far. I did have to replace the rear because they started to fail.
Am I recomending anyone take tires in the condition mine are in and use them? No I'm not. I'm using them out of necessity.
I'm just pointing out to him that he doesn't necessarily need to be afraid of them either. Since they've never been used why not mount them and give them a try. Tires in much worse conditon have been and are being successfully used. I wouldn't be scared of them at all.
The bottom line is he needs to do what he's comfortable with. I'm just giving him info from personal experience to help him with that decision, as are you.

I'd sure use'em! why throw money away?

if they only last 6 month's, [I'd bet years] check what the interest rate on yer bank account paid while the new tire money was waiting to get used - not much but prolly pay for the donuts while you wait for the mounting

Bill

I've had 225-70R14 Goodyear Eagle ST tires mounted on my '66 Coronet since 1992. The car has always been garaged with these tires, and they are not flat-spotted or weather-checked, nor are the sidewalls hard. The tires have maybe four thousand miles on them. I'd drive the car to either coast tomorrow with these tires. It all depends on how the tires (or the car they're on) were/are stored.

Thing to do is look at the sidewalls. If they show any cracking the rubber has started to deteriorate. If not, they should be okay. But I would hesitate to use them for driving on the highway, heat will greatly accelerate aging on them. When I bought my 52 it had tires on it that were almost 40 years old. I ran those for about 5 years. The rears were Mobil mud & snow. I wore the tread off before the sidewalls failed.

I'd like to say that I never expected so many comments on this thread.....this is great!!! Thanks, Thadley.

As long as you were not planning on using the tires as a daily driver or any highway driving, I think they may be OK. They probably are not worth very much though. For rolling around the garage, or neighborhood test drives, they would probably be fine.
I would not consider them much of an asset, other than for what I mentioned above. If your truck will not be road worthy for an extended period while you are fixing it up, they might be just what you need. It wouldn't make sense to buy brand new tires now, if you won't be driving it for a a year or more.

You must not feel comfortable with them or the wouldn't be asking about them!

I think they are an accident looking for a place to happen! Not an asset - definitely a hazzard, even if they were free!

Are you willing to put yourself and anyone else, possibly a family member, in your veichle in danger?

Don't do it!

Joe

I have a 1940's USA Fire Truck sitting here with tires that are older than dirt. This truck was parked in the fifties and the tires are still up.

(Course they may be so old and stiff they couldn't go down.)

Once the engine is running again, it will get new rubber.

I'll bet they are better than new Chinese tires from Wal-mart, I can nearly put my finger thru some of the sidewalls,JMO, brian

I dunno man.. if it was me, they'd have to be some pretty friggin' spectacular tires for me to hassle with 'em.. like some sweet NOS Wide Whites that looked (and smelled) dead mint.

To me, i'd just buy a new set of tires instead of betting my life and safety on some 20 year old tires stored in some guys house for the last 18 years or so.. especially J.C. Penny branded tires.. you can bet Firestone wasn't giving them the pick of the litter for their 'store brand'.

Brakes and tires.. two places where it dosen't pay to be cheap.

Like Fumblin said,,they ARE Firestones, brian

The tire manufacturers are dating their tires and suggesting that the tire dealers take them off the shelfs and not sell them after they are a certain age. Kind of like shelf life of food products. One person thought of it as a waste to not use them. I would say it would be a waste of a good truck if it caused an accident and possibly a waste of a good life of a fellow stovebolter and/or inocent victim. Get new tires or only use them for show, but don't drive on them unless it is on and off a trailer is my vote.

the synthetic rubber tires are made of now is not the same as tires used to be made from, they deteriate much faster in UV than real rubber. brian

my spare on my 61 is at east 20 years old. in fact I had to have the ri replaced because it had rusted away. the guy at the tire store told me that the rim was shot but when he inspected the tire it was functional. he said that it would be bad to use it as a primary tire, but it holds air and is not rotted so it is a suitable spare. i guess the point is that old does not mean unusable, but don't go overboard. i would rather have new tires under a truck than new old tires. maybe its just me but something feels safe and secure about my brand new tires.

I wouldn't drink New, Old Stock coffee, either.

Sure it may be brown and hot and full o' caffene..but i'll take a fresh can of Tasters Choice over something I picked out of a 20 year old MRE anyday.

Altho MRE fruit coctail is always good.

8 Ply is on the higher scale of tube type tire but my biggest concern would be the age of the rubber.. would it be as bad as one of those old 'No Hunting' fencepost tires? Of course not.. but would it retain the same degree of strength and elasticity after 20 years of storage? I wouldn't think so.

What you have to consider is what happens to a tire on a molecular level over time.. stuff you can't see from a visual inspection, and what those effects will have when you exert the kind of force on it that it takes to get it on a rim, and zip down the highway at 55mph with three or four thousand pounds of steel riding on it.

Tires are the only thing between you and the asphalt. I dont believe I would chance it unless the truck is going to be used for an occassionl parade or show and even then I would be very careful driving it.

I agree that rubber of today is nothing like rubber from the 60s/70s but the important part is the structure and I will bet that technology of today far offsets any loss you may have in strength of todays rubber.

The tires of yesteryear were built to drive at far lower speeds and with lots less chances of accidents and in my opionon are not suitable for nowadays conditions.

Hobert

I'm excited for the site also, but can u push it into the 1972 year, as, that is when the pick-up body changed from the 67---72 style, just a comment from a father whose son has one.. and I would like him to enjoy this site also.

Wrong location for this comment, ooops, was trying to post to the thread about the possible new 60's truck website, don't know how this happened as I was viewing comments there????