The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Running Cracked Bias Ply Tires

I found two BF Goodrich Silvertown 7.50-16 tires that I may use for the rear tires on my '42 3/4 pickup. Tread is about 75%, one side of the tire has perfect rubber but the outside that was exposed for years has weather checks in the rubber a few inches down the sidewall. The cracks are not too deep and are barely noticeable when glancing.

This truck is used for 90% farm truck at 25 mph or less on the dirt roads of my property. The other 10% highway at speeds of 45mph or less, usually 35, for short jaunts to the market or fishing up the road a ways. Was considering using these on the back and some like new 6.50-16's on the front.

How bout some real numbers in months or years that some of you have used cracked tires on your trucks or on an older car you had. It seems with a cracked bias tire at low speeds and good tubes, you could get away with this for quite a while. Heck, they do it in Mexico all the time. Right?

I won't do anything that they do in Mexico for cobbling vehicles together. I never used sub-standard tires, even as a young guy with little money.

Well let's see. My '49 had old cracked tires on it when I bought it, and I drove it for 10 years (about 5000 miles,) including a 550 mile, 12 hour trip from FL to NC with no problems (I did have a good spare and can of fix-a-flat!)

My current '40 has ancient WW Universals on it, and I plan to replace those when $ permits. But for now, I'm driving on them and I even got up to 50 MPH for the first time last week Seems those old tires don't usually come apart like modern radials. So, I would say, just be aware something might let go and drive accordingly. Be safe and have fun!

Edit: I should add, I would not drive radials that are cracked or over 10 years old, period.

Good point!

Thanks for posting!

Stop at a tire store and get an old junk tire from their tire pile. Try to cut thru the sidewall,,theres alot more there than just rubber.
I would run em but as mentioned above, keep in mind that something could let go and drive accordingly.

Depending on the tire type and load rating, there'll be at least 2 fabric plies. Those are usually either polyester or cotton, you won't see full steel tires until you get into a G load range. You would actually be suprized at how thin the sidewalls really are on a passenger/light truck tire, average is around 1/4 to 3/8 inch, depending on tire type. Some of the cheaper brands are even thinner that 1/4 inch.

Well, you asked...BUT I DON'T RECOMMEND IT!!

I purchased my 1947 Diamond T about 10 years ago. It had 22K original miles on it and came with the original tires. The 8.25 x 20 Firestone bias tires had only minimal tread left. They were checked, but the truck had obviously been shedded most of it's life.

Those tires seemed fine, but I could only imagine tearing up my fenders when one let go, so I found some new Firestones. I gave away 5 of the tires to someone who needed them to move a truck around a property. I kept one as a garage decoration.

Kent

I agree with what Leo said but if the quote above is correct then I think you would be alright to drive it until you can put some pennies in a jar for two nice rear tires...... or, as suggested, find two that will work at some tire store. Around here a fellow can get a pretty nice used tire mounted, and balanced, for $20.. no more than $25.
That is a cheap price to pay to feel safer going down the road.

As noted above I would not recommend doing what I did but when I pulled my '38 out of the barn it'd sat on four flat tires for over 20 years. They aired up so the wrecker could pull it home AND they held air for several months while I got her running. I then drove her to the county seat on the same tires to be inspected (VIN check) so I could get a tag. By the time I got home I noticed several chunks of rubber gone from one of the tires. I decided I'd pushed my luck far enough and got new rubber.

Chris

If you can get a pair of good second hand tires for 40 to 50 dollars it will be cheaper to do that as a temporary solution as having to pay for a new tire if one of the old ones get damaged.
By the way I am still using a pair of radial tires on my 68 Volvo Amazon back home sometimes at 80+ Mph. They are more as 23 years old and 110.000+ miles...

Jianis

Tires and brakes are things you just don’t mess around with. Please consider it may be me and my family coming the other way when you have a blow out, loose control and veer into on coming traffic.

John

The mentioned car has perfect brakes and is used for quiet rides or shopping so no danger there.
The higher speeds were driven on completely empty roads.
By the way the car is operated a few thousand miles Away from Florida...
PS I am saving for a new set of tires.

Jianis

I'll jump on the band wagon too, bear in mind your tyres contact the ground in only four small areas not much bigger than the palm of your hand.
Those four contact patches have to handle steering,braking and acceleration,not to mention supporting a few tons of iron.

Here in Blighty,cracked tyres simply wouldn't pass our yearly inspection,and even if they did 'slip through the net' the Cops would throw the book at you.
In extreme cases you can be fined up to £2500 per tyre!

We do have some pretty tough laws regarding tyre tread and condition here.
Personally I would start saving for some new shoes for your ride.JMO

I can't understand what's wrong with buying new tires. Like my wife told me the other day: "tires is something you don't cheap out on"

I'd be more afraid of 5 year old Chinese tires than 30 year old USA tires-natural rubber lasted much longer than this synthetic crap we must buy now. I pulled a 45 y/o Silvertown off my 78,000 mile 64 SWB-I rode on it several weeks, I'd bet it was the OE spare, it looked brand new inside.

Can't agree with that. Too much improvements in technology in the last 30 years. Those 30 year old tires, or even that 45 year old spare, were probably only good for 25-35000 miles. Even the cheapest Chinese tire will go further than that.
Also, since WW2, most tires aren't "natural rubber", but are a synthetic rubber that lasts far longer.

I'm really not referring to mileage, even cheap radials far outlast old belted tires in mileage, but rubber degradation due to ozone, UV light, etc. I have seen some Chinese tires severely weathercheck/dry rot/crack in just 3-4 yrs, the ones on my own fanily car as an instance.

Well, any tire will weather check after 3-4 years worth of exposure to UV, road salts, oil, and anything else one might get off the roads these days. Doesn't really matter what brand or where they came from. In many cases, it's simply a matter of lack of maintainance, rather than tire quality. The tires on my truck were installed on the wheels back in '96, for example. But they have been kept clean, garage kept when not driven, and have had a light coat of protectant applied when the tires were cleaned. They still look new. Same for the tires on my parents vehicles, an '02 Envoy with the OEM tires, and an '88 K2500 with tires installed in '94. All of them are Michelins, btw.