Tire Age

[twas_brillig]

I tend to use 8 years as a general guideline for tire replacement, and don't want to drive anything where the tyre is nine years or older. But! Does the general guidelines for modern wheels/tires apply to a Healey that uses an inner tube, and that has limited sun exposure as it is stored indoors (at ambient temperature) and only driven in the summer, in a dry climate with limited air pollution? I had an unsuccessful look with the search function, so would appreciate wisdom from others. Thanks, Doug

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Tubes can chafe the inside of the tire and both should probably be replaced if that happens, though it's obviously not easy to check for that. Sealed wire wheels are a crap shoot, too, but I prefer them. If no obvious damage- cracking, dry rot, etc.--and the car has been sheltered in moderate conditions I think 10 years is OK. Seven years is the number that's often bandied about; garage queens can go longer but I wouldn't run them hard (certainly, 8 is 'safe,' tubes or no).

 

[BoyRacer]

If you are just driving around town, that is, not doing any long distance or high speed highway driving, you can drive on 20 year old tires. I have done that on many of my cars over the years. What really happens is that the tires get as hard as rocks and don't have much traction. You can do a burn-out without really trying but the rubber smells really bad.
I know, I know. The "experts" say buy new tires every 10 years. The "experts" also say to change your brake fluid every 2 years. And we all do that, right?

 

[kareltje]

Indoor storage and low mileage lead to the absence of dryness wrinkles on the walls, even after many many years. This year I decided to fully treat my wheels on one of my old ladies (DKW 1000). Tires (Vredestein) were 30 years old and had inner tubes. No wrinkles on the walls, rubber not stiff and profile only halfway. Last summer I drive a few hours on a German freeway back home from a DKWmeeting. So still good. But these I replaced of course mainly because of the occasion of the cosmetic wheelreconditioning/powdercoating...but surely also because I didn't trust the inner tubes which condition one cannot judge from the outside. I mounted the new tires tubeless!

My Pontiac 8 2door hardtop 1954, has 40 year old diagonal tires with inner tubes. These inner tubes must be made of natural rubber because in almost 20 years ownership, to be sure I checked pressure only 2, max 3 times and I added only a small airpuff that wasn't even really needed. Mind you, aircrafttires are made of natural rubber because that's the best. The rubber of these 40 years old diagonals isn't very soft anymore but I'll keep her on 50/55 mph max (no drynesswrinkles on the walls).

Some brands use rubber that hardens earlier than others. Poke a little with a screwdriver into the surfacerubber to feel the flexibility of the rubber. When it gives some way, drive on

Brakefluid DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 I strictly refresh totally every 2 years.
One car I converted to silicon. DOT5. See you in 5 years.
My Citroëns (DS, CX, CV6 already have green mineral brakefluid, LHM. Smart people, these French Citroënists, to NOT use DOT 3, 4, 5.1.

 

[kareltje]

My 420

 

[Healey Nut]

Sunlight is the killer for tires. UV destroys everything. The more you can keep them out of the sun, they less prone they are to going that brown faded colour on the sidewalls and then start cracking. Not sure if applying tire dressing helps preserve them at all?

 

[nevets]

I tend to agree that tires stored indoors (away from UV exposure) and driven little can last well beyond the 7-10 year expiration date advocated by many (especially tire manufacturers). My tractor has 20+ year old tires that look great and perform well. Same with my bicycles, wagons, wheel barrows and other rolling stock. All that said, I just replaced the 28 year old tires on my Healey with new Vredesteins out of concern for safety. When I took the wheels to the shop to have the new tires mounted, the technician was impressed with how good the old tires looked, remarking that there was plenty of tread and no visible cracking in the rubber. Maybe I spent a bunch of money unnecessarily?...no way of knowing for certain.

 

[Editor_Reid]

I tend to agree that tires stored indoors (away from UV exposure) and driven little can last well beyond the 7-10 year expiration date advocated by many (especially tire manufacturers). My tractor has 20+ year old tires that look great and perform well. Same with my bicycles, wagons, wheel barrows and other rolling stock. All that said, I just replaced the 28 year old tires on my Healey with new Vredesteins out of concern for safety. When I took the wheels to the shop to have the new tires mounted, the technician was impressed with how good the old tires looked, remarking that there was plenty of tread and no visible cracking in the rubber. Maybe I spent a bunch of money unnecessarily?...no way of knowing for certain.

I also tend to be a bit skeptical of claims made by manufacturers - who want to sell you more tires, of course - about the criticality of replacing tires every so-often, every 7, 8, 10 years, whatever. I've replaced a lot of tires that looked virtually new and had very little mileage on them, mostly because the manufacturers have been successful in making me feel guilty if I'm driving on 10-year old tires.

I suppose that any aging of tires is important at the top level of racing, but for those of us who now drive our Healeys rather sedately, I find it hard to believe that it makes any appreciable difference. I already leave a lot of distance between me and the car in front of me, although mostly due to the drum brakes and not because I'm afraid my old tires will need another few inches of braking distance.

It reminds me of the helmet requirements for racing. The racing sanctioning bodies are on board with requiring helmets no more than X years old, which is great for the helmet manufacturers as they get to sell a constant stream of new helmets to racers. I have no doubt that helmet technology has improved over the decades, but really, how often would the minuscule improvements year to year come into play in an accident? Wouldn't buying a new helmet every ten or more years already be overdoing it? I know this thought is virtual blasphemy in some circles, and it's pretty much moot anyway because those who make the rules have made the rules.

What's that saying about one of the advantages of getting old? "Things you buy now will never wear out."

 

[John Turney]

Our Club was on a group drive last year. When the group came to a 25 - 30 MPH corner, everybody went around fine, except one couple on their old tires slid into the guard rail, then into the side of a cliff, totaling their Healey. The good news is that they were not seriously injured and bought a better Healey with their insurance payment.

Until last Fall, I was riding on Bridgestones. They turned 11 years old (I thought they were only 8 years old) and cracks appeared between the tread blocks.

My motorhome came with Michelin tires. At 11 years old the inside rear tire exploded at 60 MPH on the freeway. When parked, I have covers over the tires to keep the sun off.

 

[BoyRacer]

Even newer tires can explode at 60 MPH if the trie pressure is too low.

 

[John Turney]

Even newer tires can explode at 60 MPH if the trie pressure is too low.

True, but the pressure had been checked earlier that day about 15 miles before.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I also tend to be a bit skeptical of claims made by manufacturers - who want to sell you more tires, of course - about the criticality of replacing tires every so-often, every 7, 8, 10

On that note, I believe seat belts--at least the belts themselves--also 'age out.' Like tires and helmets, probably not an issue in our Healeys--some, I suspect, still don't have them at all*--and modern cars have so many airbags I don't know if the they even help much.

* Yes, I've head the adage 'The only reason for seat belts in a Healey are so the coroner knows who was driving.'

 

[Purd]

The US Army until around 2000 recapped their truck tires. Their criteria was not to recap a tire over 10 years old. So recap a 10 year old tire and keep running it. Off road, and highway heavily loaded truck. When inspecting tires in use for their serviceability a tire was considered serviceable if cracks were not deep enough to see the cords. The Army does loads of testing before issuing these policies. Just some info for your decision making process. I don’t know their current policy but most of their vehicles have runflats now.

 

[twas_brillig]

Regards helmets: a major issue with helmets is not the shell, but deterioration of the shock absorbing internals due to human sweat and oils etc. Quantifying this is impossible - I expect that my helmet here in Calgary that gets used occasionally on my infrequent motorcycle trips should last a lot longer than if I was a delivery chap every day in the heat of Bangkok. But I did replace my nigh on 30 year old Shoei this past Spring.

 

[Legal Bill]

I agree that you can keep using them after 10 years if the miles are low and they were kept indoors, but I also agree they get hard and no longer hold the road. So spend your money throw out tires that look like new, or save your money and run on the old tires. You make your choice and take your chances.

I had to get rid of my 10 year old tires with about 1,000 miles on them because the shop I was using was prohibited from remounting them by state law.