Old tires

[oldmisterbill]

Its interesting -I have a case tractor with tires put on & loaded with liquid in 1994,They have a lot of weather cracks-fortunatly it doesn't go on the road.
I have a case tractor mounted forklift with tires that were put on in the early 1980,s according to the previous owner that look much better then the ones from 1994. The rubber is still semi glossy and the rubber is still more flexable. I have seen tractor tires from antique tractors sitting in fields still holding air (by the way I loaded a few of them and they held even though tied down tight with chains).
It kinda suggests to me they are cheapining the rubber to make more money.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Its interesting -I have a case tractor with tires put on & loaded with liquid in 1994,They have a lot of weather cracks-fortunatly it doesn't go on the road.
I have a case tractor mounted forklift with tires that were put on in the early 1980,s according to the previous owner that look much better then the ones from 1994. The rubber is still semi glossy and the rubber is still more flexable. I have seen tractor tires from antique tractors sitting in fields still holding air (by the way I loaded a few of them and they held even though tied down tight with chains).
It kinda suggests to me they are cheapining the rubber to make more money.

All of those tires are good old BIAS tires; and, like I already stated, BIAS tires are a lot tougher than radials when it comes to withstanding the elements.


The same is true when one is forced to drive on a flat tire for a mile or so; you can slowly creep along on a flat BIAS tire for ten miles, fix the tire, and still get many miles of service.

Not so with a radial, running flat for a hundred yards or so will destroy the sidewall and all the cording will be hanging loose inside the tire.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I have my farm truck, '86 F-350 parked under trees, same with our van, '86 E-350. They are parked in the shade but on dirt, all the time. Is that bad for the tires? Same thing for our travel camper and the tractor. They are parked in the shade but on dirt.

Should I put some kind of flat stones in all the area? I don't think concrete would be a good idea because of the trees. What about gravel? What's the problem with dirt? Maybe a chemical reaction or the microrganisms? Dirt here in Florida is mostly sand.

Thanks,
Burt.

If these vehicles sit on dirt for any length of time, then, YES, it is a good idea to lay down some type of surface that would prevent ground contact.

Midnight: I have long heard that UV radiation will break down rubber. What is it about dirt contact that causes tire failure?

Thanks,

I can't give a scientific reason for why tires that are left parked on the ground deteriorate quicker than those that are kept off the ground; it is just a fact that I have learned by observation throughout many years of being in the tire business.


I have also noticed that tires that are constantly covered in dirt seem to deteriorate quicker than those that are kept relatively clean.

No scientific explanation; just what I have seen and experienced over the years.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

It kinda suggests to me they are cheapining the rubber to make more money.

Very little, if any, real rubber has been used in tires for the last forty years; they are mostly made of synthetics, derived from crude-oil; which is why, when crude-oil jumps in price, tires also go up an equivalent percentage.


Tires haven't gotten nearly so shoddy as inner-tubes have.

The old inner-tubes were thick as shoe-leather.

They could be buffed/scuffed and ground on, patched many times, and keep on going strong.

Now, they are thinner than cigarette-paper; and, if left folded in the original package, on the shelf, for a couple years, they will dry-rot along the folds and be worthless.

I have taken brand-new, very expensive rear-tractor inner-tubes out of the package and them already be too rotten to use.

 

[jam0o0]

we always retire old tires to trailer duty on the family ranch. a few years back we went out to the bar to do something. dad left his fresh coffee cup on an implement tire outside. we got what we needed and forgot the coffee. came back later that day for lunch. the coffee cup was gone. and the top of the tire was blown open. the tire was an old bias low speed tire. but it had to be older than me.

our trailers get old tires cause their free. but we always carry at least 2 spares. if it's a long trip we carry three. plus the truck spare. we use old radials but we expect them to blow up. all the ranch trailers have reinforced fenders and hidden wiring to deal with this.

 

[NJKen]

My motorhome is jacked up for winter..... wheels are still on the ground but close to nothing.

Other than having some fair feathering edges, they look pretty good.

There is one that's making me question me self, passenger side outer dually, one random place on the tire where the feathering is really bad, only on the outer side, about 4 inchs long.

Thats a sign of a broken belt in a radial tire. That is the predecessor to the tread sepaeration tire failure
Ken

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

Yeah that's what I thaught also....

Man i'm trying to save money for the trip, not spending it before I back out of the driveway!


I guess I'll go with them like that, and keep a close eye on it, and if it gets worst, I'll buy 4 new tires in the states, there a hellava lot cheaper there than here in Canada!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Thats a sign of a broken belt in a radial tire. That is the predecessor to the tread sepaeration tire failure
Ken

I caught that too; I agree, broken belt.

 

[Willie Two]

IF any of you are reading this thread and thinking of NOT replacing your 5 year old tires I have just pulled my 5th travel trailer 3,000 miles from home and sit here with two blown tires on the rear of my F350. Tires were 7 years old and they looked like brand new when we left. They probably have only have 30,000 miles on them as my truck sits all winter and this was our first trip into the " Mountains of British Columbia " Someone was watching over us that we made it without an accident !!

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

I'm surprised we never had any problems with the 2 front 14 year old tired that were on the motorhome, those things rolled across Canada!

There from 1996. In 2008, we went and done all of Texas in the middle of summer, rolling on highways for hours and hours in 110*F weather!

Good old Michelin LT215/85R16 LTX M/S

Just replaced them last week, there was nothing left on 'em. Started feeling cord on the edges, no thread left at all, cracked everywhere, should of took a picture of those awesome tires! Never lost a pound of air! Always been kepted at 60psi.


Sure don't make tires like they use to!

We'll see how these new ones will hold up, same kind.

 

[RLDSL]

All of those tires are good old BIAS tires; and, like I already stated, BIAS tires are a lot tougher than radials when it comes to withstanding the elements.


The same is true when one is forced to drive on a flat tire for a mile or so; you can slowly creep along on a flat BIAS tire for ten miles, fix the tire, and still get many miles of service.

Not so with a radial, running flat for a hundred yards or so will destroy the sidewall and all the cording will be hanging loose inside the tire.

Bis tires are WAY tougher than radials, I know that's not what the tire companies have been shoving down our throats for years, but that's the truth. I remember back when I had my Kenworth, every heavy run I made running fast down through Four Corners area in the heat I would blow another tire and after a while the guy at the tire shop instead of bringing me out another high dollar radial, he rolls out a well worn rag( bias ply) and tells me $15 ( this was a few years ago ) . I looked at him like he was nuts at first, bu t he told me I was a regular now and it would outlast every radial on my truck. A handful of more trips through there and he sold me a bunch of new rags and none of them ever blew out now matter how heavy or how fast ( and that sucker ran both

I can re,ember back to when I was in mechanic school I had an instructor who had been a bigwig in the SAE and he had a copy of a very secret memo that had been sent out to all the law enforcement agencies in the country advising them not to purchase radial tires for their vehicles because they had a habit of exploding for no reason at speeds over 45 MPH, but the report was quashed by the government from public release because Michelin had completely put all of their eggs in the radial basket and would have gone out of business.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I have always said that if they had of invested 1/3 of the research/development in improving BIAS tires that has been lost and wasted by insisting on all this "steel-belted" technology, NONE of the deadly infamous "recalls" would have ever occurred.

The really big year for the advent of almost universal use of radials was 1978.

ALL of the really good dependable "Cadillac-ride" cars were made BEFORE then, all before radials, all available factory-new riding on BIAS tires; since then, car quality, drivability, and ride has steadily went down.

If you really want to impress upon someone just how much better BIAS tires are than radials, start them off in a dump-truck or bulk milk-truck with a set of BIAS tires on it; let them drive it for several months to become familiar with the way it handles; then, un-beknownst to them, switch on a brand-new set of the highest quality radials.

If they don't wreck first, they will start complaining that something bad has happened to the steering/suspension, claiming that the truck now follows every rut and patch in the road, weaving and wobbling about.

Anyone that doubts that statement should try it first, before claiming otherwise.

 

[RLDSL]

I have always said that if they had of invested 1/3 of the research/development in improving BIAS tires that has been lost and wasted by insisting on all this "steel-belted" technology, NONE of the deadly infamous "recalls" would have ever occurred.

The really big year for the advent of almost universal use of radials was 1978.

ALL of the really good dependable "Cadillac-ride" cars were made BEFORE then, all before radials, all available factory-new riding on BIAS tires; since then, car quality, drivability, and ride has steadily went down.

If you really want to impress upon someone just how much better BIAS tires are than radials, start them off in a dump-truck or bulk milk-truck with a set of BIAS tires on it; let them drive it for several months to become familiar with the way it handles; then, un-beknownst to them, switch on a brand-new set of the highest quality radials.

If they don't wreck first, they will start complaining that something bad has happened to the steering/suspension, claiming that the truck now follows every rut and patch in the road, weaving and wobbling about.

Anyone that doubts that statement should try it first, before claiming otherwise.

I know it!
On my cars, I run these fancy imported tires from finland that don't have any steel belts. They are fabric radials and those things handle about a zillion times better than the steel ones, that is the step up that you are talking about in the bias plys, but it hasn't caught on in the US because everyone is so sold on steel belts, even though those are the cause of all the problems and people think you will get flats without steel belts all those steel belts do is lead to premature sidewall seperation ( like one set of tires I had to buy up in Canada in an emergency a couple years ago and I had a internal sidewal seperation blow the other day . Those fabric radials don't run at low pressures like the steels, the things are amazing. I used to try to talk customers into running the things , and not a single one would try them, even though I was getting an average of 5 years out of a set, even the ones my wife uses for hard commuting. Everyone is brainwashed into buying steel belted radials

 

[argve]

this is what the Michy Man has to say about Bias vs Radial....
http://www.michelinag.com/agx/en-US/products/advantages/bias_radial/bias_radial.jsp

 

[RLDSL]

this is what the Michy Man has to say about Bias vs Radial....
http://www.michelinag.com/agx/en-US/products/advantages/bias_radial/bias_radial.jsp

Straight from the mouths of the steel belted folks who kept the truth buried from the 'merican public Yeah, I'll swallow that hook line and sinker.
Anyone got a bridge up for sale?