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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> NOS Tires- are they safe to use? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1340840600 Message started by John in Kalifornia on 06/27/12 at 16:43:20 |
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Title: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by John in Kalifornia on 06/27/12 at 16:43:20 Are old tires that still have lots of tread on them or are what is called NOS (New Old Stock) safe to use on the road? I mean those that look good, no cracks in the sidewalls, etc. but have been sitting around for a number of years? There are some tread patterns that aren't being produced any more. Or one may come across the "barn find" that has been in the shed for ten years but the tires look good. Somewhere I read to rub brake fluid on the tire to get rid of the outer layer of "dead" rubber and expose "fresh" material. Sounds bogus to me. I do know that Armorall on the tread isn't such a good idea. I think I know the answer but want more opinions. John in the PRC |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Badass94Cad on 06/27/12 at 18:05:34 Bias ply maybe. Radial no way. :o |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Serowbot on 06/27/12 at 18:17:05 I'd say no... sitting too long without rotation is not good for a tire... even unmounted... petroleum elements in the rubber will migrate and unbalance the tire... and some parts of the tire will be harder than others creating bad wear pattern... Same thing happens to old vinyl LP records... Audiophiles rotate their stored albums... ... errr, that's what I've read... I don't trust old tires... 6 years max for a bike... maybe a bit longer for cars... |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by WD on 06/27/12 at 21:51:57 Shelf life, from a Dunlop tire catalog circa 2005... motorcycle tires :bias ply 2 years, bias belted 3 years, radial 5 years. P type automotive tires: 5 years. LT tires: 5 years. Agricultural tires (including forestry and mining types): 8 years. I have a set of pre-1999 tires on one of my trucks. Never leaves the farm. I have a set of tube type bias ply tires on another truck, have been on there since sometime before June 1974 (when the truck was parked) that will still pump up and look great, even hold air for months at a time. Wouldn't try to drive on them on a dare. I have sold NOS tires at the last bike shop I worked for. Some of them had been stored flat in the original shipping jute since the 1950s-70s. IF you got them to stretch enough to insert a tube, and IF you got them to seat to the rim, and IF the thing didn't explode when weight was applied... they still couldn't be ridden on. Rock hard, crack prone... Safe rule of thumb for most mc tires? Maximum of 2 years post-production or I don't buy them. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by ZAR on 06/27/12 at 21:57:49 7764200 wrote:
Very solid advice WD ! |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Cavi Mike on 06/27/12 at 23:03:31 If the tires aren't dry-rotted, they're fine. Of course a manufacturer is going to say they're only good for 5 years, who do you think makes the money when you go buy new ones? I only buy used tires and I burn them until they're past the belts, never had a premature failure. I've even burned up dry-rotted tires as well, the dry-rot is typically only a few mm deep anyways but you never know. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Badass94Cad on 06/28/12 at 04:58:42 4062756A4E6A6866030 wrote:
Wow, I'm scared to know you are sharing roads close to me. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by ZAR on 06/28/12 at 05:35:07 5775627D597D7F71140 wrote:
Gee Mike.....I'll fess up to running tires on my truck like that,but at least there are four of them on the truck! |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Tim37 on 06/28/12 at 08:52:58 i asked a good friend of mine about a "new" tire i had put up in my shed for a bike. he paciently explained to me. "if you have a blow out on a car your probably gonna be late for work, if you have a blow out on a bike your probably gonna get to ride in a ambulance. now is saving a 100 bucks worth it?" |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by splash07 on 06/28/12 at 08:56:04 Always wanted to ride in an ambulance ::) |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by ZAR on 06/28/12 at 09:06:16 31322E23312A7275420 wrote:
I've been known to drive them in the past but I ain't gonna ride in one by choice......not after thinking about how we drive them ;D .Worse than a NASCAR race!!!!!!! |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Serowbot on 06/28/12 at 09:14:26 7E7D616C7E653D3A0D0 wrote:
Not nearly as fun as you might imagine... :-?... |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by bess227 on 06/28/12 at 09:15:30 1E0D490 wrote:
WD, you are a wise man with lots of miles and experience, from this statement, if you owned my 07, that I bought with 1k miles on it, that i have put 1800 miles on since April 14, would you replace the stock tires that are on it now? the tread is still good and no air cracks. you guys and your ambulance ride statements have this old man thinkin. thanks for the help. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by splash07 on 06/28/12 at 09:18:28 I guess i should amend my statement to say "I always wanted to drive an ambulance." ;D |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Cavi Mike on 06/28/12 at 12:25:24 1A393C392B2B616C1B393C580 wrote:
And it's good to know you buy new tires prematurely - it keeps the stock piles of cheap used rubber stacked up waiting for me to buy. Blow outs don't just "happen." The factors involved don't even necessarily come from defects let alone age, they come from under-inflation. When you run a tire under-inflated at highway speeds, they generate enormous amounts of heat. Coupled with, say, a 40ton load, now the heat is too much for the glue holding the tire together. (yes, ALL tires are just glued together by the way, not just retreads). Once that happens, the tread rips off. Since the radial-belts are contained in the tread, all that's left are the bias belts so the tire balloons way out of proportion and explodes. This is exactly what happened with the whole Firestone saga a few years back as well. Under-inflation. If you refuse to use a tire that's a few years old, by all means go right ahead and replace them, but don't talk to me like I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by WD on 06/28/12 at 19:53:52 The 1949 truck with the pre-1974 tires was driven for a couple months on them back in 1999. The pre-1999 tires were on the1969 truck last year when I drove it from the Seattle area to Memphis. From experience, the biggest problem I've had with NOS mc tires is distorted beads. The wire takes a set and they never quite seat right. Used tires? If they haven't been sitting long and you can't hang your thumbnail in the cracks... your choice. If they are pliable and aren't cracked they are usually fine. Bess, I wouldn't worry too much with your tires. My bike is currently sporting a 1999 vintage Cheng Shin rear and a 2003 vintage IRC front off a former forum member's bike. If the Cheng Shin hadn't sidewall cracked hard enough to stick a finger in, I'd probably keep it on there. But since I scored some Intruder spec Dunlop Qualifiers for $36 each on close out... |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Badass94Cad on 06/29/12 at 06:30:09 634156496D494B45200 wrote:
And it's good to know you buy new tires prematurely - it keeps the stock piles of cheap used rubber stacked up waiting for me to buy. Blow outs don't just "happen." The factors involved don't even necessarily come from defects let alone age, they come from under-inflation. When you run a tire under-inflated at highway speeds, they generate enormous amounts of heat. Coupled with, say, a 40ton load, now the heat is too much for the glue holding the tire together. (yes, ALL tires are just glued together by the way, not just retreads). Once that happens, the tread rips off. Since the radial-belts are contained in the tread, all that's left are the bias belts so the tire balloons way out of proportion and explodes. This is exactly what happened with the whole Firestone saga a few years back as well. Under-inflation. If you refuse to use a tire that's a few years old, by all means go right ahead and replace them, but don't talk to me like I don't have any idea what I'm talking about.[/quote] I'm not talking about underinflation. You're comparing apples and oranges. Running tires down to the cords is IN NO WAY a good idea. Perhaps that's why they have laws about tread depth. :o And don't talk to me like I don't know what I'm talking about. ::) |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by bill67 on 06/29/12 at 08:40:27 I've ridden on tires that were on the bike 15 years,I don't say its a good idea but I have. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Cavi Mike on 06/29/12 at 10:54:49 4B686D687A7A303D4A686D090 wrote:
I didn't say I run them or even drive them, I said I BURN them. http://cavimike.com/lv01small.JPG Gimme your sidewall-plugged, your dry-rotted, your off-balanced and your "old" I'll fill them to 60psi and prove to you that tires just don't blow out. I can also tell you've never had a "blow-out" because when you run a tire down to its core, it just simply releases its air and goes flat. It's very uneventful. Trying to insult me with your sarcastic comment only proved your ignorance, not mine. |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by Badass94Cad on 06/29/12 at 11:01:20 Good deal man, but I still never said anything about blow outs. I'm glad to see you burn them up on the track. That's fun. My impression was that you were running tires down to the cords on a daily vehicle, which just isn't safe in inclement weather. Tires will most certainly hold way more PSI AND GVW than recommended on the sidewall. Hell, I have a 4,500 pound Cadillac with a trunk full of batteries running on 155/80R13 tires at 55-60psi. ;D How's that for ignorant? ;) |
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Title: Re: NOS Tires- are they safe to use? Post by 360k+ on 06/29/12 at 13:53:25 1A27237D794E0 wrote:
I've never mounted "old tires", but I've had tires that were already 3 to 5 years old on certain bikes I rarely rode. These tires worked fine and I didn't have a problem with them. However, I have had three blowouts all due to road hazards; two on the back and one on the front. The back blowouts were bad as the bike becomes VERY unstable and "squirrelly", but I did manage to slow, recover control, and stop. The front tire is another story, and I ended up dumping the bike after I had slowed to about 25mph. Unfortunately, that time my wife was riding behind, but we both were OK, with only some minor bruises and scrapes. The problem is the flat tire loses tracking ability and will try to roll off the rim due to side forces created by you attempting to steer. In fact, to say you even have steering, is somewhat of an exaggeration. Try to imagine hitting a foot deep slippery mud hole (mud, not muddy water), and you have some idea. The key thing is, like so many other situations, CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM is the key! DO NOT try the normal procedures you would try when attempting to stop. This means no heavy braking (if any at all), keeping the bike in as straight a line as possible, and shifting your weight back-n-forth to try and stay upright. If you're lucky, you will still be sitting on the seat when the bike finally stops. |
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