<VV> Tire shelf life

[jlstuk at juno.com]

Tom, My 65 Vette sat in the garage for 18 years while I took  my time rebuilding the front and rear suspensions. I finally got it back on the road. The front tires were 32 years old and the rears 39 ( all BFG radials). I put about 200 miles on them at speeds under 50 before I replaced them. 

Remember when we were a kids 50 years ago and tires would blow out all the time and we never were too concerned about it.   Jim

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Tom Berg via VirtualVairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
To: "simpsonj at verizon.net" <simpsonj at verizon.net>,  Jim Simpson via VirtualVairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>,  Grant Young <gyoungwolf at earthlink.net>,  Virtual Vairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Cc: Jim Simpson <simpson661 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: <VV> Tire shelf life
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2020 02:32:19 +0000 (UTC)


The tires on my '64 are nearly 20 years old and show no cracking or other signs of deterioration. In most of that time the car has been garaged and/or under a cover. So out of the sun. They are low-pros on aftermarket 15-inch aluminum wheels. Tread wear is very low, except for edge wear on the rears. I seldom drive the car so don't fear failures.  If I did drive it a lot I'd probably replace the tires. That's my $400 or $500 worth, or whatever new tires would cost. 
--Tom in Ohio
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android 
 
  On Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 3:09 PM, Jim Simpson via VirtualVairs<virtualvairs at corvair.org> wrote:   Tire life is a fraught subject and just like many other things, there are
about as many opinions as there are people.

The tire makers all seem to have come down to a max *servic*e life of six
years and most say that 10 years from manufacture (storage plus
on-the-road) is end of life.

The problem is that even in cool, dry storage with no sun, there's still
oxygen and some amount of ozone that will affect the tire.  And if the
humidity was high and the temperatures were cycling in the warehouse, then
the tires were aging right there on the shelf.  And there's really no way
of knowing.  Not only are they losing traction due to the hardening rubber
but the bond between rubber layers and to the tire cords is weakening.

Of course there are many stories of people driving on 10, 15 and 20 year
old tires and having no problems.  The bottom line is that it's your, your
passenger's and the surrounding driver's lives.  Want to gamble?

Jim Simpson
Group Corvair
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