New Enasaves - w/or w/out rims.

[Fummins]

Interesting thing is in Ontario, with 200 checks on a car for a safety certificate there is no requirement for the tires to be under a certain age. There are all sorts of checks for bulges, thread depth, tire size, cuts, UV damage but it appears tires of any age are considered "safe". I mean we can be talking tires from the 70's on a classic car that has been stored in a climate controlled space that will be passed when that car has it's MOT. I read the 100 page safety standards document from the Gov. front to back and tire age is not grounds to deny a safety certificate for a car.

That means those 1970 BF Goodrich Radial TA's mounted on steel Cragar chrome wheels I mentioned in another post are considered safe on the Boss 429 Mustang they are attached to. (not the treadless tires, lol) When I go to the old car drive-ins there are a surprising number of very powerful low mileage muscle cars from the 60/70's with the FACTORY ORIGINAL TIRES!!! And no visible signs of degradation. These guys and girls would not risk their $100,000+ car on the fact their 50 year old tires will suddenly pop and kill them. Which brings up another question. How come, in my lifetime, I've never read of a classic car crashing violently because the original tires popped?

What about you guys in the UK with your every two year MOT. Have you ever been told your tires are too old and you failed for that reason?

I know tires are living things and the oils in them will migrate out and the belts need exercise and all that stuff. But, and this is addressed to Basic,

what specifically do the tire companies do or use to mitigate the aging of a tire? Surely some lines might have premium polymers or whatever chemical to keep the tire flexible and resilient verses the cheaper lines that will be prone to weather crack and develop obvious signs of UV damage.

Plus, I don't think I've ever seen ANYTHING in any tire ad EVER about the life of the tire expressed in years. Michelin has never bragged their premium line will be safe for say, 7 years. Why is that? If tire age is so important then why isn't a single tire company or OEM user been bragging about the age their tires will reach?

When stuff like I'm questioning is never addressed it makes me wonder if the reason it's never addressed is because there's no reason to address it. It's a nothing burger.

I'll end with a picture of tires I was going to mount on my Mirage. They looked good, tread measured fine, there were no cuts or sidewall damage or plug repairs. They had been sitting outside for several years but in sheltered area. I inflated them to 51psi to check for leaks and a day or two later this happened. Attachment 25846
I shake when I think they could have blown out on the car and I may have had a horrible accident.

I don't think I've ever seen a gasoline ad stating that gas goes bad either. It's just something that's learned and understood. Sometimes the hard way...
I doubt there are many people running around on 50 year old tires. I'm gonna say they're probably using something like this https://www.cokertire.com/tires/bran...sic-tires.html

[Wallythacker]

I don't think I've ever seen a gasoline ad stating that gas goes bad either. It's just something that's learned and understood. Sometimes the hard way...
I doubt there are many people running around on 50 year old tires. I'm gonna say they're probably using something like this https://www.cokertire.com/tires/bran...sic-tires.html

Those tires are not cheap. $2k for 4 https://www.cokertire.com/tires/coke...blackwall.html or $200/yr is you replace them every 10 years. What a Model A worth these days? Are they rising in value? With owning an old car pushing $1500 annually for storage, tires, insurance it's taking the fun out. My Puma stored for $500/year. Ins is $230. Looks like tires will run me $160 if I drive or not, I guess the 10 yr. rule is going to apply to 4x4 tires too? No? What about sled tracks? I know of 30 yr. old sleds with factory tracks that appear new and have never failed.

I think a good deal of people know gas goes bad. I wonder how many know tires time out?

I'll ask around at some drive ins about their tires. I noticed TA Radials are only produced in 14 where I checked, and only about 6 profiles/widths. Funny to think 500 hp. firebreathers ran on such base tires back in the day.