Tires Are Not What they Once Were.

[MoparLeo]

Air pressure and age. That 721 tire was made in the 70's.
Easy to trash something. All tires of the same grade ( regardless of brand) are made from similar materials and are subject to the same environments. Tires in the old days were driven on regularly and wore out before they got old. Today these cars are garage queens or driven occasionally on weekends. Just like a car that just sits and develops fluid leaks, time is the common denominator.
Be smart and check your DOT codes. Forget your stories of what used to be. Replace your tires at no more than 8 years or whenever you can visibly see the tire degrading. Or just show them. At speeds more than 40 mph the stresses on the tread areas become extreme.
Heat and centrifugal force combine to promote tread separations on old, hardened rubber tires.
During the summer months the Hi-ways are littered with the tread rubber from motorhomes and trailers that have few miles ( they are parked most of the year) but are old age wise. Quit blaming the tires and start to be pro active and don't wait until you get bit, and then blame the tires.
Check your air pressures regularly( major cause of tire failures).

 

[roadrunnerh]

Just checked the tires on my Scamp... 2011

 

[1STMP]

Hoosiers.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t84ea8ANre1z5y9qa.mp4

 

[mmissile]

What irks the hell outta me is....my new cars come with half the tread depth of older cars. Tons more money, and less material. Kinda like everything else we're gettin' screwed on....

 

[R413]

I talked witha salvage yard owner in California. So no weather and never freezing.

He says he will hear a tire blow occasionally out in the yard. When he finds the tire it's always a radial. The old bias ply tires don't do that just sitting.

Back to the BFG tires. Just like this thread most of the tires that. Low out just sitting are BRG. Is that because they are garbage or because that is (or was) the go to tires for muscle cars?
Gomtoma show and do a count of how many have BFG on them.

Re was a mopar magazine article about 20 years ago a guy blew a TA in Vegas on freeway with 4 people on the car and flattened the whole side of the car on a concrete wall.

 

[6PKRTSE]

What irks the hell outta me is....my new cars come with half the tread depth of older cars. Tons more money, and less material. Kinda like everything else we're gettin' screwed on....

I agree. My 12 Challenger is on it's 3rd set of new tires and it has 86,000 miles on it. I have never even done a single burnout or hole shot of any kind in this car... I just daily drive it.

 

[33 IMP]

I agree. My 12 Challenger is on it's 3rd set of new tires and it has 86,000 miles on it. I have never even done a single burnout or hole shot of any kind in this car... I just daily drive it.

My 2012 camaro still has the oem tires on it, and they LOOK fine. The rears are quite a bit more worn than the fronts, but still have decent tread. I have been shopping for replacements. I did put 600 miles on em in the last couple days.

 

[Nutso]

Wow…that’s good to know. I’ve always bought Cooper Cobras or BFG Radial T/As depending on what was available.

Here on the left side of the country Les Schwab is prevalent, they have had good customer service in my experience so I usually buy tires for my daily drivers from them. Edit: They carry Cooper Cobras.

 

[SteveSS]

I'm into CHEAP tires for my weekend cars. Priority Tires. I just bought a set of 4) 275 40 17s for $425. They had a discount New Years 5% discount too. I can go through a set of tires pretty fast on the '97 Camaro SS 6-speed.

 

[lemondana]

Sounds like I have most of you beat. I have 275-60/15 Goodyear Eagle ST's on the back of my 69 Coronet R/T that were put on in 1992, they have about 3/4 tread left. They look like new, always been in the garage, no sun exposure. No-I haven't driven it in a couple years. Last time was a 150 mile drive. And I don't drive 145 mph anymore, not like we used to. Plan on replacing them when I start driving it again.

 

[440 4 speed]

Sounds like I have most of you beat. I have 275-60/15 Goodyear Eagle ST's on the back of my 69 Coronet R/T that were put on in 1992, they have about 3/4 tread left. They look like new, always been in the garage, no sun exposure. No-I haven't driven it in a couple years. Last time was a 150 mile drive. And I don't drive 145 mph anymore, not like we used to. Plan on replacing them when I start driving it again.

I loved our Eagle ST’s. You could go into a 45 mile/hr corner in our 67 383 Charger at 60mph and come out at far more. Great tires.

 

[Kern Dog]

I agree. My 12 Challenger is on it's 3rd set of new tires and it has 86,000 miles on it. I have never even done a single burnout or hole shot of any kind in this car... I just daily drive it.

Our 2015 Challenger is about 3/4 the way through the third set. Yeah, the rears do wear a little faster than the front but not by that much.

 

[Cojohnso1]

I haven't had the best luck with Good Year Eagles. Although new? They perform the best compared to Cooper or T/A. But dont last to justify. Cooper Cobra is the best tire for the dollar in my experience. The problem? They just don't have the curb appeal of Good year or Goodrich.

JMO

 

[1STMP]

Hoosiers.
View attachment 1280783

You get what you pay for. Cheap tires = cheap
performance. Few realize your life rides
on the rubber you choose.

 

[mmissile]

Our 2015 Challenger is about 3/4 the way through the third set. Yeah, the rears do wear a little faster than the front but not by that much.

Something defective about the rears on my 2023 Hellcat. The wear-bars are fully showing at 3300 miles. I rotated them, to see if it's the position of the tires...

 

[AR67GTX]

BFGs are great for burnouts - until they blow out.

 

[HawkRod]

Something defective about the rears on my 2023 Hellcat. The wear-bars are fully showing at 3300 miles...

That might be caused by the right hand pedal under the dash!!!


I have had many different experiences with tires. My 2020 Ram still has the factory original tires and I just turned 63,000 miles. It is now time to replace them mostly because the edges are a bit worn, but they actually still have decent tread in the centers. I am pleasantly surprised.

An example of dangerous tires: On my 2022 drive across country in my 73 Road Runner, I had BFGs that were 10 years old. They looked fine so I decided to "use them up" for the trip and then replace them.
Nope. Internally, the belts broke.

In 2024 I bought a 1969 Corvette that was a steal and decided to make it into my (near) daily driver. It had BFG tires on it that looked basically brand new - found the receipt for them and they had less than 500 miles on them. BUT, they could have gone into a bar and been served. When I took them off to replace them the beads cracked and broke. There is no doubt in my mind that they were dangerous to drive on.
The caution here is that a tire might LOOK good externally but still be a danger.

Bottom line is don't risk your car, or even worse, injury or death due to old tires. I won't risk it anymore. Old tires are getting replaced on my cars, regardless what they look like...

 

[Kern Dog]

Something defective about the rears on my 2023 Hellcat. The wear-bars are fully showing at 3300 miles. I rotated them, to see if it's the position of the tires...

This is just a theory but it worth considering....
Maybe the rear tire wear on the late model stuff is still accelerated even without actually breaking traction very often.
These cars are H E A V Y compared to our classics. Our 2015 weighs 4250, my '70 Charger weighs 3940 with a big block! If you're frequently accelerating at a rate just shy of breaking traction, you're still stressing and flexing the tread on the tires. Maybe that flexing slowly and quietly wears off the tread while leaving no marks or noise.
Maybe?

 

[Detective D]

Obligatory tire history post

The rubber plantations burned in the 90's. The largest in the world was set fire, it was owned by: Firestone/Bridgestone
Once that happened, the manufacturers were forced to lean heavy on synthetics. While previously they were a small part of the tire to add tread life or make a more cost effective tire, now it was mandatory.
Remember all the Firestone blow outs on the Explorers? Oh yeah, air pressure. MMMhmmm, certainly not experimental formulas required after the plantation burned. Blame it on someone else or the entire tire industry would go bankrupt.

Shortly after: DOT mandated expiration dates. 5 year rule.

If you notice, the age of 70,000 mile treadware passenger tires is about long gone, before the rubber fire this was common even on off brand stuff, and those tires would actually last and run the tread down.

no matter what additives they put in, plastic is not good in the sun, UV destroys it. Heat cycles take a toll also. So even just sitting, try to keep them out of direct sun. Or just understand that every 4-5 years you need to chuck them.

I have tires from the 90's in perfect shape, some were on my Ramcharger. When I got 32's for it, I put the 31's on the Dakota. no issues. Pre-fire tires. They ride nicer too.
I have a set of rollers that came on my cop car from the early 90's. i have never had to air them. They have no cracks. I would drive them across country.
The Goodyear spare on the original cop wheel in the trunk of the car from who knows when looks perfect. Probably goes back to the auction in the early 80's, might be original.

Until the rubber trees are restored, and the consumer demands it, we will never have quality like we did 30 years ago again. Get used to it.