When to change tyres on a Classic ?
Discussion
Are those the DOT codes that say 4582? If so they're 37 years old!
Have experience of some Continentals that had around 4mm, but were five years old, and had 'gone off'. My face looked like this
, when I unintentionally drifted my new-to-me Porsche round a roundabout in mildly damp conditions 
The tyres were replaced with some new Goodyears soon after.
Have experience of some Continentals that had around 4mm, but were five years old, and had 'gone off'. My face looked like this
, when I unintentionally drifted my new-to-me Porsche round a roundabout in mildly damp conditions The tyres were replaced with some new Goodyears soon after.
Replace them.
Cracking is never a great sign, in between tread I can accept within reason, sidewalls are a no no.
I have gone years without even a puncture to having a blow out and two tyre failures in the last 18 months......both failures started with cracking in the side wall and ended up with rapid deflations (sidewall ripped away from tread)..... both Goodyears, both less than 5 yrs old and both with 3mm + of tread left on them.....on different cars.
I work on the basis of replacing at 10yrs regardless of mileage on my classics.
Cracking is never a great sign, in between tread I can accept within reason, sidewalls are a no no.
I have gone years without even a puncture to having a blow out and two tyre failures in the last 18 months......both failures started with cracking in the side wall and ended up with rapid deflations (sidewall ripped away from tread)..... both Goodyears, both less than 5 yrs old and both with 3mm + of tread left on them.....on different cars.
I work on the basis of replacing at 10yrs regardless of mileage on my classics.
Thanks all, it was a bit of a trick question because the tyres were all MOT passes, had hardly any wear and in soft light the cracks did not really show.
Their date was 2004 !!
The outside was cracking like this with some persuasion .. such as cornering ....
Whilst the inside that had not been affected by sunlight looked like this ...
Their date was 2004 !!
The outside was cracking like this with some persuasion .. such as cornering ....
Whilst the inside that had not been affected by sunlight looked like this ...
I had wondered whether or not to replace them ... I am very pleased that I did.
For the record, Protyre in Leeds did a fantastic job dealing with the surprise that the rims required tubes ... a rapidly and professionally re-gained art, just for me.
How many people does it take to fit a tyre ? More than you can ever imagine if they are tubeless and so tight on the rim .... !!
For the record, Protyre in Leeds did a fantastic job dealing with the surprise that the rims required tubes ... a rapidly and professionally re-gained art, just for me.
How many people does it take to fit a tyre ? More than you can ever imagine if they are tubeless and so tight on the rim .... !!
Speedgelb said:
Are those the DOT codes that say 4582? If so they're 37 years old!
Have experience of some Continentals that had around 4mm, but were five years old, and had 'gone off'. My face looked like this , when I unintentionally drifted my new-to-me Porsche round a roundabout in mildly damp conditions
The tyres were replaced with some new Goodyears soon after.
It's not a date code if they're that old. Date codes only became 4 digit after 2000.Have experience of some Continentals that had around 4mm, but were five years old, and had 'gone off'. My face looked like this
, when I unintentionally drifted my new-to-me Porsche round a roundabout in mildly damp conditions The tyres were replaced with some new Goodyears soon after.
I have seen tyres on a Jag at a classic auction (restored) which was mint, except for the tyres. They were 3 digit with a triangle at the end; they were at least 24 years old!
Not all tyres age equally, and they can fail in different and strange ways.
I have driven a car on 30year old tyres, barely worn with no cracks, looked great, and no runout. Car passed it's MOT. It was like driving on a cobbled road, it rained on the way back from the MOT and was struggling to get up a steep hill without spinning the wheels. I knew they wouldn't be good and were being changed anyway, but was surprised just how bad. They were changed very quickly!
A friends got some cookie cutters for his 924 with tyres. Again they looked fine, but suffered a complete sidewall failure and blowout halfway down the road.
More genrally, almost all properties will be negatively affected, but structural failure (not necessarily visible as cracking on the outside) and wet grip are the two that could easily cost you a lot more than a set of new tyres.
I have driven a car on 30year old tyres, barely worn with no cracks, looked great, and no runout. Car passed it's MOT. It was like driving on a cobbled road, it rained on the way back from the MOT and was struggling to get up a steep hill without spinning the wheels. I knew they wouldn't be good and were being changed anyway, but was surprised just how bad. They were changed very quickly!
A friends got some cookie cutters for his 924 with tyres. Again they looked fine, but suffered a complete sidewall failure and blowout halfway down the road.
More genrally, almost all properties will be negatively affected, but structural failure (not necessarily visible as cracking on the outside) and wet grip are the two that could easily cost you a lot more than a set of new tyres.
ChrisW. said:
Thanks all, it was a bit of a trick question because the tyres were all MOT passes, had hardly any wear and in soft light the cracks did not really show.
Their date was 2004 !!
I am the awesomest.Their date was 2004 !!
Orangecurry said:
...about ten years ago.
I had some 1997-stamped Uniroyals on the back of the BMW until a few years back. Again I hardly drove the car. They seemed great in the dry. Passed the MOT. When I took it out in the wet however.....
ChrisW. said:
I had wondered whether or not to replace them ... I am very pleased that I did.
For the record, Protyre in Leeds did a fantastic job dealing with the surprise that the rims required tubes ... a rapidly and professionally re-gained art, just for me.
How many people does it take to fit a tyre ? More than you can ever imagine if they are tubeless and so tight on the rim .... !!
'72 / '73 fuchs don't require tubes , they are designed for tubless and have the safety bead What date stamps on your wheels ? Do you have 'flat' 6x15 ?For the record, Protyre in Leeds did a fantastic job dealing with the surprise that the rims required tubes ... a rapidly and professionally re-gained art, just for me.
How many people does it take to fit a tyre ? More than you can ever imagine if they are tubeless and so tight on the rim .... !!
Edited by hot66 on Friday 12th June 12:15
ChrisW. said:
A good question ...
I have not looked at the dates on the wheels but I was told by Canford Classics that my wheels are from an older 2.2 ... the have a petal shape where the valve enters the wheel.
Does that make sense ?
Sounds like they are deep 6s with hearts which are likely to require tubes. Any more details on the car? A lovely thing like that should be wearing the correct wheels ( - :I have not looked at the dates on the wheels but I was told by Canford Classics that my wheels are from an older 2.2 ... the have a petal shape where the valve enters the wheel.
Does that make sense ?
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