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View Full Version : Check your tires if they are older!!



Custer55
05-20-2015, 09:28 PM
Just an FYI for anyone with older tires on your car regardless of the mileage. These pictures are of my right rear tire

4438 4439 4440

This tire only has about 20,000 miles on it, but is about 26 to 28 years old. If I remember right they were purchased in 1986 to 1987. I only noticed the defect when the car was up on jack stands. The defective part of the tire is only on 1/4 of the circumference of the tire, and was still holding air. I hadn't driven my 55 yet this year, but by the looks of it I would assume I had been last fall with it like this, although I never felt anything weird the last time I drove the car. Maybe being a back tire just made it less noticeable. These are BF Goodrich Radial TA which many probably have on their cars.
Hope nobody else has the same issue.
Brian

chevynut
05-20-2015, 09:55 PM
Why are they worn so badly on the outside versus the inside? That doesn't seem to have anything to do with age.

Custer55
05-20-2015, 10:07 PM
That's a good question. Maybe just a defective tire or something, I have no idea. Being a back tire (Plenty of clearance in the wheelwell) you wouldn't think it would be an alignment issue. And the affected area doesn't go all the way around the tire, just about 1/4 of the way around.

Custer55
05-20-2015, 10:12 PM
PS This is just the right side tire. The left side tire looked just fine yet although I did replace them both. I did replace the front tires a few years ago because one of them was worn funny on the outside edge. I figured that was just and alignment issue, but maybe it wasn't.
Brian

carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
05-21-2015, 05:15 AM
good tip to check out our tires on any of our vehicles, thanks. :eek:

rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017
05-21-2015, 10:49 AM
That looks localized to me like a flat spot from locking up the brakes. Any chance that could have happened while driving in the past 30 years? I'm asking because my daily driver almost got hit head on a few years back and I had to make a maneuver that put me in a backwards skid down the shoulder of the road to avoid it. Lucky I didn't hit any thing but a few months latter I went out to get in car after work and it was flat. Looked just like your picture. This was on a right front tire.

Rick_L
05-21-2015, 10:58 AM
Looks to me like a broken belt, resulting in a "tire aneurism".

Michelins used to be notorious for this, may still be, but I wouldn't know since I fired them as a supplier about 25 years ago.

Usually by the time you feel a vibration from it being badly out of balance, it only has 10-20 miles left before a blowout.

567chevys
05-21-2015, 11:36 AM
Rick hit the nail on the head

Broken Belt

Sid

Custer55
05-21-2015, 08:24 PM
A broken belt sounds like a likely cause to me. That makes sense as to why it's just on one side of the tire. I have never had to lock up the brakes with those tires on the car so I know that would not be the cause. Is belt breakage from a defect in the tire? Poor quality? Does the age of the tires have anything to do with it?
Thanks for the info.

Brian

Rick_L
05-22-2015, 08:05 AM
Belts break from a combination of fatigue (mileage) and aging. If they break too soon, then yes it's a quality issue. Those old Michelins I was bad mouthing would have a belt break before the tread wore out - not a good design for me.

LEE T
05-22-2015, 08:57 AM
I remember the problem with Michelins in 1980s, and I could be mistaken but as I remember, itmostly affected non drive tires---steer tires or trailer tires, or free wheeling positions. I never did hear of a reason back then, maybe this is it.

Rick_L
05-22-2015, 11:50 AM
All my problems were with drive tires, at least the ones I remember.

LEE T
05-22-2015, 02:49 PM
What ever the problem was, their warranty was useless.

Rick_L
05-22-2015, 06:17 PM
The warranty on any tire is the same - if it fails they will pro-rate based on tread depth. If there is anything to interpret or discuss, they do that in their favor.

They also will not cover any other damage to your vehicle, to another, or personal injury. At least without a lawsuit. (Think Firestone tires on "Exploders".)

LEE T
05-23-2015, 03:11 PM
Have you tried the warranty on Michelins?

Rick_L
05-23-2015, 04:12 PM
Fired them 25 years ago. Probably got $20-25 credit on a $150 tire first time around, second time I said no more. These tires were in the last 1/4 or less of their tread life, so I got "tire value" out of them. After body and paint, of course I was in the hole.