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driving on 12+ year old tires

90 Corvette ZR-1

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2001
Messages
561
Location
Pittsburgh
Corvette
90 Red ZR-1
I need to put my stock 90 rims back on the king for Carlisle, and unfortunitly take off the chrome 5 stars I have now. :( I was trying to work on a way that I could take them with me to Carlisle and change them when I got there but that isn't going to happen. Just like the trailer I was working on to get the car up there.

Now to the question. I could just take the tires off the chrome rims as I will need new ones soon anyway, and put them on the 90 rims and go with that. But it would be kinda cool to be able to say that I have to original tires on my ZR-1 at Carlisle. The only thing is they are 12+ years old. I havn't drven on them in 4 years. They are stored out of the sun and everything so I don't think they have dry rotted. Im worried that they are now rock hard and not safe to drive on. My drive to Carlisle is an easy one. 2.5-3 hrs up the PA Turnpike. Not many bends or anything.


So what do you guys/gals think, Switch tires or go for the stock 12 year old orginals? Both are Goodyears.
 
Hmmmmm.....I don't think I'd worry to much about the Skatorbacks.....just becareful if you run into rain.
 
12 years?

I'm not so sure I'd trust them, without a detailed inspection...it does sound like you've stored them properly.

If you do decide to use them, drive slow, and no 'hot-doggin'...just in case.
Sil
 
Wish I could but I can't. Im in the evolution display and the car has to be 100% stock. So off come the rims
 
keep the gatorbacks... it will be that much better that you have the orginal rims and tires while in the show... I would take them out and give them a good coating of silicon tire spray, let it soak in for a day or so... that should help the flexibility of the tire, and help them stay together for the trip.
 
Try 'em now

:w You have some time. Why not do the change now; drive around some and see how they feel and look upon post drive inspection

I have 8 year old tires on my motorhome, with cracks in the sidewalls from sun, and they are fine. One, in the know, told me that structurally, the cracks matter not.

I'd like to know the 'truth' about tire sprays, :confused having been told everything from cosmetic to damaging, as the chemicals draw the natural oils or whatever from the tires. Anyone have a technical article? :upthumbs

If the test drives go well, I'd not be concerned with such a short drive. I'd be more afraid of the other drivers! :blow

God, how I :love those smilies. :bow They're :cool and free and high-order entertainment! I don't need much. :Twist
 
I read all positives about the silcon tire sprays... I have used 'Tire Wet', now I am using 'Wet'. I used them every couple of washes on my '93, and the tires had no cracks, dry rot, etc... I also sprayed the whole tire, not just the sides.... wheh I sold the car I had 35k miles on the tires (Goodyear), and I could have easily had 50k miles out of them... The silcon treatments seem to keep the tires flexible... also, that car was mostly kept outside.
 
Vettelt193 said:
keep the gatorbacks... it will be that much better that you have the orginal rims and tires while in the show... I would take them out and give them a good coating of silicon tire spray, let it soak in for a day or so... that should help the flexibility of the tire, and help them stay together for the trip.

Since we're on the topic of tire storage, we have a technical article here at the CAC:

Tire Storage Recommendations
 
it always seems like the tire manufacturers are unwilling to commit to any kind of tire treatment... They never tell you not to use it, and never tell you that it is good to use it. Is this some sort of strategy to confuse the customer?
 
Okay I got it. I think. Wait. What about unmounting and mounting. The car I bought came with the original tires but they are on 95 rims. The owner had the original rims with the deal and I want to store the originals with the rims as I put new rubber on the car. As of this moment I have not decided which rim will go one the car but I am leaning to the 95s. I was wanting to then mount the old stuff on the originals and store them mounted. Whats your opinion.
 
FWIW, when the rubber is that old, cold weather and rain/snow conditions can be treacherous. Warm/dry shouldn't be nearly so bad. I had tires that old on a C4.
 
I know you're already on your way to Carlisle but I suppose you can read this when you get back:D. When I bought the shark it had Dunlop GT Qs which were showing dry rot all around as the car sat for the better part of 10 years. I drove the heck out of them for almost a year and never had a single problem. But, whew, those things were slippery.

- Eric:w
 
so what did you do with your tires? (2002 post)

Did you drive em to the show?

I need to put my stock 90 rims back on the king for Carlisle, and unfortunitly take off the chrome 5 stars I have now. :( I was trying to work on a way that I could take them with me to Carlisle and change them when I got there but that isn't going to happen. Just like the trailer I was working on to get the car up there.

Now to the question. I could just take the tires off the chrome rims as I will need new ones soon anyway, and put them on the 90 rims and go with that. But it would be kinda cool to be able to say that I have to original tires on my ZR-1 at Carlisle. The only thing is they are 12+ years old. I havn't drven on them in 4 years. They are stored out of the sun and everything so I don't think they have dry rotted. Im worried that they are now rock hard and not safe to drive on. My drive to Carlisle is an easy one. 2.5-3 hrs up the PA Turnpike. Not many bends or anything.


So what do you guys/gals think, Switch tires or go for the stock 12 year old orginals? Both are Goodyears.
 
I recently replaced the tires on my 1990 coupe. I inherited from my dad, and he owned it for 3 years starting back in 2008. I never knew how old the tires were, but the tread was very good (like new), but I always felt the ride was very unforgiving. Felt every pebble like you drove over a brick. I noticed the front tire in the garage the other day looked low, so I got down to inspect it closely since the side wall had a slight bow due to the low pressure. I saw spider web style cracks in the side wall where it was bowed. I then set out to learn how to read the date code on the tires. Date code was 324, and eventually figured out that this 3-digit style code was pre-2000 and meant the tires were manufactured in the 34th week of 1994. Yikes. I have been driving on 24 year old tires! So new tires here I come! Ride is much better now, and very glad nothing ever happened with such old tires on the car.
 

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