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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 8:21amMessage 1 of 25
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Vette(s): 1978 Corvette Light Blue Pulled from the swamps of Miami! Its a driver and back on the road!

Mark

show details 6:59 PM (15 hours ago)

I know you all know this but just a reminder. I had recently had my steering rebuilt and have driven the car just a little since then. The other night I drove about 5 miles and had some sideways motion but thinking it was the steering, and pulling to the left.The vibration was more pronounced at slow speeds and stopping.Checked the tires and pressures all looked normal.ok long story short.This morning after doing some chores outside I was going to drive to Reading Pa for a car club show at a chevy dealer. Just got on the interstate and about 6 minutes down the road the vibration got worse and now at a higher speed,at this point I realized it was not the steering, at that point it was the 4 th of July all over again. The tire came apart with a big bang,got her to the side and by an exit so had room to pull over. Smacked up the body behind the wheel a bit, paint is missing but no cracks or dents, just rubber to remove. I made sure the spare (1978 original orange tire with little tread itself) was good psi days prior but never thought I would ever use it...I .thought wrong. The belt just came apart and dry rot is suspected, tires bought in2006 and good tread on them would never had suspected.but you guys all know this...I have only had the car for 3 years with very little milage on them but the car was bought from the alligator catcher in the swamps of Florida so what did I expect.So just a heads up to others how could you have known this, no physical evidence from the outside and mucho tread. If I had the carburetor opened on the inside lane it would have been ugly it was the right rear but if the front???? Ok sorry for the long thread but if it reminds someone else to prevent the same thing, this would save me some body and paint work,was not planning to paint the car until I retire some small areasneed it but wanted to get it looking really nice with a new paint now it sort of looks ragged on the side? Oh well, so I have 3 other tires that look really good but afraid of driving on them. Goodrich 225/70r/15 so now looking for 4 new tires???? Any sugestions...Always something, this is the last thing I thought I would need this summer but can't drive it without them!

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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 9:05amMessage 2 of 25
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 22716
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
Glad nothing really bad happened! As you say, it coulda been much worse.
Sure makes me wonder about mine, too. I've had the same tires on mine since '97. The car stays covered, inside the garage, so sun damage/dry rot is(theoretically) kept to a minimum, but...ya never know. What you described as a sideways motion was the steel belt in the tire moving. A sure sign of impending failure.
Sorry to hear about the blowout, but certainly happy that you're ok, and the car is not heavily damaged.

Joel Adams
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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 10:20amMessage 3 of 25
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New Albany, OH - USA
Joined: 8/17/2010
Posts: 173
Vette(s): 1980 Coupe / Snowcrest White / L48, 350 / Comp Cam / Edelbrock Heads / Cyclone Intake / Holley Carb / Holley Fuel Pump / Patriot Headers / Dual Exhaust / Magnaflow Mufflers / 1964 Coupe / Riverside Red / L76, 327, 365hp
I purchased my 1964 in April.  Everything looked great - even the Michelin steel belted radials. Last week I was driving about 35 MPH and heard a slapping sound coming from the left-rear.  Before I could pull over, part of the belt ripped off the tire and peeled off some of the paint and scuffed up a lot of the rear quarter panel.  Upon closer examination of the tires, they were made in the 39th week of 1985.  But like I said, to the naked eye they looked fine.  I talked to the previous two owners and neither one of them drove the car very much.  The last owner had the car for 7 years but only drove it about 500 miles.  Same for the guy before him.
I gues the thing to remember is that it is just as important to be aware of the age of the tires as it is the mileage on them.
 
CCasey2011-07-10 10:25:22
Chuck

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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 2:00pmMessage 4 of 25
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Frederick, MD - USA
Joined: 9/8/2003
Posts: 3398
Vette(s): 1969 convertible L71 427/435 4-speed black interior
The industry standard seems to be about six years, regardless of mileage, if tread is left.  A few months ago I replaced the tires on one of my cars...less than 6k miles on them but they were about nine years old.  Whenever I drove the car the tires rode like they were square...they never had done that before.

That was the signal for me to replace them.  A new set of tires is less expensive than body damage that can result from a tire coming apart at speed.
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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 6:34pmMessage 5 of 25
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Flanders, NJ - USA
Joined: 1/27/2004
Posts: 2556
Vette(s): 1982 Black, ZZ4, Hooker Side Pipes, 3.55 Rear, Rebuilt & upgraded 700R4, All new suspension, brakes, & new Charcoal interior.
I remember reading an article a few years back on tires and they said that after 6 years you should replace tires no matter what the milage is. They said that the rubber compound starts to break down internally at that point and there is no way to tell how safe the tire is at that age. So better off playing it safe and replacing those tires after 6 years.
By the way I'm glad you're OK.
Dave

 

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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/10/11 8:01pmMessage 6 of 25
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Dutchess County, NY - USA
Joined: 8/27/2007
Posts: 2484
Vette(s): White '79 Corvette. It's a driver.

Glad you didn't wreck it!

The tires I just replaced on my '79 were installed in '03. They had plenty of tread left on 'em, too.

Whoever started with the info. on aging tires around here deserves a big ol' attaboy.

Again, I'm glad nothing too bad happened to you and your Vette.

Kevin

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Posted: 7/10/11 9:55pmMessage 7 of 25
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Red Lion, PA - USA
Joined: 10/27/2006
Posts: 1182
Vette(s): 1974 White 350 Corvette, TH400 Automatic 1972 Tangerine /Go Mango Convertible 383 Stroker, 2004r Automatic
Mark, Sorry to see that happen. Glad it didnt cause an accident! Cars can be replaced. Really glad you werent hurt in any way. How old were the actual tires?
You can find the build date on your tire. It usually follows the DOT number and it can be on either side.  heres a sample of date codes for tires this tire was made the 35 (week) of 2010 (10)
Often tires can sit on a shelf in a warehouse for years before it is sold or shipped to a tire dealer. It really becomes a problem if the fifo (first in first out)system in the warehouse isnt followed. As you can see my tires are already over a year old and they have never been on the road yet. Now as Joel said being inside out of the weather probably keeps them a little better off but even they tend to fail from time to time.
Hope you get a new set of 4 quick so you can get back on the road.
Rodney
rod75152011-07-11 10:16:59

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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/11/11 3:50amMessage 8 of 25
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HOWELL, NJ - USA
Joined: 5/18/2004
Posts: 6812
Vette(s): 1979, Targa Blue (72 Color), Pace Car rear spoiler, L88 hood, Dark blue factory interior, 525HP 406, HD 700R4, 370 gears,Steeroids, composite rear spring, TT IIs wrapped in T/A Radials.
Mark, as the others said, glad you're ok. Looks like the rim survived as well. Wake up call for me as my stare tire carrier only goes in for long distance drives...like you, I also have BFG TAs, about 3 years old with less than 1000 miles on them. I know it's hard to switch tires when there's so much tread left on them, but reality does check in once in a while.

Again, glad you and the car are both ok!!

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Posted: 7/11/11 4:03amMessage 9 of 25
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Indianapolis, IN - USA
Joined: 9/3/2006
Posts: 2461
Vette(s): Silver 1974 Convertible - L82 4 speed Low miles (was only 8,900 when I bought it in March 2006) - Now 54K miles. Original owner bought it as an investment for son's college expenses. 2008 Jetstream Blue Convertible
Thanks for the wake up call.  I've owned my car for five years and while the tires have good tread, I've never checked the dates.  I will once I get home (on the road for work again).
 
Glad everyone is ok people-wise.  Sorry to hear about the banged up cars.

I wanted a Corvette my whole life, but I never dreamed of all the wonderful people I would meet because of it!


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Just so you know (TIRES)

Posted: 7/11/11 7:05amMessage 10 of 25
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Dover, DE - USA
Joined: 1/4/2009
Posts: 65
Vette(s): 1978 Silver Anniversary Corvette-White/Red 99% Original
For Rod7515,
 
 
Got a set of Firehawk Indy 500's (P225/70R15) on my 78 and the only numbers I could find on the tire that was large enough to read is: 503 5008 on 3 tires and 503 5108 on the 4th one.
 
Besides this being a great thread concerning our C3 tires are the above numbers the build date code????
 
 
Thanks in advance for any insight..............
 
mk's78
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