Disturbing scary discovery

[WMCC Doug]

Yesterday, while detailing the '96 SS for the Berger All Chevy Show I removed the wheels to clean the back side of the wheels and tires. This is what I found on the back side of the drivers side front tire. 8-O

There is absolutely no evidence of any problems with these tires on the front sides, and that's the scary part. WMCC Gary and I drove to Woodward on Saturday, cruising along at 80 mph most of the way. The other scary part is I really don't know how long they've been this way! 8-O

These are the original tires and as such are 12-13 years old. The car only has 38,000 miles and there's plenty of tread left, but I no longer trust these tires for any kind of high speed driving. I've had the car over 100 a few times this year, so I guess I've been lucky.

The worst part is I really can't afford a new set of tires at the monent. The other front tire has a couple of very slight cracks showing in the same area, but nowhere as bad as this. I have not checked the rear tires yet (I'll be doing that today)

[Orange Terror]

Wow, good thing you found this before something happened Doug. Good thing the 74 is done!

[TSTONE]

that is scary - glad you caught it

here's an interesting article i posted a while back pertaining to this issue:

August 5, 2008

Tire Dating

Often one of the first things we purchase for our project car is a set of wheels and tires. After all we're going to need the right size tires to set up the stance and ride height. Five or six years later our hot new car is ready to hit the street.

We attend a dozen or so cruise in's each year and after a couple of years we're confident with how the new ride is running so we're ready to take the road trip to that distant car show. Only a few hours into it we're on the side of the road looking at our shredded tires, scratching our heads trying to figure out how they could fall apart after only 2,000 miles.

As tires age the bond between the cords and the rubber breaks down. With sustained highway speeds heat builds in the tire, further breaking down the bond.

Some US car manufacturers began publishing warnings in their owners manuals, against running tires in excess of 6 years old but many car enthusiasts feel this timeframe is too soon for replacement as their cars are stored indoors away from harmful UV rays, or their shop is heated and never subjected to freezing.

What is the safe limit? We suppose there are just too many variables to say for sure thinking of the safety of your friends and family, piece of mind can be worth far more than a set of tires.

[meissen]

Yikes! That's no good for sure. Glad you caught it!

[WMCC Gary]

I wonder if that was the cause of the vibration we were feeling at about 85 on the way home saturday.

[WMCC Doug]

Todd, I remember there were news stories this spring about tires getting too old. I kind of took it with a grain of salt, thinking about the same variables listed in your article.

I was feeling pretty good about getting the SS all detailed up yesterday when I made this discovery. It kind of took the wind out of my sails. The car looks good, but I know it has an "injury" and that sucks.

Your're right Jasen, I'm glad I discovered it this way rather than having a blow-out on the highway somewhere. The '74 is driveable, but really not done yet. Looks like the Hot Rod Edition Camaro will be back on the road right after Berger. Crap !!!!!! I was really enjoying driving the '96 SS again, too.

[WMCC Doug]

I wonder if that was the cause of the vibration we were feeling at 85 on the way home saturday.

Could be ???????? 8-O

[TSTONE]

Todd, I remember there were news stories this spring about tires getting too old. I kind of took it with a grain of salt, thinking about the same variables listed in your article.

That was an article from the National Street Machine Club, but I also remember Haggerty putting out a similar warning about a year ago. It seems they started having an uptick on blowout related accident claims.

[my95z28]

my tires are 6 years old, I think I'll give them a good check when I get home toady

[sman]

ABC did a thing on it a while ago, pretty good info. Its a few minutes long but worth it IMHO, shows you how to date decode tires and other info.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

[SoulTerror]

Glad you found it out before it was to late.

[MP81]

Wow! Very scary issue there!

Glad to see that you found it, though!

[kammi10]

wow thats kinda scary

[Lucky SOB]

wow your guy's tires last a long time. im gonna have to get new ones on my truck before winter and they'll only have like 20k miles on the. haha

[WMCC Doug]

Well, I inspected the rear tires when I had them off to clean. The drivers side shows signs of the same thing just beginning. The passenger side shows no signs yet, but that tire was replaced in june 1998 due to some road damage to the original tire.

The car went through SLP's facility in November of 1995, so the three original tires were probably made sometime in the late summer of 1995, making them about 13 years old.

It really sucks that they need replacing since they cleaned up so well. The car looks very nice and is just about ready for the Berger Show. Gotta clean the interior yet.

But first, I have to go to my granddaughters birthday party at Chucky Cheese!!!!!!! She's 9 years old now. (already)