IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED I JUST LISTED 5 ALL WHITE MODEL T TIRES THAT HAVE BEEN IN STORAGE FOR MANY,MANY YEARS.
I LISTED THESE ON EBAY.
Always helps to post a link....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ALL-WHITE-MODEL-T-TIRES-BRASS-ERA-30-X-3-1-2-30- X-3-CLINCHER-WHITE-WALLS-/111123318669?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19df77478d &vxp=mtr
http://tinyurl.com/lyynl58
Is 30 year old white rubber still OK/safe?
And how many miles can you expect to get on these tires.
Thank you for any advice or help.
whites will generally give you 2500 - 3000 miles then show signs of life expectancy. unless you brake hard on them.
If the tires are kept indoors, they will be fine. I have seen very old that show no signs of cracking or dry rot after long time indoor storage. As long as they are still pliable, they are fine.
Bob B,
Honestly, I wish I could afford to consider them. I would trust those 30 year old tires much more than any whites made in the last 15 years, even brand new ones. At that time, they were made heavier, and generally of better rubber. I have a 30+ year old Firestone tread all white that I would not hesitate to put on a car and get the last 700 miles out of it. But it would look funny, only one.
How long will they last? Depends upon the car and the driver. A good friend of mine, many years ago ran a set of all whites on his Rajo Powered race car and got about 500 miles out of them. A typical touring driven like a model T, should get 2000 to 3000 miles. You don't buy all white tires for economy. And these days, I don't buy them hardly at all. Maybe in a couple years.
I think they look great on good brass era cars and would run them if I could afford to. If you are planning to bid, I will wish you "good Luck and Best Wishes"! The last set I saw on eBad, got really expensive.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
A few years ago we bought a good looking set of new/old 30x3-1/2 all-white smooth Firestones at Bakersfield and found, when I tried mounting them a couple of months ago, that they had shrunk several inches in diameter. They look good with no checking or cracks and they have thick, heavy carcasses, but I could get them only about half way on the rim (where the tire looked like a capital D) and no farther. Tire irons bent, hammers bounced harmlessly off - it was like I was trying to pry on a Model A tire on a Model T rim. I fought them for two weekends before finally breaking out some black tires (blechh).
Put the T tire around a deflated modern tire of appropriate diameter and inflate to re-stretch the tire, leave in the sun a few days and deflate. Remove modern tire. Put old T tire back on easily.
I bought a full set last year at Hershey. They looked good then. I mounted them a month ago and they have so many cracks when inflated they look terrible when you get within 10 feet.
30 years ago we used to stretch Japanese motorcycle tires to make them fit old rim sizes.
Anyone notice these sold for $2,550.00! Plus 207.93 for shipping.
Michael why didn't you list these in our Classifieds ?
He can think of 2,550 reasons why I believe
what am I missing here? Whoever paid 2550 could have bought the same tires from Lang for 263 a piece.lang might have offered some sort of a warrantee as well.
Wouldn't he have made a better choice to buy two sets from Lang for nearly the same money? Langs are new also.
Interesting activity in the last few minutes of the auction...guess that's what happens when 2 people want the same thing!
That set of tires was made in the U.S.A. - perhaps is why they fetched top dollar !
Having to run Vietnam-made tires on our vintage American iron is troubling for many of us.
Actually, I bought them and feel good about it. Its pretty rare to find USA made white tires that are still in wraps. They will look good on the 15' centerdoor (thanks Hap)
I got a set of four Canadian Goodyear's from my grandfather in 1979...they're still on my car and run just fine. I think the last time Canada made 30 x 3.5" Clincher tires had to be longer than 35 years ago.
How fitting that those tires will end up on "Ghost", the '15 Sedan! That's good news. How about some update pics of your restoration progress, Bob?
Mike, I have the engine & tranny being rebuilt at Ron's Machine shop (hopefully its close to being finished),and the radiator is being rebuilt with a new Brassworks core. I will try to get some pics soon. Here is a shot of the drivers side door with the remnants of the original "fancy" trim work:
That upholstery certainly was fancy, all right. Good luck on matching those patterns!
I expect your engine and tranny will be better than new when you get them back from Ron's. You're definitely doing it up right!