Australia tires

[dang.1922]

I have set of new 30x3 1/2 tires that haven’t any markings on them except that they say made in Australia and the size. Before I mount them on the rims does anyone have any information or thoughts on them as to the quality of the tires. Thanks Dan

[Kerry]

I have no knowledge of unbranded tyres being made in Australia and could be over 50 years sense branded ones being made.

[Steve Jelf]

Are you sure they're new? NOS tires that are decades old can look factory fresh when you unwrap them. My NOS NZ Firestones looked perfect, but country roads ate them up PDQ. They didn't last a thousand miles.

[dang.1922]

I found one other number on them (101089) which I am assuming it is the date they were made. When I unwrapped them they had the rubber flash still on the tread from when they molded them. Dan

[Kerry]

Before 2000, Australian tyers were dated with a 3 digit code number, first 2 for the number of weeks into the year and the last number for the decade it was made.

[dang.1922]

Thank You for the information, it lets me know how old they are. Dan

[jachady]

What does your Made in Aus tag look like? This is on my old tires.

[dang.1922]

Looks just like my tires. Dan

[Kerry]

That photo of the side wall looks the same as an Olympic tyre.

[Allan]

First thing, if they are Australian made they are tyres, not tires

Olympic stopped making their legendary 30 x 3.5" tyres in the early 1970's. The moulds ended up with Lucas in the USA. They had Lucas branded where there was once Olympic. Then the lucas brand was deleted and the panel was left blank like yours. As far as dating them goes, they are at least later than early 1970's.
If they have not been mounted on rims for a long time, they will need stretching to make them fit. I have just mounted a set of five brand new Olympics which had shrunk up to 1.5" in diameter. Let me know if you need advice.

Allan from down under.

[dang.1922]

Allan the tyres have shrunk a little (1”), what process did you use to stretch them? Thanks Dan

[Allan]

Dan, it takes time hot days and an assortment of 14" wheels with worn tyres.

My tyre dealer tried to mount one hot on side on could not shift the one side enough to get the valve stem anywhere near the rim hole. I had him just leave it on the rim until summer. I was then able to get it off and could compare the different diameters on each side.

He mounted four used 14" tyres of different sizes on some scrap rims. I measured their diameters and marked them. The T tyre was then levered onto the deflated and smallest diameter wheel, and then 50 lbs of air added to stretch the T tyre. It was left on that rim for a few days, and then transferred to a bigger combination and the process repeated. I had four different combinations.

In the end, I fitted those stretched tyres onto a 23: split rim from a Chev and jacked the rim until there was a 1.5" gap at the split. That overstretch made fitting much easier.

It took me almost 4 weeks to get the 5 tyres mounted but it was well worth the effort. One let go at the valve stem, but having been stretched and fitted, pitting in a new tube was quite easy.

Allan from down under.

[dang.1922]

Thank You for the information Allan. Dan

[jachady]

Allan, your timeline fits the backstory of my car that the tires came off of. Supposedly it was restored in the mid 70s and then put into storage for 45 years before I bought it. The tires were like new when I started driving it. 5 years and approx 25000 miles later the age was taking their toll so I bought some new Blockleys. Those old Australian tires are awesome.

[Allan]

John now you know why I bothered spending time to stretch the new set I found. I'm not likely to ever have to replace them.
Your experience does not reflect well on those offering tyres today. If your Lucas' made tyres lasted that long, why do they not do the same today?

Allan from down under