Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[V8 Nutter]

There has been a few comments on this thread about keeping the car looking original. I have several friends who have bought radials that have the appearance of the original cross plies

[lowdrag]

I forgot to mention this. Five years ago I bought a Mercedes that was five years old but had only done 18,000 miles so so the tyres were fine. A year later I went to see my usual tyre fitter with I assumed was a nail causing a slow puncture and he told me I should think about changing all four. Apparently that is considered normal these days but I would think that most of us (especially we with classics) would just look to see if there is plenty of tread left and carry on. I wonder what attitude the insurers would take if I had an accident? Approaching 80 now and my mileage has dropped considerably, having done but 30,000 in six years, a distance years back I would consider usual in a year. Hmm, do I need to ask whether I should be getting new ones again?

[MikeEdwards]

^ I believe that in Eire (or Northern Ireland, I forget which side of the border the chap who told me was talking about), the MOT test looks at the age of tyres, anything over seven years old will fail regardless of condition. I tend to look at the condition, the tyres on my Firenza are pretty old but have lots of tread and no cracks on the sidewalls. Of course, I can't see the condition of the steel belts inside the tyre construction. I will have to do something about them soon as it's on my mind. I've only been saying that for about five years now.
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1976 Vauxhall HP Firenza, 1976 Vauxhall Sportshatch (x2), 1986 Audi coupe quattro, 2000 Audi TT

[Ray White]

I understand the main reason that tyres slowly deflate in the absense of a puncture, has more to do with the wheels than the tyres; aluminium rims in particular are prone to this.

Things may have improved over time. It must be over 50 years since I worked as a tyre fitter!

[Norseman]

[alastairq]

With regards to leaky alloy wheels? I believe there is a substance which one paints over the inside of an alloy wheel to prevent this leakage occurring?
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

[ukdave2002]

Whenever I have watched tyres being changed at our local tyre shop, they seem to spend quite a bit of time cleaning up the inside of wheel rims, presumably to promote a good seal.

[Ray White]

Did I ever mention that I worked briefly with (the late) Rick Parfitt. As a youngster, I had a Saturday job at a place near Woking but Rick was full time. He had just joined The Status Quo.

Then he left never to return.

I can't think why...

[ukdave2002]

[Ray White]

[bjacko]

I bought my 1985 Rover in 1998 with 24,000KM on the clock and the Pirelli tyres had plenty of tread depth. I hardly used it and about 2005 I noticed that while it still had lots of tread depth there were cracks at the bottom of the tread grooves. So I changed them. it still has the virgin spare and has only 34000KM on the clock.
The rubber on the sidewalls is merely for appearance and does not have any structural use.
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1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP

[Norseman]

[norustplease]

Had a slow puncture on the Volvo recently. Took it for repair to the local tyre place who said it was technically repairable, but they couldn't do it because they had a five year rule, ie: anything over five years old had to be scrapped if punctured.
The tyre had loads of tread. Is this real safety or a tyre sales pitch? Is there some kind of directive across the tyre sellers of the nation to this effect. I had previously understood that ten years was the point at which a tyre should be changed, regardless of the amount of remaining tread.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Norseman]