They Made Them Better In The Old Days

[overlordofmars]

Hello, I was getting ready to move one of my trucks to its new storage area and I looked at the tires. Five of the 10 year old tires I bought were cracked and dry rotted so bad, I did not think they would make the 50 mile trip. But the rest I never changed, that came with the truck were perfect and not rotted ! I looked at the tires carefully, they have 1957 and 1954 date codes stamped in them !!!!

Did they just make tires better in the 1950 S ?



Take a look !!!!

 

[maddawg308]

No. Tire material is worlds better than it was in the old days. However, that being said, the conditions the tires were subjected to over it's life affect the tire greatly. Sun damages tire rubber FAST. I've seen 2-year-old tires that looked like they would fail looking at them. Then I've seen tires made in the 1950s that were very nice. It's exposure to road salts, chemicals, harsh use, all influence the life of the tire. Perhaps those on your truck were given a pretty sweet life, without too much in the way of abuse.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I know for a fact that a lot of the older military tires had some extra ozone fighting material in them when they were made. Maybe the newer tires don't do that anymore?

 

[maddawg308]

Older tires were made with more natural rubber, which can handle heat and tough use better. Modern tires contain more synthetic rubber which lasts a lot longer on the roads (I remember as a kid 40K mile warranties were primo tires, now it's around 80K miles for the Michelin tires). Only exception are modern aircraft tires which need to be made of more natural rubber because they need to handle the heat better.

Not sure if that plays into the info mix, but it's another thing about tires I remember.

 

[goodguyzy]

I think things were made better back then. Last year I replaced a battery that was from '84. Ive got one that I need to replace thats a '07. The only reason I replaced the battery was I went from a climate that was warmer to 5 degrees in winter and that was it.

 

[overlordofmars]

Guys I would go with the weather being factor if not for the fact all the tires on this truck were outside for the past ten years. The tires were on the truck when I bough it. So weather and sunlight is not a factor !

 

[ClintA]

On the ranch that I work on, one word "ROCKS", our tires are in rocks all the time. Radial tires do not last at all, we must use bias mud and snow only on ranch pickups and trucks. We still have tires on some stuff that was on when I was a kid 30 years ago. The only bad thing is that they do not do good on hiway. Mine last just about 8 months on my pickup then go on the trailer after that. We fix less flats with Bias than radial's. Army tires I think are nothing to wright home about, when they are wore out I will look into tires made for loggers and miners, we have some that are 10-00-20's that are at least 20 years old and are still round and 30% rubber. I think that the old ones are better than the new ones, my

 

[overlordofmars]

That brings another whole issue, Bias Ply verses Radial ?

 

[gimpyrobb]

It is a known fact that bias are tougher than radial.

 

[two.fiveM35]

It's global warming and the economy that causing the problem.