Along the same lines it is recommended that all van and truck tires use bolt together metal valve stems. This is due to the higher pressures and load pressures on these vehicles. Of course the factories never do this for lighter vehicles. Once I pulled off the thruway in Mass. to gas up and eat. I'd just made the usual Banzai run up from Florida. When I got out of the vehicle I heard a pop and then air escaping. Thought I'd blown a tire but in fact the rubber valve stem had blown out of its hole in the wheel! Thats when I found out about the metal valve stem recommendations. Chuck

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

As long as we are discussing old tires I thought I would mention the valve stem failure and recall of a few years ago. Seems Dill the manufacturer didn’t use a SPF ingredient to prevent valve stems from cracking due to exposure to UV rays.



We had two tires on the right side of my wife’s Windstar go flat because of cracking valve stems, once going ~65 mph on the freeway.



Just so happens that the right side of her van is exposed to the afternoon sun when parked in out driveway. No problem with the left side ones because they are in the shade when parked.



Needless to say I replaced all the valve stems and informed the car dealer, who was unaware of the recall.



So, if your car is garaged and only driven occasionally check your valve stems and replace if manufactured by Dill. (Unfortunately it only has their name on the bottom (inside the tire) and on the cap (if original).



Dill Valve Stem Failure



You should always install new valve stems with new tires anyway.



I forgot to mention, Dill has their valve stems manufactured in China. I found this out after the fact...


"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

hi

over here in the UK all vehicles over 3 years old are inspected every year. my daily driver is a little Citroen, about 3000 miles per year and running Michelins. tyres were 6 years old and had plenty of tread left but were condemned due to "side wall degredation/cracking.

stuey

UK

Just to add to the aging article, I've had one catastrophic failure on a motor home, due to age, and two sets of low mileage 10 year old tires, that just went hard and slick over the winter. One Pirellis (?) and one Bridgestone, on sports cars. And stored indoors in Seattle, heat and sun aren't that much of a problem. The cokers on my bird did the same thing, but I'm guessing they were more like 12 years old.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

MasterCylinder

Thanks....looks like I'll be ordering some new tires, Thanks again...Jim

Location:Washington,Ia

Here is an interesting article on "Tire Aging". Please read it...



Tire Aging

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

They are all the same size tire, same inflation and check by two different gauges, wheels are all o.k. I moved the rear to the front and it does pull less but still a little pull to the left which is against the road crown. After about 40 mph the pull seems to quit. The tires are, at least from the outside appreance in great shape, perfectly round, good tread. I'm leaving Wednesday for about a 1,000 mile MotorIoway tour with about 65 other cars and don't have time to get a new set so I guess I'll just have to be very very careful. Thanks for all your replys....by the way the tires have only been rotated once, they about 10 years old and about 3,000 miles per year. Thanks again. Jim

Location:Washington,Ia

Tom and gekko are on the right track.  Look at the tires very closely.

I’ll have to ask the obvious.  Same size tires?  Same brand of tire? Same size wheels?  Wheel width is important here.  Bent wheel?  Proper and same inflation on both tires?

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I too would examine the tire(s) carefully.  Measure the circumference (roll out), lateral and radial run out (out of round).  Compare specs with all four tires.  Sometimes a tire can be "trued" but you may be looking at replacing at least a pair.

I have seen radial tires do this often in the past when I worked at a Ford dealer. I would worry that the tire was unsafe and see if it was possible to get an adjustment on replacing it.



Tom from the chiggerfarm located in the beautiful Heart of Central Texas

When you cannot dazzle others with your brilliance, baffle them with bullcorn!