Stinky
Senior Member
Posts: 1957
Loc: Whitewater, CO
Reg: 05-25-01
|
08-07-24 08:36 PM - Post#2872486
I went down to Discountire to get a screw removed from my wife's tire....it was sorta interesting. My front tires are how would you say...bald. One is at the wear-bars and the other has a bit more. I have 4 snow-tires just waiting to go on, in 2 months. I want to wait 2 months and then, I don't want a pair of tires laying around rotting away in the sun over the winter. I was in there 2 months ago and bought 2 tires for the rear of the car. My tires really didn't have that much less tread on them than now....by their records, that was 9K ago. Let's just say, we've had a good summer.
We drove to San Antone to see my Grand-Daughter graduate from BMT (about 3,200 miles). Then, we drove the East Coast (5,181 miles). I watched them along the way, and they really didn't wear that much. I was prepared to buy tires in Texas, South Bend, but they really didn't wear on the highway.
So, Discount gives me the hard-sell.....They check my spare, they check my wipers and they use an electronic-gizmo and measure my tread depth and get the age. "Here at Discount we judge the safety of a tire 2 did ways, age and depth. Your front tires are 6 years old....., at 10 years, they will disintegrate (or something like that), blah, blah, blah, and they are bald (not their words)." They then show me a chart w/stopping distance on it related to tread depth, and as depth decreases, distance increases. The lady couldn't believe that I didn't want new tires....again, in 2 months I don't want them wasting away, when I switch to the winters. Oddly, my 2 month old tires, are sorta in-between on the chart, and not that great.
As a side point, my Brother-in-Law just had a tire disintegrate on the way to work, he lives in Yuma, and his truck mostly sits. His tires were 3 years old...can you say Hot?
Here is the Q....is that chart BS? I've believed that all my life, that bald tires have diminished traction. Has anybody seen any real factual data on that? Or, is it a wive's tale? It is commonly accepted, but is it true? BTW, I am not talking about sand, rain, or ice. I am talking about dry pavement.
Funny, I am just sitting there passing the time and they do the same thing to a nice-lady. She brings it up, and the guy tells her that he doesn't know how to measure a tire's tread-depth w/a Penny (I consider that to be common-knowledge) as he pulls a tread-depth caliper? out of his pocket. Later ,she tells somebody on the phone that a nice salesman was taking such good care of her.
|
|
Andy J
Contributor
Posts: 140
Age: 72
Loc: east central Mississippi
Reg: 10-29-15
|
08-08-24 07:35 AM - Post#2872492
In response to Stinky
It seems to me that a bald tire would actually have more rubber in contact with the road and,therefore,better traction.Like you say,that would have to be on clean,dry pavement.Think of a drag slick which is designed to be used only on dry pavement.Maximum contact with the road without any grooves to lessen the surface area of the slick in contact with the pavement.
That is my thought,but I would never run bald tires under any condition.
|
 TAT_2
Site Ambassador - Member #26 - "23rd Year" Silver Supporting Member
Posts: 38163
Age: 71
Loc: "UNDER THE BOARDWALK"
Reg: 10-29-00
|
08-09-24 01:31 PM - Post#2872535
In response to Stinky
WE WOULD PUT FRESH RETREADS ON OUR TRUCKS,19 TO 20/32ND'S DEPTH.THE DRIVERS WOULD COMPLAIN OF THE TRUCK HANDLING SQUIRELY.THE TRUCKS HANDLED BETTER WITH LOWER DEPTH'S.
09 PONTIAC- VIBE
08 PONTIAC- G6
93 VETTE - 40TH ANNIV- RUBY RED- LT1/6-SPD/RAG TOP
PREVIOUS VETTE'S 58,68,70,76,78,85,90
QUOTE FROM HELEN
"WHY YOU LOOKING AT THAT? YA KNOW YA WANT ANOTHER VETTE"
|
|
Stinky
Senior Member
Posts: 1957
Loc: Whitewater, CO
Reg: 05-25-01
|
08-09-24 07:06 PM - Post#2872538
In response to TAT_2
5/8"....that is a lot of tread. I'd guess that it was really squirmy.
I've been trying to find this on the net. I found one l place where they said that traction goes up as a tire wears, but there was no source for their data.
I found Discount's chart online...their tests were conducted with 1/16" of water on the road...so-what. My question related to dry roads.
My memory-bank triggered on something....BFG used to sell their street tires for racing and shave them to reduce the tread depth. Their DOT legal racing tires, now, have, ABOUT 4/32" tread on them.
Edited by Stinky on 08-09-24 07:21 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
|
bobb
Super Senior Member
Posts: 6760
Loc: paradise
Reg: 09-05-03
|
08-09-24 10:20 PM - Post#2872542
In response to TAT_2
yes thats what happens. also old tires get hard and chaulky. they dry out. i dont drive many miles a year so i shave down new tires to get better traction. i have had many tires fall apart while driving. sometimes at 60 mph. thats what old tires can do. some brands last longer than others. bfg is not one that lasts many years from what ive seen.
| 70 L camino, grampa engine, g-force 5 spd, road rage suspension. Pray first before all else fails. |
|
tommy49
"10th Year" Silver Supporting Member
Posts: 3616
Loc: Kaleva, Michigan
Reg: 09-28-12
|
08-12-24 07:47 AM - Post#2872634
In response to Stinky
Put new tires on the car, get an alignment and be done with it! That would eliminate the fear, worry, and danger.
|
Chevrobert
Valued Contributor
Posts: 4184
Loc: Braintree, Ma. USA
Reg: 06-14-08
|
08-12-24 11:02 AM - Post#2872645
In response to tommy49
I am with Tommy49.
Wear bars? 
Traction?
How about a front blowout and
head on collision? 
|
Chevrobert
Valued Contributor
Posts: 4184
Loc: Braintree, Ma. USA
Reg: 06-14-08
|
08-12-24 11:04 AM - Post#2872646
In response to Andy J
AND
That is my thought, but I would never run bald tires under any condition.
|
Louiem
Senior Member
Posts: 1503
Reg: 01-06-03
|
08-14-24 07:51 PM - Post#2872721
In response to Stinky
I do a lot of highway driving and I have had my share of high speed blowouts and I never felt like I was in any serious danger of losing control. Pulling a car hauler trailer does make me pucker up much more but otherwise no big deal. Most of my tires are cheapos but my truck even blew goodyear wranglers. I think sitting months in our Texas heat ruins our tires and I usually have to replace the pickup tires after 3 or so years with under 10-15 thousand miles but only after my first blowout. I also replace them once I have one tire go out of round. The thump thump is a serious indicator of a coming tire failure.
On the traction question I don't think old bald tires gain any more traction than new. Shaving new tires probably does help traction but I'd rather have the extra life. That and I don't know anybody in my area with that type of equipment. Has anybody here had an accident as a result of a tire failure? I have witnessed a couple sudden loss of control accidents but I felt it was a suspension problem or driver error. One story told to me involved an old pickup and he claimed it just pulled hard and there was no correcting.
|
 someotherguy
Senior Moderator
Posts: 29798
Loc: Texas
Reg: 08-01-03
|
08-15-24 03:31 AM - Post#2872726
In response to Louiem
I can only recall a couple of tires blowing out over my lifetime and I didn't feel like I was going to lose control, but running wrecker as a "good guy" the first year I was in the business, I have seen more than a few crashes that were the result of tire failure. Sure, maybe the people didn't have good driving skills to begin with and that's why they reacted poorly, but who knows for sure? I think the real question is, why risk it?
I'm not sure it's really the heat that is damaging your tires while sitting, but probably direct sunlight. Maybe if your vehicle sits for extended periods in the open, get some tire covers like the RV people use? Might help the tires from drying out.
When I bought my '93 C3500 dually last year, I drove it home 200 miles in fairly warm weather on a set of tires so bad you could practically check the air pressure by looking through the cracks in the sidewalls. I didn't know they were that bad until I got there and I wasn't ready to drop $1500+ on a new set that moment as I hadn't picked the size I would replace them with. I aired them all up to a conservative amount (IIRC around 50psi or so, not hauling a load) and took it easy the whole way. It made me nervous. More than anything I didn't want to be stuck on the side of the road, and didn't want a rear tire blowout to damage the dually fenders any more than they already were.
She got a full set of new BFG Commercial T/A's before I even thought about driving it any more than getting home that day.
Richard
| 06 Silverado ISS / 06 Silverado SS / 06 300C SRT8 / 93 C3500 dually |
|
someotherguy
Senior Moderator
Posts: 29798
Loc: Texas
Reg: 08-01-03
|
08-15-24 03:37 AM - Post#2872727
In response to Stinky
I've recently read a post elsewhere that Discount was hard-timing someone over allegedly worn tires that they were apparently measuring incorrectly. Whether they were intentionally being deceptive or just poorly trained, I believe they were measuring the tire by placing the tool ON the wear indicator bars.
The customer left their store and went elsewhere..
Not to disparage any good tire techs as I know there are more than a few that really know their business, it seems too common that you get the absolute bottom of the barrel guys that don't know much but act like they do.
Discount is a franchise operation like many tire stores so your experience may vary based on the location you choose. You might drop them a politely worded message so that customer service issues could be addressed.
Richard
| 06 Silverado ISS / 06 Silverado SS / 06 300C SRT8 / 93 C3500 dually |
|
tommy49
"10th Year" Silver Supporting Member
Posts: 3616
Loc: Kaleva, Michigan
Reg: 09-28-12
|
08-17-24 07:13 AM - Post#2872788
In response to someotherguy
Always had good service with Belle tire! 
|
Matt
Member #2440
Posts: 7917
Loc: SAV
Reg: 09-26-01
|
08-20-24 06:53 PM - Post#2872931
In response to Stinky
Who cares about how much traction there is on dry roads!!!!!!!!!
It's so censored dangerous with bald or low-tread tires on wet roads. CRAZY DANGEROUS!!!!!!!! There ABSOLUTELY is diminished traction on wet roads with bald tires.
You can not predict the weather. Even weathermen/women can not predict the weather with absolute certainty.
Please, just think hard. Tires are the only thing that contacts the ground and the vehicle.
I know you want to wait 2 months until you put on snows, but the person that you'd potentially kill or injure in a light rain next week would disagree with that.
Just change your tires now, and then 2 months later swap to snows. Then you still have good fresh tires for the non-winter months. Why skimp now and play games with your or other peoples lives. The tires wont be "rotting away" during winter if you put them back on after winter.
|
bobb
Super Senior Member
Posts: 6760
Loc: paradise
Reg: 09-05-03
|
08-24-24 10:48 AM - Post#2873017
In response to Matt
tires will rot just by calender age. the rubber dries out. i would put them away in a shady spot enclosed tight in black rubbish bags and aired down to 10psi.
| 70 L camino, grampa engine, g-force 5 spd, road rage suspension. Pray first before all else fails. |
|
Chevrobert
Valued Contributor
Posts: 4184
Loc: Braintree, Ma. USA
Reg: 06-14-08
|
09-01-24 10:12 AM - Post#2873325
In response to bobb
Many years ago, I was waiting and watching as our tires on the family getting balder.
Money was tight with 5 kids during the 1970's and I was a lot dumber.
One day I happened to be under the car and
saw the steel belt on the inside was exposed.
I never skimped on a couple miles or months again.
|
Bad56Sedan
"18th Year" Gold Supporting Member
Posts: 1861
Loc: Pasadena, Texas
Reg: 04-29-04
|
09-02-24 07:25 PM - Post#2873393
In response to Chevrobert
As usual someone always has another viewpoint on just about every subject known to man.
So, I read these posts and surely everyone else sees what I see the way things are going now a days.
Another thing I think about with tires is getting a flat, sure seems to me back whenever I was not able to afford a new set,
I had more flats with worn tires than with new tires now.
Here you get your vehicle inspected every year and I knew back then I would get a warning from the Vehicle Inspection people about needing new tires.
So, I knew I would have to work July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years to be able to put new shoes on the old truck before the next State Inspection.
But then that's not really my reasoning now a days for keeping good shoes on my cars, I sure as heck don't wanna get caught on the wrong side of town with a flat.
Know what I mean?????????
VC56S 2 door Sedan, 44 Years
|
|
JasonZ
Ultra Senior Member
Posts: 11650
Age: 36
Loc: San Antonio Texas
Reg: 02-21-03
|
09-08-24 08:26 AM - Post#2873585
In response to Stinky
I replace based on age and tire depth. I have driven in the snow with cords showing with a spool on my truck, with just snow in the bed and did okay. But I was in high school and broke.
| Don't go BROKE trying to look RICH. Act your WAGE!! |
|
|
Gain extra benefits by becoming a Supporting Member 
Attachment: 
