New old tire question

I am pretty sure I know the answer, but money is tight right now. I think the oldest tire I ever used was maybe 2 years old, so no experience beyond that.

I have a bunch of 5 year old (new) Hoosier radials for a GT car. They were stored indoor in a climate controlled room, but not bagged. No visible cracking, but they do feel pretty stiff (although that maybe just compared to formula car tires)

What would be the odds they are still usable?

I hate to make wall art out of $4k worth of tires, but that maybe what will happen.

I did contact Hoosier, they gave me the build dates but no other advice.

Thanks
Darren

Check with durometer, or finger nail. Compare them to your street car for reference. If they were stored properly they may be ok surprisingly.

They may not set lap records though.

You'll know after 2 laps really. I had some super old tires felt hard tried them and they were like ice first lap, gave them a chance second lap, still like ice... ok toss them.

GT car is heavy enough it will help.

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They've never been run.....and stored well...…..run the pi$$ out of 'em…...90% at first......speed will come

Be careful of running tires that old. I have heard warnings against running tires over a year or two old. YMMV

Possibly someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in.

Not for lack of speed but for degraded structural integrity is what I have heard.

I’ve run tires over 4 years old before. They will have lost some time but should be safe. If you aren’t seeing age cracks on the sidewalk, they should be good to go.


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Thanks all,

Going to give them a try. Hopefully after a few laps they heat up and soften up a bit..

Darren

Of course you'll mark the bead after mounting to see if they walk on the wheel under hard use. Forgot to ask earlier....how do they smell on their insides?

I had a lot of luck with Formula Vee Traction treatment. Brush it on 48 hours before going out on track. several coats first time,

PS I owned the green Mysterian you worked on out of Texas..

Frank Vella

I'd run them for sure.....but not at Nationals.;)

Something I started to do a few seasons ago that I am quite sure has extended the life of my tires no matter if new or used is to use pallet wrap on them in my tire wrack in the trailer after a race. I even wrap the new tires in the trailer that I am carrying . This seems to preserve them to some degree that is measurable on the track as well as feel on the track. Nothing is as good as a completely fresh set at any time but with the cost now for a set of the Avons I use now being about $2200/set to be able to get more real time is important to me. Keeping towing tires on in between helps too especially in the garage with all of the UV from the lights. Tried all kinds of tire softeners over the years with mixed results at best and my guess the only way they might work is the short track method of soaking them internally as well as externally and I have tried a number of different brands with the same conclusion. The effects maybe last a few laps at best and frankly are not worth the effort or cost.

The heat and cool cycles on the trailer kills them. Better to leave them in a garage or something when not in use and reload for the weekend. But wrapped does help I find too.

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Here is the reason for the question. The car I picked up a few weeks ago came with all these tires (see picture)

As to the answer of the smell. They definitely still give off the new tire smell, but not near as strong as a new tire.

I have considered some softening agent, but have always worried the first few laps would be like ice. Is that not the case?

Thanks all

Darren

From your photos I would use them as is. The last thing I would do is put tire softener on them until you try them first.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darren Brown

...I have considered some softening agent, but have always worried the first few laps would be like ice. Is that not the case?...

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Any benefit of tire softeners would be most noticeable (more grip) in the 1st few laps. After that the effect wears off. So they would not, IMO, be "like ice."

Having said that, I tried several types of tire softeners on several different GY tire tread compounds back 25 years ago or so. After much screwing around, I found that the only noticeable benefit was that the tires had to have all the pickup cleaned off (heat gun & putty knife) before application and I discovered THAT made a difference in the 1st few laps. I was never able to detect any benefit from the softeners themselves and they were a pretty big PITA to apply evenly and thoroughly.

So I never used them again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darren Brown

Here is the reason for the question. The car I picked up a few weeks ago came with all these tires (see picture)

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Looks like you have 4 bias ply tires and 8 radials. Don't mix sets between the 2. Also, do not put the 74 3/4" tire on same axle as the 75 3/4" tire unless you are running a circle track. You want the roll out to be within 1/4". 1/2" if you don't mind stagger. Dry cracking like a Michelin that has seen too much sun is the definite, do not run.

It also depends how abusive the track you run is on tires as well as the temperature. Hot summer day on an abrasive track they may be awesome and last better than new ones. As I wonder if Roebling Road is still a cheese grater? Cooler day on a smooth track and you may be slip sliding all over ending in a bent car. If all you expect if for them to hold the car up, roll, have more grip than a 200 tread wear street tire, they may be fine to shake down the car and make laps. If you want to push it for a qualifier or a race, the question would be, is the price of a set of tires worth more than how you want to drive the car?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TedV

Looks like you have 4 bias ply tires and 8 radials.

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Eagle Eye Ted. :-)

Yes the tires seem a little slippery when you first go out ( I try to be at the rear of the line going out but on Hoosiers and Goodyears I got an extra 3-4 sessions that I normally would not have. Doen't seem to work on Americans or McCrearys(are they still aroung/)
The green car I owned was Jim Rainey's/////////// I painted it orange and it is now one of Scaler's rent a rides. I followed you aroung IRP at a Pro Vee Race a Loooong time ago.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fvracerone1

Yes the tires seem a little slippery when you first go out ( I try to be at the rear of the line going out but on Hoosiers and Goodyears I got an extra 3-4 sessions that I normally would not have. Doen't seem to work on Americans or McCrearys(are they still aroung/)
The green car I owned was Jim Rainey's/////////// I painted it orange and it is now one of Scaler's rent a rides. I followed you aroung IRP at a Pro Vee Race a Loooong time ago.

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The Pro-Vee days were a blast. I had a great time at those. Man I wish I was 20 again.


And yes, 8 radials and 4 bias ply tires (with inconsistent diameters) . Odd thing is the bias tires seem much softer than the radials, and they are the oldest. Well according to the high tech finger nail test.

Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darren Brown

The Pro-Vee days were a blast. I had a great time at those. Man I wish I was 20 again.


And yes, 8 radials and 4 bias ply tires (with inconsistent diameters) . Odd thing is the bias tires seem much softer than the radials, and they are the oldest. Well according to the high tech finger nail test.

Thanks again.

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3 things:
o "hardness" does not necessarily correlate with grip level.
o The "soft" bias tires likely have a different, softer compound than the radials - look for the spec/compound # on the sidewall and then ask Hoosier what they mean.
o bias tires are known for widely-varying diameters - I used to spend a lot of time matching bias tires side-side