I have a set of BFG M/Ts that i have had for about 4 years that came off my brother in laws yota, and i want to put them on mine for the winter season, but i have a problem... they have been sitting on my 78 GMC for 4 years, and the truck hasnt moved except once...

my question is, do you guys think that these tires are still good, or will they have too bad of a flat spot?? i was told to just overinflate the tires a little, and put them on my toyota on a hot day, and do some acceleration/braking tests to try to heat up the rubber, then go for a short drive (ten mins) to get most of the flat gone... but they will probably still be lumpy for a week or so...

any thoughts on my situation???

 

hmm they might be dry rotted and have some cracks in them :S hopefully they were full of air the whole time while on your chev.

 

yes, they were full of air...

 

it will just take a lil for the flat spot to be even with the rest of the tire but as long as you think they look fine I would go for it

 

Big smokey burnout might help as well.

 

well, if the SB 400 were in it i owuld, but my 3.0 aint powerful enpugh to do that...

 

imho i wouldn't use those tires

 

I'd never use tires that are more than 5 years old.

I'm sure the flat spots might come out, but its not worth the hassle or risk.

 

my tires were siting for about 5 years, and they are still good

 

My old tired sat for about 2 years on my driveway before my truck got running again.. no flat spots..

You could take them to a tire shop to have them shave them down a little... providing the tires are not all cracked from age.

 

No, apparently, they're not.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch_CBgcX_20[/YOUTUBE]

 

hey,they're only flat on the bottom, right?


I would'nt risk it either.

 

Generally, Radial tires won't hold a flat spot. You wouldn't have to worry about that unless its a Bias-Ply or Race tire.

However, the age issue IS real, despite that that dodo says in the video. Tires DO age, and get dried out, and cracked. Sitting without use can and will damage a tire.

 

well, looking at them, none of them looked cracked or dry, in fact, i even pushed the 78 forward a little, and they dont have that bad of a flat spot...

in fact, they still looked brand new other than the fact that the white lettering looks like its melting down the side of the tire...

i think im gonna give it a try... after all i dont drive over 55 at all...

and hey, i just realised that one of the BFGs is in the bed, so i know that ill only have 33% chance of a blowout!!

EDIT: i just noticed that these tires are a 32x11.50 with a 15" rim and unknown backspacing... think ill have rubbing??

 

those should fit perfect with zero lift. i'd run em. worst case scenario you get a blow out or flat. most people dont do prolonged highway speed on a mud terrain for long anyways.

 

32x 11.5's rub on a p/u. gotta knock down the pinch weld, and crank the t-bars a little over an inch, and they wont rub unless you really cram em in there. I had no lift when i bought the truck with those size tires on it, and pulling out of the po's driveway for the testdrive the rubbing was so loud that i immediately pulled over and got under the truck to see what was rubbing...

I would be wary of old tires. maybe on a trailer rig used for low speed offroad. and just because the flat spots arent that visible doesent mean it wont cause a huge vibration going down the road. It'll be similar to having a fairly heavy weight missing from the wheels in the vibration it will cause most likely.

Only one way to truly find out though...

 

good information regarding tire age and potential problems. going to go check ALL my tires and see what im up against. maybe darwin wont come visit me this month!

lee

 

THANK YOU!!

I knew that seeing all of those old tires at the Toyota dealership I used to work at werent safe. We had early 90's corollas come in with brand new looking tires, but they were original!!(this is back in 2005).

Ever since then, I've established that limit.

 

Okay, so i ended up dragging out one of my lumpy tires out of the bed of the 78 GMC (this is the one tire that is not on that truck) and decided to do some R&R to it...

Supplies: 1 Can of Hammertone Rustoleum paint (Gloss Black)
1 Roll of Duct Tape (didnt have any masking tape)
1 Rusty old rim

As you can see, the old chrome plating is rusting through...

So, i started my masking off the tire around the rim... i HATE it when guys just spraypaint their rims and dont mask off the tires!

First coat... Went with a light covering and stayed about 6 inches away... note how you can see the chrome through the hammer paint... looks kinda cool... too bad i gotta cover it up with another coat...

Second coat... looks a lot better now!

They are actually shiny... the flash just doesnt show it...

Big oops on my part... there was a little bit of water left on the rim and the paint decided to seperate from it... just means another coat tomorrow...

 

You did scuff up the old chrome right? ....right?