I thought I would share my story with you guys about my first breakdown in the '40. I was returning home last sunday (Father's Day), when I blew a tire. We were in small town USA, probably 100 miles from home. Well, I didn't actually blow a tire, the the tread separated from my left front tire. I was probably going about 50 mph, luckily, I didn't lose control. The flapping tread smacked my headlight bucket from the inside, shattering all the bulbs. I didn't have a spare, or a jack. I know, I'll be better prepared next time! Anyway, A guy stopped right away to help, but after a few calls, was unable to locate a 14" tire. Of course it's Sunday and Father's Day. By the way my wife was with me on her first trip out of town in the '40. I just happened that the guy who's house I stopped in front of came out to see if we needed any help. After explaining our situation, he indicated he thought he could find something that would work for us. After rooting around in his barn, he comes walking out with 2 14" tires. He pulls out a jack and impact wrench, and changes my tire in a few minutes. I couldn't believe our luck. I was all set to compensate the guy for his help and the tire. All he asked was "When your done with the tire and the rim..... bring it back". It was a handshake and we were on our way. My wife and I are very thankful for the nice people in this world, and that we stumbled on one of them when we needed it most. BTW, I'm buying 3 new tires this weekend. Two for the front and a spare :) I'll try to post a pict of the tire.
--
Chris Zakrzewski
SRS Staff

Sorry, I need to take pict posting 101.
--
Chris Zakrzewski
SRS Staff

Last try.
--
Chris Zakrzewski
SRS Staff

Well Chris you'll find out there's always good people around when you drive a rod! I've met alot of people in my time but rodders are the best!
--
Mike,Charter DRSA Member

Let me try this.

phil
--
One man's treasure is another man's trash.

I know I've done this before...

phil
--
One man's treasure is another man's trash.

lets try this


--
There's only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys.

Second try
--
There's only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys.

Bicycle tires?!?
--
Is it funny yet?

Charter Member: Dipstick Street Rod Association

That's kinda an unusual wear pattern...............
--
Mike J
Unchartered DSRA Member
If it ain't broke, fix it anyway...

Chris, I'm glad you had a good out come from that experience. There are a lot of good and helpfull people out there, I'll bet when ya take the tire and rim back he would love a ride in your 40. We have one in our midstalso, our very own Bowtie 36. On his way to uor house for the deck party before Power Tour he helped a lady on the side of the interstate that had spun a bering in her engine and gave her and her pack of kids a ride to Onawa,Ia. He ended up driving an extra eighty miles or so before getting to the deck party, so you see the high way heros are out there and we thank them more than they know!!! Bill
--
Bill Hicks DSRA Member

Glad you're OK Chris. Bad things can happen on front tire blowouts.
--
Wear your seatbelt

u violated us guys rodder rule....NEVER take ur wife in your rod and have a problem....haha
make sure its rite !!!!!!
if she gets turned off, ur solo......i know many guys who have sold their rods cause its a solo deal for them and they didnt like it......think about it...... wow
i buy a new set of tires every 12 months ......dont care about wear or junk like that....throw the other ones away...... the way i drive my studebaker its the only safe way. i dont carry a spare. i feel that if i want to go to calif. tomorrow [i live near dallas] iwill and have many times......thats the level mainteniance i try to keep my 53 LT1/6speed studebaker at......and its a pain in the a** to do but i drive it 25000 mi.a year......so must.
--
pink rod ... tom

Is that one of those Firestone "blowup tires"? LOL
Hope not, I'm running Firestones on my rod.

Pink I think my wife gets a kick out of something going wrong(well one time 2 am in northern Maine i think she was a little scared) She laughed the day i put rod bearings in my old hot rod in the motel parkin lot.Now she calls me Myguyver(the tV dude that could break into fort Knox with a swiss army knife) I dont think we have ever had one of our group ever get towed home...we allways seemed to fix it. I had a tire like that on the Ohio TPK one year.Got the tin snips out and cut away.(it still held air) Was a little scary at 40 mph.LOL Heck blew the fender all to hell in FLA one time and the cop said i could not drive it with out a fender. I asked would a floor mat do for a mud flap? he said it was ok with him.Wire ties duct tape and a floor mat..we was back legal. You meet some nice people when you stop to help sometimes.......helped a guy one time 10 years ago...i still get a x-mas card and a Job offer every year from him
--
Hot rod consultant for Kand K
engineer that dont drive the train
Driver of unpainted rods.

How old do you think that tire was? A member of our club put a older tire still rapped in paper and it blew and damaged his fender. don,t ever trust older tires and older brake shoes.
Dave
--
dave

yea....and be careful of so called NOS parts.......dont buy any NOS parts that arnt hard steel parts.
had a so called studebaker nos vendor recently sell me 47 year old NOS brake rubber .....hello! i dont use 47 year old brake parts! sent them back....they charged me a restocking charge. nice people. for this reason i dont use a single studebaker part in my rods. when i cross country ,cause i like to drive, and have a problem with my rod i can go to any local auto parts place and buy a simple part and be motoring in a heartbeat.....be carefull with your rod money........theres a lot of people out there that want it.......
--
pink rod ... tom

I don't know how old those tires are. They were on the car when I bought it. I think they were old tires that sat for a long time, and weren't used. You'd never guess by the tread that they were about to go.

I made the same trip twice in three weeks before that, and didn't have a bit of trouble. Wouldn't you know, as soon as I take the wife, this happens. BTW my fan quit working on this trip also. Almost overheated a couple of times sitting in traffic.

Well, I'm off to pick up my new tires. Had 'em put on this morning! Had 'em set me up with a spare also.
--
Chris Zakrzewski
SRS Staff

"Almost overheated"?? Electric fans never fail....Mechanical ones do....lol Steve, Help him out here...
--
The "New" and Unimproved edcroozer... Charter D.S.R.A. member

Chris, by any chance they weren't Bias Ply Cokers were they? I read in SRM or R&C that a ton of Coker tires that were sold here lately have flew apart. Nobody knows wether it was because of heat or what.

Since I read this almost everybody that ran Coker Bias Ply have switched to Radials.

Somethin' to keep in the back of your mind.
--
Dipstick Streetrod Association Member
If ya aint throwin' sparks ya aint low enough!

I know I've read articles about the relationship of tire age and tire failure before but I can't find a good article now. I just did a quick search and found an article for Motorhome people and I think the basic info pertains to rodders too. Here it is:

"One other aspect of tire safety. TIRES DO NOT LAST FOREVER! We never worried about the age of our passenger car tires, because after a few years the tread was worn out, and we replaced them. But, in the RV world, it is common to find RVs that are perhaps 10 years old with less than 20,000 miles on them, so the tire tread looks good, yet the owner experiences frequent tire failure, and of course, blames the name of the manufacturer engraved on the sidewall for building defective tires. We cannot tell you exactly how long a tire will last because there are so many variables that affect aging of the casing, but we know from statistics that the average service life expectancy of a tire in RV service is 5 to 7 years. In fact, it is important to note that tires age more quickly when not used! Tires are designed to roll, heat up, and release anti-weathering chemicals that help to keep the tire supple and resist aging. In the RV world, we frequently subject tires to the absolute worse case scenario; We sit for a season in the sun and ozone, then pull onto the interstate and dash down the highway at speeds in excess of 65 miles per hour, then park it for a few months, etc., creating an extreme duty cycle. Every RV owner should know the age of the tires on his coach and be alert for signs of aging. The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that every tire be marked on the sidewall with its "birthday", or when it was in the mold. Find a string of numbers and letters that starts with "DOT" on the sidewall. It's only on one side of the tire, so you may have to crawl underneath to see it. At the end of the string you will find three numbers; the first two indicate the calendar week of the year, starting with "01" in January. The third number is the year, so a "089" might indicate the tire was born on the 8th week of 1999."

I'm sure tire age is something us rodders don't pay much attention to, but we should.
--
*******
George

Chris........ I cannot help you with the tires and I always use a mechanical fan on my cars ( you know.... the motor is turning and so is the fan ) but I can help you with the fan. he he he I know you guys sell them here on SRS. Talk to Dick, better yet ask Karen and get a GOOD deal on 1.

That is the first time I have ever helped someone get a electric fan.

I see where you guys also sell good water pumps and stuff.
--
Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

The fan is fixed. It was a case if poor wiring by the previous owner.

The brand of tire was Seiberling. I looked at the last three digits of the DOT # on the sidewall and it was 492. So it should be the 49th week in '92? or '82? I don't know how you tell the exact year with only the last digit.
--
Chris Zakrzewski
SRS Staff

WOW....I didn't know there were any Seiberling tires left anymore. I used to sell these tires (and I ran them on my own car) back in the late 60's & very early 70's. I don't know if they are still made or not--I have seen or heard of them since way back then.

Terry

Glad to hear no real harm was done and eveyone is safe! BTW, what brand of tire was that? It really didn't look like it had too many kilometers on it?
--
Member:Dipstick Street Rod Association.
And thats the bottom line, cause the old fart said so!

Here's a pic of a similar incident that happened to a friend's '30 Ford.
--
*******
George

....and another.....

I just carry a can of fix-a-flat cuz I don't have room for a spare...I don't think it would help much on these.
--
*******
George

What are you guys running for tires? These all look like retreads. Scary stuff. Chris, glad you made it through ok. Maybe you can tell us more about the tire. What brand? I haven't seen a pattern like that on a "modern" tire.
--
Is it funny yet?

Charter Member: Dipstick Street Rod Association