Jay Leno needs about 1200 tires
I have owned my 1972 Mercedes-Benz 600 for about 20 years, and until recently, it still had the tires on it from when I bought it. I have done just about everything to the car except change the tires because, hey, they looked fine. So, not long ago, my friend Dave Killackey and I went out in the 600. We were going down the 210 freeway here in LA and I ran it up to 80 and—BAM!! An explosion like a shotgun shell.
The car started veering all around. “What the…!” I said to Dave, and I managed to get it over to the side and we got out to take a look. One of the front tires had disintegrated, and all the wire from the radial was hanging out in shreds. Thankfully, the spare, jack, and tools were all in the trunk, so we jacked it up and changed the tire.
Then a thought occurred to me, and I said to Dave, “You know, we should turn around and go home because this is probably going to happen again.” We got about another 5 miles up the road and—BAM!! Another tire exploded on the other side, just blew right off the rim. After we pulled over, you couldn’t even pick up the remnants of the tire because the wires would cut your hand, and I realized in that moment that I had reached the absolute ultimate shelf life of those old radials. So we had to flatbed the Benz back to the garage, and I ran out and bought four new tires.
All of us who collect cars have vehicles we can’t or don’t drive every day, so consequently their tires age out before they wear out. I looked around the garage the other day and realized that I need about 1200 tires. Even stuff in here like the 2005 Ford GT has tires that are “brand new,” but obviously they’re not. So lately I’ve been going through and changing tires.
Boy, have tires gotten seriously expensive. So have McDonald’s hamburgers, but unlike hamburgers, tires are essential to your safety. And when you’re dealing with older cars that have tubes, there’s another risk factor because you can’t see the tubes to know if they’re going bad. In the old days, it was easy to get good tubes, but now a lot of tubes come from China or India; the slightest scuff inside the tire wears right through them, and it’s dangerous.
Buying tires is like buying shoes: It’s not the time to be cheap. I used to go buy—you know—shoes. Didn’t know what they were, didn’t care. But I was doing two back-to-back 90-minute shows in Vegas, and at the end of three hours on stage, my feet were killing me. Then someone at The Tonight Show gave me a pair of Ferragamos, which were $300 when normal shoes were $60. And years later, I still have that same pair. I get them resoled every so often, they’re comfortable, I wear them all day, and my feet don’t hurt.
It’s the same thing with tires. I’m always amazed when I meet people who are driving some sort of supercar that they’ve put cut-rate tires on. I think, “What are you doing, besides putting a cheap clutch on the car?”
I generally like Michelins, in part because I know they’re round. Which sounds odd, because you assume a new tire will be round. But when you buy some of these retro tires for old cars, they’re really for trophy cars that don’t move much, and often they’re not quite round, so they have to be shaved. When I bought my 1932 Packard from Phil Hill, it had a shimmy, and we tried all kinds of things and couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Finally we found a guy with a tire shaver, and he took a pound of rubber off each tire. After that, it rolled perfectly. There’s nothing wrong with the car—the front end was fine.
I have to admit that the Benz wasn’t my first reminder that tires age even while you sleep. One day, I was driving down the center aisle here at the garage and I heard a really loud BANG! I about jumped out of my skin. I looked around to see where it came from, and my ’66 Hemi Coronet was moving. Why would a car be moving—well, sinking, really—on its own? And it was also going SSSSSSS! The tire blew just sitting there, and it was like a gunshot. All right, I thought, we have to get four new tires there. Well, that was 10 years ago, so now those tires are also old!
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Hey Jay
If you need to buy 1200 tires, could you please make it 1204 tires as my 2004 Lightning needs some new shoes
This spring I replaced the steer tires on our class A motorhome. 6 years old, looked great, no cracks, indoor storage. Cheap me hated to do it. But I really didn’t want a steer blowout at 65 mph in a 20,000 lb vehicle with my family aboard, and the advice in the RV world is (generally) 5 – 7 years. Interestingly, the new tires do ride quite a bit smoother…
Next up will be the ’62 Thunderbird. Tires last changed in 2010 – only sees a couple hundred miles a year max so I keep putting it off. Just writing this reminds me I need to get with it…
Great article. I learned a great deal. Thanks.
When I bought my 1971 Dodge Super Bee, 3.5 years ago, it had 20 year old BF Radial T/As on it. The purchase receipt for the tires was included with the paperwork. A year later, I replaced them with Milestar Streetsteel tires, after restoring the Rallye wheels. I wanted raised white letter radial tires for factory 14” wheels, and the choices today are extremely limited (Milestar Streetsteel, Cooper Cobra Radial G/T, BF Goodrich Radial T/A). Streetsteel has the most vintage looking tread pattern of the three, but I’m not fond of the raised racing flag pattern on the sidewall. BF and Cooper tread patterns look totally out of place on a vintage muscle car. Cooper’s current lettering font, I dislike the most. BF letters are notorious for turning yellow, I miss the long discontinued Goodyear Eagle ST. That was the radial muscle car tire I used to run in the 80s/90s.
Purchased a car back that I sold 23 years earlier. It had the same tires on it that where installed before 1992 when I sold it. They are still on for now and look fine for being 31 years + old. Always stored indoors, sidewalls look like new. Tread wear is even and consistent with the 8 or 9 thousand miles driven after I sold it – but they are now on my list to replace soon.
I wonder if the author checked the air pressure before they blew out. Low pressure plus heat will do that more than age. I just changed tires that had been on a car since 1976 and went faster than 80 mph. I changed them because they were worn out, not aged out. Tires are just not that fragile. Sitting outside in the Arizona sun vs a cool garage will make decades worth of difference in aging out.
Tires are garbage. They are expensive and never last the so-called mileage or warranty joke. The funny thing is some of us,”me” drive older vehicles daily, sorry 50 to 80 grand for some electronic nightmare is a no. Buyer beware comes as some of these tires sit in warehouses for years. I purchased a set for a square body Caprice, when I looked at the codes the tires were already 5 years old. The biggest problem with having old cars are 1 fuel and 2 tires. Just like Mr. Leno’s tires that pop just sitting in his garage, I have had the same. I just recently untombed my Lincoln convertible, on one the tread peeled off as it came out of the garage, a few moments later a rear one did the pop hiss. Tires you gotta’ love em’. As younger guy you joked about bologna skins, may pops. Personally from experience some of those old bias ply things are incredible if you are in a pinch. More than once I have begrudgingly had to use an original spare, a radial no way.
Jay – I checked and I have some 8-year-old BFGs I’ll sell you at a discount. You get two more years on one of your rigs and I get a few bucks towards some new shoes for mine. Win-win, right? 😁
Great article, But if the age of the tire is so important, Where is the information on decoding the date code of the tire ? I would think that it would be the most important part of this article and yes most of us car guys are guilty of running old tires.
You can check out our great reference piece on that topic here: https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/your-tires-are-talking-to-you-heres-how-to-understand-them/
Funny thing is the article is a retread .
Published years ago .
Just copy and paste for more content
Please remember tire *pressure* too! The guy whose blowout killed my dad had 60+ lbs in the other 3 tires on his 70s Town Car.
A good gauge and 6 minutes is worth a lot more than your TPMS.
Whole ‘nuther subject for sure, but I’m totally anti-TPMS. I have three vehicles with them – two of which don’t work and can’t be made to without just completely replacing. Also sold a different vehicle last year with faulty TPMS – fortunately, the guy said, “no worries, I have a tire pressure gauge and I know how to use it!”
Not sure if or how Coker Tire makes period correct tires, have had several different people tell me they are great for their vintage cars and have performed well. Maybe a follow up with them to see the process and availability
My only quesion is why not buy FIVE tires for these precious cars? The spare ages just as fast as the tires on the wheels, so it’s important, too.
With that many cars, Leno (and probably every collector) needs a maintenance scheduling program that would easily be set to alert someone (you, your fleet manager, whoever) when time-sensitive maintenance like tires, fluid changes, or rubber belts come due. Where I live, a car that gets driven needs new brake fluid every 3-5 years, but a car that sits might need it every two. And no matter where you live, a ten-year-old timing belt with little or no mileage is a top-end rebuild waiting to happen. If I knew how to build an app to do this, I would… but as a 60-year-old, I’m better at wrenching than at coding.
Hi Everyone,
Any tire that is purchased for modern day cars is only warranted for 5 years regardless of mileage or thread depth. It doesn’t matter what the mileage rating of the tire is. I am sure this would also be true of any tire for classic or antique cars. Your safety and life are dependent on tires and brakes. Do not be cheap because you can not take it with you.