I have read some of the threads on sidewall cracks, they are all talking about radial tires. I know in radial tires never mess with weather cracks in sidewalls. I have never owned bias ply tires before just picked up a set of used 38" TSL.

one tire has cracks on the sidewall, none in the tread. the other 3 tires have zero cracks and zero weathering. I got a really good deal on the tires. they still have 12-14/32 tread left.

Are bias ply tires able to be repaired?

 

Can't repair that. You going to run them on the highway or just off road?

I wouldn't run those to the tire store at a high speed.....

Is there a number stamped on them?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11&

 

i just dropped them off in storage after taking the pictures this afternoon, so i cant check the dot numbers, i know the tires are at least 7-8 years old, the guy told me. The weird thing was the other 3 tires never had any weathering or cracking. I mean its no big deal, i seen them before purchasing, so its not like I just noticed the cracking after buying. I got a really good deal on them. they have about 50% tread left on them.

The bronco will see some pavement, its approximately an hours drive to the trails. So I guess im gonna hopefully find a single tire with roughly the same tread wear. I have been searching for approx 4 months for a good set of used 38s, every set i went to see was either worn out, or they ended up wanting the same price as a new set. I was giving up hope till these popped up.

 

They were likely stored on dirt or concrete and the cracked tire was on the bottom.


I wouldn't drive that tire on the highway.

 

i agree. and with as bad as the dry rot is on that tire, i would not run it offroad either.
i have thrown away tires with less dry rot than that.

just because the other tires do not have cracks in them you can see now, once you mount them and air them up they will show up real fast.

 

those aren't regular tsl's and you are all wrong. those are sx's and it is very common for them to have "dry rot weather cracks" when damn near new as well, serious. all 4 of mine looked like that on the f350 and i bought them when they were a month old with like 100 miles on them from a buddy who ordered them brand spanking new. if you don't believe me google it. i'm sure it'll pop up on pirate of one of the other more offroad specific forums.

 

ask 73 ford gay to take a pic of his sidewalls, i bet they are like that too. i would lean towards that they were stored stacked and that was the bottom tire though like kris mentioned, but i'd run it without worries and i am the resident safety expert. passenger side rear, put it there and tell kris to suck it

 

they may have been bought new, but how many years were they sitting in a warehouse after they were made and sold?

we bought 10 "brand new" Goodyear tires for my big truck 3 months ago.
in 4 days, i had 2 blowouts from tread separation and 2 tread peel offs.
a week later i had another blowout from tread separation.

we got suspicious someone did some shady dealings and started looking closely at the tires.

DOT date was 4-93.
this means they were 20 years old and sold as new.
we got reimbursed for full price.
i am just glad all the blowouts were on the rear, if it was a front tire there was a chance of a very bad accident.
but now i have a mix match of tires on the truck, because it is very hard to find 12X24 tires anymore

 

tom, i'm not bs'ing on the tsl sx's. they seriously are known for mystery "weathering". i don't have dot #'s or anything to back it up, just what i've read over the years and experienced first person. mine never leaked or had any seal/blowout issues and i had them for probably 8 of the 10 years or better that i owned the truck. only one that leaked slightly was one with a nail hole.

 

not doubting you. just saying they were probably new old stock
made many years ago, but still sold as new because they were never used.

 

"Mystery weathering?" really, does Interco use some differently compounded rubber on just this tire? C'mon this is really hard to believe........use this tire at slow speed only, and carry a suitable spare, AND make sure your jack works with a tire and lift of this size