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I've heard that occasional applications of brake fluid helps lube and protect rubber parts. But keep it away from your paint. I've got plenty of beeswax too, never thought to try it. I saw an experienced mechanic break loose a rusted-in bolt once by repeated applications of heat and beeswax. Worked fast, and he swore by it.
Yep. If you can keep them out of the sun that seems to help, but they still get exposed to ozone. There's plasticizers or chemicals that wear out or dissipate, eventually they turn to rock.
When the first Gulf War kicked off a bunch of state National Guard units were activated. This had never really happened before as in "everything must go, no shirt, really". It was a big problem for some units.
A few of the trucks must not have ever moved much from the motor pool until then, the tires were obviously "new" and unused and they still even had those little ticklers sticking out but they were junk and failed right away. When they just sit, everything goes bad including tires apparently.
I saw an experienced mechanic break loose a rusted-in bolt once by repeated applications of heat and beeswax. Worked fast, and he swore by it.
Have read candle wax works good, too though never tried it. Could cause issues with some folks.
"Dear, what happened to those fabulous apricot-blueberry-almond beeswax candles that I just put on the table?" "Um.. gee I dunno honey . . haven't seen them?"
For us guys with old 4x4s it's a dilemma. No period looking 7.50x17" or 8-19.5" bias traction tires are being reproduced. It's a pretty big market when you consider all the early F-250/350s, factory Chevy/GMCs as well as Napcos, Dodge, IHC, and Studebaker Napcos. Us M-H guys are small potatoes in the big picture.
When I look through the Coker and Universal catalogs I shake my head at all the repop'd sizes that absolutely no meaningful market exists for. Every year I lobby the Coker and Universal reps at shows to start taking care of this unserved market. Maybe a letter writing campaign is in order.
In the mean time I'll keep the black moving blankets covering my sets of Courser Traction LTs, and will keep working to fill out my sets of Firestone Super All Tractions and Goodyear Xtra Grips. Stu
Most of the rubber used now is crap. Last Fall I scrapped a tire that was on my 86 F250 when I bought it in 1995. Used it of and on as a spare. It was worn out but, no cracks. Checked on a couple of tires I took off my 54 in 1980 and stored in the garage..no cracks. Some of the "new" tires seem to crack within 3 years or less.
This set of 8.25 x 20 firestones with 3043 stored indoor miles will be driving outa here in about 4 hours. I sold my '58 f600 fire truck, and the new owner is setting off on a 120 mile trip with two ferries involved. Oh, to be young again. He's 52 I might do my sikaflex trick to a 7.50 17 this afternoon, just to show the results. I haven't done one for 25 years, and I make no claims that it improves the road worthiness of a tire. Just looks better. I have seen rayon or cotton cord tires all shredded up from rotten cord, but from what I know about nylon, if it isn't in the sun it's pretty much inert. With 8 or ten plies, seems the internal cord should be ok???? I have a tube of sikaflex and a good, cracked candidate. Is that the kind of trick that gives used car salesmen a bad name?
Those Firestone Super All Tractions on your fire truck would be my first choice to have repop'd in the 19.5" size. Take a look at this Napco Stude wearing a NOS set. My friend Bill sold this to the guy who fully restored it. No modern tire would do the thing justice. Of course, this is a show truck and won't be piling up miles on the tires. Stu
Yeah, Ive got a set of Wards Riverside Deluxe Hi Tracs out in the barn that I wish there was a way to put back in service. Silly things have to be 50 years old and hard as a rock. Stu
I used to think I was the only guy that remembered each and every bias ply traction he ever owned (Or in Stu's case ever saw). When I dumped these tires out of my tire trailer a couple weeks ago, I immediately wondered how that chev one ton pickup got away without one of it's rear wheels. That wheel and tire is at a tire shop as I write this, being transfered to a ford '42 tonner 5 lug wheel. Hopefully I can do the sikaflex trick tomorrow.
Hope you're saving that Chevy three piece "AR" wheel. It'll work on the front of a Ford in a pinch. And what tire is that you're remounting? Maybe a Courser?
Speaking of remembering traction tires, there are others of us. First guy I got to know here, coming on 10 years pretty soon, was 1952henry (Owen). My first M-H came from Williston, ND. Owen grew up there and also has an F-3 M-H. After sharing emails, pics, and trying to figure out if he knew my truck's history, the subject turned to my truck's Coop Country Squire tires. I'd never heard of them, but he was hoping to find some good ones. Probably still is. Here's pics of his and mine. Mine hold air last I checked. Still have one of them out in the barn.
Since then we found that our buddy Thundersnow70 (Mark) knows a guy that has a pair of them NOS in the 8-19.5" size. He's tried to own them but the guy thinks they are lined with gold. Stu
About 20 years ago I had occasion to visit with James Wagner on the phone. He wrote 'Ford Trucks Since 1905'. I mentioned to him that he appeared to be obsessed with truck tires like myself. It seems he comments on or notes the tire brand and size on almost half of his descriptions under the factory photos in his book. He laughed and admitted it was an area of great interest to him and he has researched the subject most of his life.....So there's one more of us. I don't have any old NOS sets like Stu, but I do have a lot of tires saved up. You never know when the world is gonna end and we still need to run our old trucks.
My dad said that during WWII, gasoline was rationed in the U.S., not really because there was a shortage of gasoline so much as there WAS a shortage of rubber (Malaya cut off) and tires. THOSE were hard to get. There was even a 35 mph national speed limit. Tires were stolen, (or swapped, no doubt) and lots of older cars that could otherwise be driven could not because of tires.
There was an old joke that wouldn't make sense today, but did at the time. A couple is traveling in their car in the backwoods of Maine about 1943. They get lost and turned around and getting low on fuel. Finally, luckily, a service station comes into view.
The man comes out and they hand him their ration booklet. "What's this?" "You know.. our ration booklet." "Ration book?" "Yes.. you know. for gasoline.. Hitler. The War!??"
"Who!?"
"Never mind that, give us 4 new tires and fill 'er up!"
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I might do my sikaflex trick to a 7.50 17 this afternoon, just to show the results. I haven't done one for 25 years, and I make no claims that it improves the road worthiness of a tire. Just looks better. I have seen rayon or cotton cord tires all shredded up from rotten cord, but from what I know about nylon, if it isn't in the sun it's pretty much inert. With 8 or ten plies, seems the internal cord should be ok???? I have a tube of sikaflex and a good, cracked candidate. Is that the kind of trick that gives used car salesmen a bad name? 
