drag slick life expectancy??

[565bbc]

I'm just trying to get some peoples opinions on the life expectancy of M/T drag slicks. I was talking to one of our local race car builders here and he told me that slicks start to loose there stickiness around 18 months whether you use them or not. Is that true? I'll give you a quick rundown of what I have as short as I can. I have a set of 29.5x10.5W's on my luv that are about 2 1/2 years old but only have 24 passes on them. I used to have a small block that would run mid 6's in the 1/8th, with consistent mid 1.40 60's of the trans brake. Then I got a wild hair up my butt and put in a 940hp 565 bbc. Well the first time out she ran what I consider ok (I expected a little faster) mid 5.80's with fairly consistent mid to low 1.30 60's. Ever since then every time after that my 60's started falling off hurting my overall et's. I tried moving my ladder bars around up and down, messing with my front shock settings, different tire pressure, etc. etc. Well after reading and talking with some more experienced racers with faster cars I came to the conclusion that the economy coil over shocks that came with the chassis engineering stage II ladder bar kit just weren't enough to hold that much power. I will go with either afco's or qa1's but not till after the new year. Should I go ahead and get new slicks anyway or wait to see what happens just changing shocks? Or do you think I'm way off? Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Raymond

[John_Heard]

They sit around in the warehouse longer that 18 months a lot of time. I think Jason from M/T said a while back as long as they aren't used and don't get exposed to light and ? they last a long time. There might be something about that on the M/T FAQ page maybe. Not sure how many races you got left this year, but since it is probably close to the end of the season I'd get the shocks now and get a fresh set of tires next spring. The hard core guys look at the date code and want the freshest tire they can get, check circumference and durometer to make sure they have a matched set.

[sc racing]

I spoke to MT about this when I bought mine because I knew I wouldnt be using them for a while but my supplier had the on sale so I had to get them. They told me they have a 2 year shelf life but their distributors dont rotate stock back to them if they get old so you might get an "old" set even if they are new. I would think your tires are probably done but I would do what John said and wait until next season for some new ones. I freind of mine who used to build comp eliminater and supoer stock cars told me if you used a tire at least once and break the "skin" they will dry out after time even if you dont use them.

[565bbc]

They sit around in the warehouse longer that 18 months a lot of time. I think Jason from M/T said a while back as long as they aren't used and don't get exposed to light and ? they last a long time. There might be something about that on the M/T FAQ page maybe. Not sure how many races you got left this year, but since it is probably close to the end of the season I'd get the shocks now and get a fresh set of tires next spring. The hard core guys look at the date code and want the freshest tire they can get, check circumference and durometer to make sure they have a matched set.

What do you mean by durometer?

[John_Heard]

It measures how hard the rubber is. It's not uncommon for two sets of tires to be of different hardness levels, which can be a slight performance issue

This is a durometer gage - http://www.stockcarproducts.com/acc4b.htm

[565bbc]

Thanks John! The durometer is definatly the next little gadget to be added into my tool arsenal. Now as far as the date code, I've heard that before but how do you break that down? Or is that something that M/T only can tell you? And say someone wanted to order the freshest tires off the line, Can you request that when you order a set or is that one of those things where you have to know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody if you know what I mean?

[John_Heard]

We had a discussion about that a while back, see "Just how old are your "New" racing tires?"

Also that discussion uncovered the shelf life is 2 years for M/T's

[79 Camaro]

Slicks are good until you start to see a little bit of the threads showing!!! Just ask Scott Willis aka "Aitch O"
LOL J/K

I have 50 passes on my slicks and they have been on the car for about 1 1/2 years.. 1.31 60ft last time out, but John Heard says they might be a little worn out, aint that right buddy??

But seriously... I am not sure how my car still hooks on these old tires... Probably be even better with new ones.


Adam

[John_Heard]

Adam's tires have more stretch mark's than Octomom...

[565bbc]

Slicks are good until you start to see a little bit of the threads showing!!! Just ask Scott Willis aka "Aitch O"
LOL J/K

I have 50 passes on my slicks and they have been on the car for about 1 1/2 years.. 1.31 60ft last time out, but John Heard says they might be a little worn out, aint that right buddy??

But seriously... I am not sure how my car still hooks on these old tires... Probably be even better with new ones.


Adam

I actually ran a set of slicks down that far before back in my street racing teenage years! LOL!

[79 Camaro]

Adam's tires have more stretch mark's than Octomom...

OMG!!!!! LOLOLOL!!!!

[572 BBC]

maybe it could depend on if u used screws...what u think special ed? hee hee sorry i couldnt resist

[Gus68]

You guys are probably gonna freak, but I got my M/Ts (28x10.5) from a friend of mine about 8 years ago, and I know they sat in his rafters in his garage for about 2 years before I bought them. He did buy them new but never used them. I don't go racing as much as most of you guys, but I try to go 2 or 3 weekends a year. Last weekend my car ran a best ever of 11.73 @ 112 with a 1.58 60ft. They still have plenty of "divot" left in them. I alternate them side to side every time i go racing and when I don't use them I keep them in my basement in my house. I know they are old, but they still work!?!

[spib]

my slicks are 4yrs old, I put them in house in winter, garage isnt heated, was told by hoosier, that when the 60ft goes away, and the times are all over the place then they are done

[Speedster]

Couple things to do with your tires when not being used.

1. dont leave them outside or in direct sun light when not being used. store them in cool dark place.

2. Wrap the tire with cellophane or suran wrap it keeps the UV rays from sucking the oils out of the tire.
leave a tire outside in the sun and watch the tread area start turning blue and purple like a oil slick.

if you have a set that is losing traction and it's near the end of the season you can also soak them or treat them with softner to get that last couple of days out of them and then buy your new tires in the spring.

we made our own softner out of diesel conditioner and WD40 mixture and brushed it on the tire a couple of times a week before we raced.

tires will last along time if your not doing john force style burnouts! (but wheres the fun in that?)