skinny z

I have a pair of 26x10.5-16 MT ET Streets that I've had for years. Probably 8 years old although there aren't a lot of passes on them. At least I don't think that 50-75 is a lot.

How am I supposed to tell if these things have any grip left in them?

My 60’ times have gone out the window. My personal best (on a more or less stock street suspension) was a 1.71 (2011). Then that faded away to the mid 1.8s. (2012).
Yesterday’s first outing at the track and the best I could manage was a 2.0. The traction isn’t totally lost as the engine doesn’t flare to the redline but I can feel the car slide out of the groove.
Since I live close to the track (I put my slicks on at home) and it’s nothing but rural highway, I took the opportunity to do a few burnouts to see if I was laying down any rubber. The result was hardly any.

Is this a reasonable indicator of the tire loosing it’s sticky goodness?

This isn’t about traction advice. There’s nothing I intend to do to take away from the car being what it is and that’s basically a daily driver/crosscountry cruiser. I’m just wondering if it’s time to move on to another set of tires.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Yup, junk for anything other than burnouts

skinny z

Is that based on the tire not leaving rubber on the road?
I know the Mickey Thompson website says tires should be replaced when the 60 and 330 foot times start going away. But the rubber on the road indicator seems like a reasonable way to assess them too.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

If they aren't hooking, they aren't doing what they were designed to do. Need new ones. They have a shelf life and wear life. Were they stored deflated and covered ?

skinny z

True enough.
Always stored indoors although at racing pressure most of the time. They are old though....

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

They dry out and get hard over time. Sounds like yours is gone. Being they are already gone but still has rubber left you can try an old trick I use to use.

Back when I was a broke kid, I had to make things work and picked up a few tricks from paved oval racers and budget drag racers.

Here's a couple of things that I used way back when to soften the tires back up and get them to stick...

Spray the tires down in traction compound (VHT) , put the tire in a big dark colored thick plastic bag, and place that out in the partly sunny area for a day.

Mix granular tide bleach detergent and water in a 5 gal bucket, wash the entire tire tread and sidewalls with a stiff bristle brush then rinse with water.

5 parts Xylene
1 part Acetone
Put it on with a paint brush about every hour for three hours.

I used all 3 methods on tires over the years and all 3 seemed to work pretty good

skinny z

I've thought about the VHT approach. I may go that route.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Xylene and toulene are fairly similar with toulene having a slightly faster evaporation rate. Most professional lacquer thinner has toulene and acetone in a proportion very similar to what you suggest. If you try this method purchase the good lacquer thinner so you have a purpose for it later on.