I'm bringing my Firehawk to my home in the next week or two to prep it for a show and so far everything on the car is PERFECT but my original Firestone SZ's worry me. As of now they are mint, no dry rot, they are perfect, but I want to keep them that way.

What can I put on them to preserve them? Is there something I can spray on them to get in the tread and such to prevent dry rot? Keep in mind I also plan on driving the car every now and then so I can't use anything that would effect driveability.

 

I don't think you are going to have a dry rot problem with or prservation with your original equipment tires. This will not be a issue unless you just let the car set for forty years or so. Just do what you have been doing to clean them up.

 

I was told by a tire shop that most sprays, gels ect you see on the market for tire care are not really that good on the tires unles you use it all the time.. I used some Eagle 1 Tire gel for shows.. but didn't use it all the time and some small cracks appeared now.. I showed the tire shop and they said it wan't a problem, usless it got really bad, and spread.. But it does suck... what they recommended you use which didn't matter if you didn't use it all the time is "Windex" I tried it keeps the white walls white if you have em out, and keeps the tire looking clean and original..

 

Thanks! I use Eagle 1 on my GTA but I drive it often, I'm glad I haven't put anything on my Firehawk yet.

I was thinking maybe a homemade mix of vasoline and water in a spray bottle or something for getting in the treat. The car only gets about 400 miles a year the way I drive it.

Thanks!

 

vasoline contains Petroleum I wouldn't recommend it on your tires.. thats actually one of the problems with some of the products out there..

 

Really? Cool thanks for telling me, I'll have to find something else then...

 

I think the main thing is to keep them climate controlled. If you keep them at a decent room temp then they will stay nice and warm and should have no reason to dry rot, but I agree that nothing should be put on them. Most of the stuff does contain some petroleum product or other.
If you drove the car any less or not at all I'd say to put jackstands underneath the control arms and the rear axle, keeps the tires from flat spotting but also keeps the suspension from getting stretched out if you put them on the frame.

 

Yeah I'm going to do that this next winter, jack it up on stands under the control arms and rear axle. I was going to remove the wheels altogether and lay them on their side covered with towels. I don't yet have a climate controlled storage and most likely won't for another few years that's why I'm worried. However it NEVER get's colder than 40 or hotter than 105 in the garage yearround...

 

My car is not winter driven (and hardly driven in summer at all), so my car is parked most of the year.

I jack my car up on the LCA's and rear axle as close to the tires as I can. That way, the suspension is still loaded, but the tires are off the ground and won't flat spot. All the cars I've seen in the Henry Ford museum in Detroit are done like that (probably because all the tires are flat in those old cars)

 

My convertible has the original goodyears on it. They show no wear or rot. The car is stored 99% of the time, and I've yet to see a problem. I use a tire swipe and classic armorall to keep them shiny. Avoid saturating the tires with dressing and they should be fine. Products like Tire foam are bad cause the dressing will soften the tire.