cullen winter Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I got six used tires cheap and two of them look like this. Are they heat cycled to death, baked and useless, or do they have a weekend or two left in them ?? I have very little experience with R compounds. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmdirks Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Cullen, The RA-1 has a date of manufacture code on the outside of the tire, something like 97V1307. The "13" = the 13th week of the year, and the "07" = 2007. I'm not sure how old is too old, though. There are also some marking blocks on the tire to indicate how much rubber is left. If they're not corded, you might as well run 'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullen winter Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 Thanks Dave, I never had the surface of my hankooks look like that, even after 145F track temps. That's my main concern, they even feel wierd. (kind of crispy) I'll look for the date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck T. Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I think the toyos just get faster till they cord out. as for date I'm sure newer is better but it's not like you going to run over DK the first day ... Drive it like you stole it ! the tires will be fine ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterling Doc Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I think the toyos just get faster till they cord out. as for date I'm sure newer is better but it's not like you going to run over DK the first day ... Drive it like you stole it ! the tires will be fine ! I raced quite competitively this year on Toos that were date coded 33rd week of '03 . New tires may have been a second or so quicker, but not much. They're not like Hoosiers. The roughness is just rubber they paciked up. Run 'em hard and give them a good scrubbing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I got six used tires cheap and two of them look like this. Are they heat cycled to death, baked and useless, or do they have a weekend or two left in them ?? I have very little experience with R compounds. thanks Those look almost new. I shave mine to 4/32 and those are maybe 3/32 tread depth. Drive them. My Toyo's have always cycled out or were repalced due to driver induced flat spots. In 4 years of racing have yet cord an RA-1 inspite of running them to the point they are slicks. If you can still see some groove there is ALOT of rubber left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullen winter Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 That makes me feel like I got a great deal (which I kind of thought anyway) I got 6 tires for $250. Four of them have that much rubber without the blistering. The surface of the two, that look like that, concerned me. Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Drive them, They may not be perfect, but are great for starting out. There are alot of things right that will make it so you are not setting track records anyway. One great thing about the RA-1 is that they do not need lots of special treatment and care. You can abuse them and they will be solid tires. Since you have 6 tires I would try to rotate all 6 tires each track day so they all wear evenly. I rotate all 4 tires each track day so that one corner of the car does not wear faster than the others. All tracks will tend to load one or two corners of the car more than the others. No rotating the tires can mean 1 or 2 tires that wear considerably more than the others. Very frequent rotations help keep the wear even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeeds Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Those tires look great. The blistering that you are referring to looks like rubber build up. If you are concerned, I would be more than happy to buy those from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullen winter Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 Thanks, but I'm keeping 'em ! I hope to get the car out on an open track day at Sandia (before our race down there), which runs CCW. I think I'll mount up the two ugly ones on the right side to scuff them clean again. the other four look great. I wish I had 6 rims to rotate, but 4 will have to do. I'll mount and dismount as needed to keep them even. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck T. Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 get the extra 2 asap . that way if you have a problem at the track ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I agree. I would never feel comfortable racing with only 1 set of tires mounted and ready to go. DE is one thing, but racing never. Too many bad things can happen and send you home without a tire. Fine in DE, but if you are going to invest the time and effort to race you sure as heck want to make each race. So bringing a spare tire is important. Most of the time I have an entire spare set of tires and recommend every 944 spec racer have at minimum two sets of legal wheels with tires mounted and ready to go. It allows you run down one set of tires to their last legs and always have a back up to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loftygoals Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 In 4 years of racing have yet cord an RA-1 in spite of running them to the point they are slicks. Really, I get these things to the cords all the time. Thought I think the last tire I corded on the 944 was because of an alignment issue. -bj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullen winter Posted August 20, 2007 Author Share Posted August 20, 2007 get the extra 2 asap . that way if you have a problem at the track ... I'm working on it ! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 In 4 years of racing have yet cord an RA-1 in spite of running them to the point they are slicks. Really, I get these things to the cords all the time. Thought I think the last tire I corded on the 944 was because of an alignment issue. -bj Well I have cored about 4-5 tires, bit that was from flat spots. I have never worn a tire down to the cords. The most I got from a set was 48 heat cycles before I tossed them when they got old and not very sticky. (of course an off at over 100 mph at Willow springs helped seal the deal). Since then I get about 30 heat cycles before they don't grip like I want them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullen winter Posted August 21, 2007 Author Share Posted August 21, 2007 Please let me know if any of you have a line on a couple more phone dials 52.3 offset for sale. I definitely need more. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Please see new post "wheels." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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