Tires!

Tires. We all have them. Some are sporty. Some are skinny. Some are fat. Some are bald. Some are European and exotic, while others like to maintain a low profile.

The topic of tires came up at yesterday’s SFBA Holiday lunch. Based on the chatter throughout the room, I would imagine that hundreds of topics, stories and anecdotes were shared, but with the (California) winter weather upon us and a new year on the horizon, we thought it would be a good time to sit down and have a talk with you about those tires.

If your Corvair is tucked away for a winter nap or you are in the throes of an off-season project, take a little time to examine your tires. Check the thread depth. Is it even? Are there any rocks, screws or other hitchhikers that decided to grab onto your rubber soles? Now is a good time to pick those out and make any repairs.

Wear

If you have uneven wear on your tires, it could mean that your tires are over or under inflated, camber is off or you need an alignment. Your suspension or wheel balance may be off depending on wear patterns. These are things, if really bad, you will notice on the road. But, if you are unsure why your Corvair is handling badly and wanted to blame it on the roads, check the chart below to see if maybe there are other issues at play.

Leaks

Are your tires having trouble holding air? This could be a couple of things. If they don’t have any screws or debris sticking out of them anywhere, check the valve stem. Over time, these have a tendency to break down just like your tire. Look for splits, cracks or any strange markings on the valve stem down to the base. Is your stem capped? No? Head over to your FLAP’s and grab a pack or two of valve stem caps. Inflation (sorry) hasn’t made these a luxury item yet.

Some of us may have older rims or live somewhere, like the coast, where the weather can be a little more unforgiving to metals. Corrosion may build around the lip of your rim that, unchecked, can lead to an imperfect seal and a slow leak on your tires. If your tires and valve stem look good to the naked eye, you can put some soapy water in a spray bottle and spray along the rim lip, valve stem and anywhere else on the tire. The soapy water will bubble up, exposing an air leak. Another method is to fill a tub of soapy water, put the tire tread down in it and slowly rotate the tire, looking for bubbling. Dish soap like Dawn works best for this.

Best case scenario? You don’t have a leak and your tires are extra clean!

SFBA tip: Don’t be like our friend above. Keep the tire on the rim and inflated with air.

Age

Some things, like Corvairs and SFBA members, age gracefully. Other things like tires, regardless of condition, have a shelf life. 10 years is the limit. Your tires may still look brand new and have a nice thick tread pattern on them, but if they’re over 10 years old from the date of manufacture, it’s time for a change.

How can you tell how old your tires are? Easy! By law, the week and year must be stamped on every tire sold in the US. I would reckon that this law applies to our friends and subscribers outside of the US. An oval date code with the week and year of manufacture will be on the sidewall of the tire.

We do have a FAQ tire section on the website going into more detail on tire choice and maintenance. You can read more about that here.

The good news is, as of today, we do have options available for our stock 13″ tires. Maxxis is back to making them, as are Michelin, Coker and various other brands. Maxxis is the best bet for those of us on a budget and they are fantastic road tires. Naturally, just about everything made by Michelin and Coker can be purchased with confidence. Those brands will come with a heftier price tag.

For those of you who are new(er) to Corvairs and think that your car maybe doesn’t have the right size tires, the modern equivalent to OEM is P185/80/R13. Make sure that tire is a P (passenger car tire) and not a T (trailer) tire. A trailer tire can hold the weight, but it’s not designed for high speeds or high speed turns. For those of you who want to customize, anything over 8″ wide might cause rubbing. Keep it at or under 7.5″ and you should be fine. We aren’t going to get into spacing or offsetting today.

Have a tech question you are afraid to go to a Facebook group and ask? Your questions are always welcome here, friend. Send ’em to sfbacorsa@gmail.com

Have a tech tip you would like to share? We want to share it too! Send it to sfbacorsa@gmail.com

Stories? Compliments? Complaints? Jokes? Fun facts? You know what to do.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to attend our holiday lunch yesterday. This wraps up our event calendar for the year. For those unable to attend, you were missed!

We will continue to send newsletters to close out 2025 and look forward to more fun in 2026!