Hoosier = dead?

[rocket71]

When is a Hoosier beyond it's servicable life span? Being competitive, I don't want to shop up on tires to a local that are completely shot. I just don't know how to tell other than cords when to retire a set of Hoosiers. Example, right now I have been told my tires are from May 2013, so age wise they are pretty new. The fronts have a decent groove left in them with minimal shoulder wear, the rears however have very little groove left in them and are approaching being slicks.

Thoughts, opionions?
Also, How do I tell the date of a Hoosier?

[John Brown]

week of the year and year.. 5213 is the last week of last year.

[MARKP]

Look at the last 4 digits of the DOT stamp, The first two digits are the week of the year (21) and the last two digits are the year (13), in your example.

If you don't have any grooves, they are likely done. Depending on how they have been cared for, they may still be usable for locals but they are likely at the end of their life.

[rocket71]

Thanks for clarifying the DOT #.

Unfortunately, they had to be left on the car out in the elements over the past few months. The fronts have a good bit of the groove left. It appears the rears though are toast. Guess, I will have to break out the 6 run tires I have to start the season on then. I had hoped to save them a bit longer but oh well. Going to have to get a fresh set for the Mineral Wells Pro then.

Next Hoosier question....if they are sticker tires, do I need to do anything before running them? ie, I am going to buy a new set of tires for the Mineral Wells Pro and will likely just put them on right before the event and go run them.

[jcox07]

Do a couple test n tune runs first to knock off the slick part and get them scrubed in.

[John Brown]

shave em down to 2/32

.....

[MARKP]

Burnouts... big smoky burnouts.

If the fronts were left out in the elements, they may very well be dead too.

[ConeEater]

I have bunches of sets that I leave in my garage ( attached, but still damn cold ) and last year I ran on a set from 2009. Was quicker ? nah... did I care? Nope.
Like was said... find a local TNT or something and beat up on them. As long as there's grooves ( or even 1 ) then you're good.

[rocket71]

(Yes this is a crosspost from CRSCCA.ORG. I figured since I am a dual member and go here for help the majority of the time I would update you here too.)

Update....

Today was a blast, closest thing to a tour I have ever experienced on a local level. It was on concrete at an old airport. I decided to go on my old rubber since I was just trying to knock off the rust. The front had 52 runs, and the rears were right at 100. I know, I know, bad decision but hey, it was the first event of the year so who cares? It was supposed to be like 88 degress so I figured the heat would bring them back a bit....NOPE. Holy crap do they have some serious competition there. So many prep'd cars and prior champs.

After my first run and it was all over the place I knew I made the wrong decision. It never got above the low 70s and it was overcast all day long. Still pretty happy with the results. This is my 5th event in the Vette and I love it, love it, love it! I finished 23rd in PAX and 9th RAW.

https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/S ... t1_pax.htm

Also, here is a video of my last run which was my fastest.

http://youtu.be/oWg2YKvZ0FA

A few shots of some of the competition...

Feeling a bit intimidated.

AND the first CAM car I have ever seen....

[John Brown]

I sure see a lot of STR guys you could have out paxed...
you know , in your old car.

and yup.. lots of fast guys there!

[rocket71]

Ugh...yeah, I noticed. Love my S but don't think I will ever go back. This car is the fashizzzle.

[dewittpayne]

There are two problems with leaving tires out in the weather. Sunlight is bad for rubber. Cold is bad for rubber. Cold may not hurt if the tires aren't flexed when they are frozen. In both cases, though, severe damage will show up as cracks. If the tires are still holding air, they're probably not be cracked. A durometer will give you a measure of the softness of the rubber, but without a baseline of properly executed ( constant temperature, clean surface, same applied pressure...) measurements starting from when the tire was new, a single reading now won't help.