M37 Tires

[JStinson]

No idea whose truck this is. I just like the tires. I believe they're Michelins.

I really like the tread pattern, and I think I could get more speed out of the truck with them. My question is, does anybody here have experience with these tires? What kind of off road performance do they give? Increased speed on the road?

[Chris Olson]

Those appear to be the older style Michelin XL tires
I believe that they have been replaced with the XML and XZL style tread

there is a lot more info here http://www.gag.com/~cabell/photos5.htm

[Kaiser2boy]

Funny item about tires.
I took my 37 in to get 4 new tires on it. Of course they had to order them but after they came in and were in process of instaling them I asked the shop owner if he would please look at the tires coming off and save the best one to use as a spare.
After a while he comes in and askes if I want the 54 or the 55. I put on my stupid face for a few seconds then asked , " 54, 55,?"
He says yes , do you want the tire from 1954 or 1955 as a spare?!
He went on to say the only thing keeping them from going flat was that they are too stiff to go flat.

I ordered another tire. The tires are from Specialty Tires of America SUPERLUG 9.00 - 16.
Good looking tire , quiet running 37 inch in Dia.

[Gsmith]

It's amazing to me how many old tires are still out there on our types of vehicles. All of the tires on both my M37 and M43 were ancient.

[Longhunter7]

Tired Rubber!

It's amazing to me how many old tires are still out there on our types of vehicles. All of the tires on both my M37 and M43 were ancient.

When I bought my 1963 M37-B1 in 2005, it had a Goodyear NDT on the truck that was dated 1962!

It was the best of the four and the other three were bald down to the casing.

I kept it as a souvenir, and bought five new tires.

[Kaiser2boy]

Hmm, wish I had thought of that. Having a tire from 1955 that still had good tread might have been worth while. It also was a Goodyear and as I recall it was a six ply non directional tire.
In my head I had the idea that if the tires were from 1955 and were still in good shape there was a possibility that the truck its self had not been driven all that much.
The speedometer was at 31K but the cable was broken so I dont really know.
The truck had very few dings and not much crap packed up on the underside and very little rust. The only rust was on the bed where it looked like someone had a battery sitting because it was a squared off section right behind the driver side in the corner that was rusted through.
The only body work I had to do other than the cargo bed was to cut off the pipe sections aiming up with wing nuts on them that were welded on the front fenders. I figure they were to hold flags for a parade.

[mcinfantry]

Michelin xl tires have been discontinued, according to Michelin.

No major manufacturer recommends using tires older than 5 years.

Tires break down from age and ozone.

Catastrophic tire loss can cause loss of life, but does NOT generally do so on passenger cars and light trucks, but they are not 35" tall, either.

Just an FYI.

That is based on personal and professional experience including being trained and investigating fatalities.

[Kaiser2boy]

The " dont drive on tires older than 5 years old " seems sort of funny since I was driving around on 55 year old tires. Mind you I did not go very far, 20 or 30 miles but the fact that I drove on them at all says something for the way they were built back then.
There was a big stink on TV a few months ago about stores selling tires that were several years old at the time of sale.

[mcinfantry]

The " dont drive on tires older than 5 years old " seems sort of funny since I was driving around on 55 year old tires. Mind you I did not go very far, 20 or 30 miles but the fact that I drove on them at all says something for the way they were built back then.
There was a big stink on TV a few months ago about stores selling tires that were several years old at the time of sale.

I have run with scissors, pointed a loaded gun at my body parts, drank till I threw up.....

That doesn't mean its safe.

Tires are not safe at 55 years old. Period.

I would hope you would not kill anyone in event of catastrophic failure.

[Gsmith]

I don't think I'd want to drive on 55 year old tires either, except maybe on woods roads. I had the sidewall blow out on a BFG 35" mud terrain that was only a few years old, so new tires aren't guaranteed safe either. Hopefully all of us do pay attention to the condition of our tires enough to have a reasonably safe ride. You do have to have some kind of a control/expiration date as far as selling them to at least have a starting point for safety.

[Kaiser2boy]

Ah yes but you see I had no idea the tires were 55 years old. They looked dry but OK.
When the guy at the tire place told me they were 55 years old the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

When I left the tire store I faced the sky and said, "thank you for watching over me once again". I promissed not to say the -F- word for a month.

If I had known they were so old and frail I probably would have worried all the way to the store and generated so much negativity that all four tires would have failed on the way there from all the negative vibes...snicker.

[mcinfantry]

Ah yes but you see I had no idea the tires were 55 years old. They looked dry but OK.
When the guy at the tire place told me they were 55 years old the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

When I left the tire store I faced the sky and said, "thank you for watching over me once again". I promissed not to say the -F- word for a month.

If I had known they were so old and frail I probably would have worried all the way to the store and generated so much negativity that all four tires would have failed on the way there from all the negative vibes...snicker.

man, thats the story of my life!