ASK RAY

RUBBER RETIREMENT?

Q:I have a conundrum concerning my restored 1989 Ford Ranger. I try diligently to keep it appearing stock and use NOS parts wherever I can. When I inherited it from my father-in-law, I replaced the tires (undersized) with Firestone raised white letter P205/70R14s.

The truck gets a lot of attention anywhere I take it, and at the last cruise-in someone asked about the tires. I had in my mind they were about five years old, but you know how time slips by sometimes. My buddy read the date code on the sidewall and it said the tires were nine years old.

The truck is stored inside, driven less than 200 miles a year, and the tires still look brand new with no checking, cracking, or splitting. Everyone says I must replace them or face a major blow out. As you can imagine, the selection of 14-inch tires is now virtually nonexistent.

I really want to maintain the Firestone legacy on the truck (Coker only sells Firestone muscle car tires that, while appropriate for a vintage