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My 38 Super had a new set of 7.50 X 16 Van Ness tyres fitted in 1965 ( by a previous owner) and I replaced them two years ago as they were close to worn and had developed a tread feathering...hard to explain but very similar to black wall weathering. weathering/crows feet. I have a number of vehicles with cross ply tyres over 30 year old fitted and they show no wall weathering. I also have some 1970's vehicles with low mileage 15 year old radials that do show some sidewall weathering. I have had them inspected but have used a good quality boot polish to fill all of the weathering and it works very well ( it also works on your old boots) The tyres have not not been criticised during the inspection.
I have found that the weathering is reduced markedly on cars which i don't use very often if I place an old bedsheet over each of the the tyres. It appears to cut out much of the UV which I believe causes the weathering.
Most of my driving is "Miss Daisy" speeds so I am confident that I shall not confront a wreck on such tyres.

Best Regards Peter Toet

Tire manufacturers also expect that you are going to be doing about 90 MPH on the Interstate. One time you really don't want a blow out. If you are consistently driving your Packard at that kind of speed you need to re-think your ride.

When you arbitrarily assign a date and say to throw the tire away after that you are not taking in to consideration where and how it was stored, used or maintained.

I just checked and didn't find anything about the rubber being changed by a government mandate. Even if the rubber did dissolve there would still be the belts and chords. I guess one might conduct a long term test burying a tire in their backyard.

My guess is they just use cheaper rubber to keep prices down.

Bias ply tires don't have belts and don't flex as much. Those two features reduce tread separation risk. Radials fly apart with age because they operate under more extreme parameters.

For these old Packards I might prefer the bias ply simply because if a belt separates on a Packard it is going to do a lot of damage.

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