Another Alpoesque Observation

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

In most police procedurals, when they find tire tracks, they make a mold, figure out which tire made the tracks, (computers you know), and from there, the computer tells them what kind of car it is. 

How many people keep the factory type tire on a car anyway? I certainly don't. My Jeep came with a P215/75R15 tire on it. When I got it, it had 31-10.50X15s on it. It still does, but different tires than when I got it. My truck and my wife's Durango have aftermarket tires too.

Unless the car is fairly new, say less than 50,000 miles, it probably has non factory tires on it. But on TV, the car always has the factory tires on it. 

Edited September 21, 2025 by Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

there ya go again... thinking.  you're not supposed to do that.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

36 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

there ya go again... thinking.  you're not supposed to do that.

I know, it's against policy here, but sometimes it slips through.

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

But on TV, the car always has the factory tires on it. 

Not just has the factory tires. One NCIS episode, the tires were a custom mold (it's amazing how many tires on that show were made with a custom mold so it was only on a few cars) that were made specifically for the 1964 through 66 Saab.

 

So the guy has a 66 Saab and they go arrest him because when the tires on his 50-year-old car wore out he replaced them with identical "down to the tread" tires.

 

But what would you expect, when the only gun that could possibly fire 70-year-old ammunition is a 70-year-old gun. And there's only three guns in the world chambered in 32 ACP.

 

"It's rare."

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

But what would you expect, when the only gun that could possibly fire 70-year-old ammunition is a 70-year-old gun. And there's only three guns in the world chambered in 32 ACP.

 

"It's rare."

That was like in the first season of "Longmire", they found a .45-70 shell casing and someone commented that they haven't made them for 100 years or some such.

[Kid Rich]

They might be able to tell the type of car by the tread. Maybe. My wife has a car that takes V rated tires, that may have a distinctive tread.

kR

[John Kloehr]

I generally choose a different tire when replacing, there are better than factory options out there. I think most people replace with something else,  just choosing  from whatever Firestone or Walmart have available.

 

The best that could be done is to know what tire is on a car but not the actual car. There would be a high probability in knowing a tire is for a small car, a large car, a light duty truck, and such.

 

Given the large number of any particular tire, it would be circumstantial evidence. Combined with other things, it could maybe meet the standards (as I understand them) for RAS but not PC.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, John Kloehr said:

I think most people replace with something else,  just choosing  from whatever Firestone or Walmart have available.

The best that could be done is to know what tire is on a car but not the actual car. There would be a high probability in knowing a tire is for a small car, a large car, a light duty truck, and such.

That's pretty much my point. But on these shows, they always seem to be able to determine the Make and Model of the car just by knowing what tire it has.

"These tires go on a 2015 to 2021 Dodge Blastmaster."

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

down a side trail

been watching Miss Marple on cable.  I just grit my teeth every time they refer to the semi-auto as a revolver.

If I say anything, wife hits me with a pillow

[Subdeacon Joe]

15 hours ago, Alpo said:

that were made specifically for the 1964 through 66 Saab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alpo]

She was not saying that the tires specified what car it was. She was saying that the marks left by the tires showed what car it had to be.

 

I thought it was kind of interesting that the best selling tire in the country was a Michelin R75-14.

 

When I was that age, Michelin cost way too damn much money to put on my car.

 

Matter of fact, I still have never put Michelins on my car because they cost too much money. They might be great tires, but it cost too much money.

[Texas Jack Black]

51 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

That's pretty much my point. But on these shows, they always seem to be able to determine the Make and Model of the car just by knowing what tire it has.

"These tires go on a 2015 to 2021 Dodge Blastmaster."

 Why its called entertainment.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

7 minutes ago, Texas Jack Black said:

 Why its called entertainment.

I thought that they were training exercises.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greatly entertaining movie just full of humorous BS from start to finish.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

10 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Greatly entertaining movie just full of humorous BS from start to finish.

Interestingly enough, I watched a youtube video a couple years ago done by a lawyer critiquing TV and movie court scenes. If you JUST look at the actual legal machinations in the movie, it's very legally accurate. But I think that the Judge should have Sustained Vinnie's Objection to Trotter's new evidence. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

“Fibers consistent with the interior of an Escalade”.  Is it really that easy?