Looks like some tire belts are ready to break loose. I had that happen on a van I was driving at 80mph and they were less then 1 year old Goodyear tires.
My tires are 8 years old also , read quite a while back that tires should be changed at the 7 year mark no matter what .. Especially if they've been subjected to much sunlight . Mine have the little dry rot cracks also . The article I read came from a really bad automobile wreck - a tire failed - real bad .
Article stated two things - tires over 7 years old and tires over inflated to get them to bead on the rim were BAD NEWS or tires accidentally over inflated by someone . Any tire inflated several pounds over max EVER even if aired down immediately shouldn't be used . Friend of mine owns a tire shop , told me my 20 year old spare [factory spare] would be dangerous as hell at highway speeds , warned me that if I used it be careful and get it off there ASAP .
Sam, just had to replace a tire on my old pickup box trailer that I use to haul junk to the dump with. I know that I had less than 100 miles on those tires from new. 3 to 4 2 mile trips a year. They just plain sun rotted the sidewalls out. Sure wouldn't risk running those on a car. Russ
Replaced what looked like a brand new set of Michelins on my 65 Mustang when I bought it. Turns out they had less than 2,000 miles on them but were 16 years old. Just the thought of one of them blowing on that ancient front end when I was doing 60 mph had me at the tire shop the next day. Been 5+ years and I have almost 1500 miles on them now. Few more and they will be replaced.
Have had trailer tires with very few miles and lots of tread, but also lots of years on them fail more times than I can recall...
They always shuck out at perfect times, too!
I was dragging my tractor on I-10in Mississippi - car hauler trailer - rear tire drivers side had something in it - kept needing air . Aired it up before getting on the highway a small group of motorcycle riders fell in behind me , I was looking at them in my rearview driverside mirror guy lined right up tailgating the trailer , I thought to myself about how tires blow at the worst time - 2 seconds later POP slung tread all over him/them . One of those times when you just happen to think what could happen and it does happen . They gave me some dirty looks as they went on down the road but in my mind - DON'T TAILGATE - especially a damn trailer .
I think the sitting ruins them - a trailer I have now has been sitting for quite a while ,, flatspots ..
Different I know, but we replace all the tires on our fire trucks and ambulances in my district based on age as they don't get enough miles to wear out the old fashion way.
New set of tires is a small price to pay vs. the alternative.
To be honest it appears that I should have been paying better attention to their condition. I knew the tread(depth) was fine but haven't bothered to really look at the tread, reach in the wheel well and check the 'grip'......
Guess I'm just used to wearing out tires on pickups and you replace them every 2-4 years.
And Jesus, I bet half the old farm trucks around here are running 20 year old tires.
Lesson learned!
Tikka, my next door neighbor is the tire guy in town and buy everything from him. Sells a bunch of Hankooks.
Probably better swap them out Sammo. Dad had one on his pickup lose a cap and ruin a fender a couple years ago. $4400 worth at the body shop.
+1
I had a manufacture defective tire cut lose at 60 MPH, and tear the wheel well and fender to pieces, bend the brake line, and rip the Anti-lock break wire in half.
When that tread gets through slapping around inside of there, it looks like a Lumberjack took a 12lb sledge, and spent a day re-arranging the metal when you finally get off the road and get out to observe the damage.
That's why the tire shops won't re-mount an old tire onto your spare, even if the tread still has good depth. I think Discount Tire told me the age cut-off is only 5 years old. They won't touch it except for removal.
Send them over to Ohio, so that guy with the unwanted horses running in his pasture will have feed troughs for grain.
This bulletin from the US Tire Manufacturers Assn says to never inflate over 40lb to seat the beads on low aspect and light truck tires. It does leave a question, though, as LT's often carry considerably more than that. TIRE SEATING PRESSURE
To be honest it appears that I should have been paying better attention to their condition. I knew the tread(depth) was fine but haven't bothered to really look at the tread, reach in the wheel well and check the 'grip'......
Guess I'm just used to wearing out tires on pickups and you replace them every 2-4 years.
And Jesus, I bet half the old farm trucks around here are running 20 year old tires.
Lesson learned!
Tikka, my next door neighbor is the tire guy in town and buy everything from him. Sells a bunch of Hankooks.
The guy that I use for farm tire repair told me that age was just as bad on tires as was anything else. Now, to be fair, a tractor or implement tire is probably going to last more years than a car tire, but they will still dry rot, and that's what he was talking about.
Get her a set of Michelins Sam, after all, it's only money.
This, for the price of those Hankooks you can get probably get some real good AT Michelins.
My BIL had a his cousins family of five die when an old tire blew out on their mini van at freeway speeds and careened over guardrail falling twenty feet. Husband, wife, three kids gone because of a bad tire.
Quite seriously, I think the Michelins are the cheapest tire around per mile if you can wear them out. Out in rough pastures it's easy to puncture a sidewall on a radial tire.
I had an aunt that could wear out a set of tires on her Pontiac in three months. She call the hills on our road "Tickle tummy hills". Her car left the ground going over the top.
I counted. I have 28 tires on various vehicles/trailers.The two highway trucks and horse trailer gets replaced, everything else lasts until it doesn't.I have a John Deere 40 ground driven manure spreader, probably a 1950 vintage.It still has original tires on it. My 74 tri-axle hay trailer only travels about 10 miles round trip 2- 3 times a year.Those tries don't get change out due to age.I do keep all tires .
My sister had a blow out and rollover on I20 a few years back because of dry rotted tires. She hardly ever drove the truck because she always has a company car. Fortunately she wasn't badly hurt.
To be honest it appears that I should have been paying better attention to their condition. I knew the tread(depth) was fine but haven't bothered to really look at the tread, reach in the wheel well and check the 'grip'......
Guess I'm just used to wearing out tires on pickups and you replace them every 2-4 years.
And Jesus, I bet half the old farm trucks around here are running 20 year old tires.
Lesson learned!
Tikka, my next door neighbor is the tire guy in town and buy everything from him. Sells a bunch of Hankooks.
I bought a 2011 Camry that was a low mile lease turn-in 5.5 years ago. It had new tires on it when I bought it. The dealer put on some low end tires, but they were new so I decided to give them a chance before I changed them out for some higher grade tires. They turned out to be decent tires so they're still on the car. I've only put about 26,000 miles on the car and they still have good tread.
Anyway, I just looked and they don't have any cracks.
My wife has a 2014 crosstour with almost 40k on it...the tires have plenty of tread but they will be in use 5 years come December. So far so good but she is getting Michelins or Bridgestones on it the first of the year.
Just a word. The new tires that dealer put on my car before I bought it are the Mastercraft Strategy tire.
I didn't think much about them one way or another. I knew they were a budget priced tire and didn't expect much from them. But they've been surprisingly good tires. Their tread definitely holds up. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set of them.
Just a word. The new tires that dealer put on my car before I bought it are the Mastercraft Strategy tire.
I didn't think much about them one way or another. I knew they were a budget priced tire and didn't expect much from them. But they've been surprisingly good tires. Their tread definitely holds up. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set of them.
High speed blow out on a front tire ain't a good thing. Especially if someone has never experienced it. Get new tires....
This reminds me of 1 of the questions on the motorcycle drivers liscence test.
What happens when you have a blow out on the front tire. Multiple choice with 4 choices. Only question I was wrong on according to them. There answer was not correct. They said you will experience front end wobble That is far from what is going to happen. I had a blowout on the rear tire going down onramp doing 70 The bike tried to swap ends. I went across both lanes and.into the median before I got control After my heart rate came back to normal I remembered the day before I was running 100 down hi 59 with my daughter on board.
Just a word. The new tires that dealer put on my car before I bought it are the Mastercraft Strategy tire.
I didn't think much about them one way or another. I knew they were a budget priced tire and didn't expect much from them. But they've been surprisingly good tires. Their tread definitely holds up. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set of them.
Sam is getting close to his money's worth on those tires. We had to replace all four tires on the wife's Escape on account of one sidewall nail hole. Three tires with a lot of life left in the scrap pile. All wheel drive.
Just did this on my ten year old Doge pickup. Tires were 6-7 yrs old. Still had a 1/8” of thread after close to 50k miles but I was starting to picture myself trying to change a blown one at night while trailering my boat.
Some things are better and safer to not push until the bitter end.
The ends went bad on my battery cables so last Friday(same day I noticed the tires?) I removed and replaced the entire clusterphuck from batteries to starter. Took two hours, pickup under belly is dirtier than hell. Major fun....
It got a new alternator on Wednesday and I see the batteries are 7 years old. Hell of good batteries, Interstates.
Just a shout out from a tire geek. There is a date code on all tires you can see what it looks like in the link below. Michelin says you can go as much as 10 years on low mileage tires the vehicle manufacturers say 6 all from the date of manufacture. Anywhere between 6 and 10 years from the date of manufacture is probably reasonable. More and your probably asking for trouble.
Not cheap. But, my experience: Good fuel economy. Good tread wear. Excellent wet traction. Good snow traction. No issues driving off road around the farm when needed. Don't leak down over time. No flat spots after sitting. Seldom pick up nails or glass.
Sam; Good afternoon to you sir, I hope that other than having some vehicular issues that summer has been treating you folks well.
As noted by others, the photo shows radial cracking and in my experience that's worse than sidewall cracking - well somewhat worse anyway Sam.
Our Okanagan sun is really tough on tires, so it's not an uncommon site to see what you showed - but markedly worse on one side often if it gets more sun.
We had to change out the BF Goodrich TA's on the midlife crisis last year as they were doing the same thing your wife's rig's tires were, but they had at least half the tread left.
Anyway good luck with your vehicle repairs Sam and all the best to you all as we progress towards fall.
I'm a Michelin fan, but have been pleasantly surprised by the Cooper Evolution HTs that I bought for my Son's Honda Pilot, 235/70R16. and for my Daughter's Jeep Patriot, 235/65R17. If Cooper makes a size that fits your wife's vehicle, it might be worth your time to check them out.
It got a new alternator on Wednesday and I see the batteries are 7 years old. Hell of good batteries, Interstates.
Those Interstate MegaTrons w/ 72, 84? month warranty are great batteries. I use to use those in my 6.9 diesel back in the 80's, and early 90's. I got around 6-9 months "past" warranty before they gave out.
I need to go back to them. These Motorcraft I'm using now only get 4 years out of them if I'm lucky.
I changed for on the road / out of town if needed to warranty, O'Reilly with the Motorcraft in every town.
If im counting correctly (only on the 3rd drink so probably am) I have 90 tires on company and personal vehicles, and 5 pieces of equipment. Seems like when it starts going to [bleep], I'm in the tire shop three times a week. My biggest problem is perfectly good tires getting punctures or cut etc... On the job before their worn, then your stuck replacing two tires.
It got a new alternator on Wednesday and I see the batteries are 7 years old. Hell of good batteries, Interstates.
Those Interstate MegaTrons w/ 72, 84? month warranty are great batteries. I use to use those in my 6.9 diesel back in the 80's, and early 90's. I got around 6-9 months "past" warranty before they gave out.
I need to go back to them. These Motorcraft I'm using now only get 4 years out of them if I'm lucky.
I changed for on the road / out of town if needed to warranty, O'Reilly with the Motorcraft in every town.
Use to use interstates In everything. Had two in a row crap out early so switched to NAPA legend 84mo. Batteries. Having zero issues even in equipment that only gets ran sporadically.
Willie needs to have Farm Aid 2019 be dedicated to Tire Purchases.
"Our Farmers Need New Tires"
Sam can be the face of Farm Aid 2019.
Hurry, somebody put it the call.
While is trying to get the farmers some new tires he will be telling them to vote for beto
My fingers were having a hard time typing out his name, because I've written that commie traitor off. I really didn't want to acknowledge his sorry azz by name, and really regret I did now.
Screw Willie.
Sam can be the new farm leader for America, and we'll call it " 'Fire Aid ".
It got a new alternator on Wednesday and I see the batteries are 7 years old. Hell of good batteries, Interstates.
Those Interstate MegaTrons w/ 72, 84? month warranty are great batteries. I use to use those in my 6.9 diesel back in the 80's, and early 90's. I got around 6-9 months "past" warranty before they gave out.
I need to go back to them. These Motorcraft I'm using now only get 4 years out of them if I'm lucky.
I changed for on the road / out of town if needed to warranty, O'Reilly with the Motorcraft in every town.
Use to use interstates In everything. Had two in a row crap out early so switched to NAPA legend 84mo. Batteries. Having zero issues even in equipment that only gets ran sporadically.
Now that you mentioned that, I remember back that was why I did in fact switch. They started "not" lasting the 72/84? months, just barely 60 or less.
Mom got a new Exploder a couple years ago and they had to put some tires on it a week or so ago. Factory Hankooks were complete dogschit, bald as eggs and down to the wear bars in 28k of easy highway driving. Only thing available locally was more Hankooks or COOP Ironman radials. For $40 less a tire dad said fugg it and had them slap a set of Ironmans on it, figured they couldn’t last anything less than what the Kooks did.
Willie needs to have Farm Aid 2019 be dedicated to Tire Purchases.
"Our Farmers Need New Tires"
Sam can be the face of Farm Aid 2019.
Hurry, somebody put it the call.
Both of our old 4x4 Versatile tractors needs new tires.
New tires would cost about what the entire tractor is worth.
Hit up my gofundme page and donate some $$$!.
Here's what you need to do Sam:
1- Lay those rims down. 2- Build a mould around outside of tire with thin paneling, same width as tire, and leave room for new tire tread depth you will be making. 3- Buy some of that Super-Dooper black rubber liquid that guy on TV advertises where he saws that Jon boat in half, and tapes back together with the Super-Dooper black tape, OK 4- Take one of the ten gallons you'll need, that liquid Super-Dooper black rubber, and start filling the mould like you're filling a cake mould...see your wife...she'll explain. 5- Once cured, go get your chainsaw. Stand tire rim up, and lean against pole. Take chainsaw, and cut new tread pattern. 6- You're good-to-go for another 20 years with your new Super-Dooper 'Fire-Aid tractor tires.
I just looked at the tires on my ‘88 Chevy 1/2 ton. It gets driven about 3000 miles per year and is always garaged. Tires were purchased in October ‘07. They still look pretty good - no cracks like in Sam’s photo. I will keep running them.
Yep, tires wear out from age alone, no matter how much tread is left.
On a Suzuki Sidekick I drove mostly on back roads, I bought a good looking set of four used tires and ran them for years, though not a lot of miles. The rig is light weight and does not wear tires much, but after 6 or 7 years they started having one flat after another. The tire guy said that they had outlasted their design life and were starting to break down inside, even though there was lots of tread left. Bought a new set, no more flats.
I counted. I have 28 tires on various vehicles/trailers.The two highway trucks and horse trailer gets replaced, everything else lasts until it doesn't.I have a John Deere 40 ground driven manure spreader, probably a 1950 vintage.It still has original tires on it. My 74 tri-axle hay trailer only travels about 10 miles round trip 2- 3 times a year.Those tries don't get change out due to age.I do keep all tires .
Thanks loads. I had to count mine. 36 in all if you count 4 spares on vehicles.
I counted. I have 28 tires on various vehicles/trailers.The two highway trucks and horse trailer gets replaced, everything else lasts until it doesn't.I have a John Deere 40 ground driven manure spreader, probably a 1950 vintage.It still has original tires on it. My 74 tri-axle hay trailer only travels about 10 miles round trip 2- 3 times a year.Those tries don't get change out due to age.I do keep all tires .
Thanks loads. I had to count mine. 36 in all if you count 4 spares on vehicles.
I bought this truck earlier this year for $6K. Only had 60K miles, and 12 year old tires with perfect tread! You guys just cost me some money. But thank you.
Old dude that used to farm the place north of us had a mid 70’s Versatile that must have still had its original tires. Looked like it had 8 inner tubes on it. No telling how much extra fuel that slippage was costing him.
Great Aunt had an old combine out behind the barn that still had WWII surplus airplane tires on it when I was a kid. Grandad said they couldn’t get new tires for anything during the war but they could buy takeoff tires from bombers that would work on combines for the drive tires. Said they might get stuck but they wouldn’t sink or dig into the mud, just sit and spin.
In my experience General tires are very poor quality. Arizonan (sold by Discount Tires) are OK quality for a very good price. I had several sets on my 2009 Camry that never gave me the claimed mileage, but Discount Tire always gave me credit adjustment when I replaced them and I was good. Finally replaced the Camry recently. What I am really pleased with are Yokohama. They are really holding up well on my 2006 Chevy truck and were reasonably priced. If I were needing a new set and I were planning on keeping the truck/SUV for another 2-3 years/30-40K miles, I would seriously look at Yokohama. Cooper is also supposed to be real good, but I have no experience with them. Michelin makes a good car tire, but their truck tires used be poor quality - weak sidewalls. Not sure how they are now, as that was a number of years ago. Just my .02 worth.
Sam, my wife's explorer has the same size tire as yours. We replaced the factory Hankooks with Pirelli Scorpion Verde AS+. We've been very happy with them so far, been on about a year and 12k miles or so.
Mom got a new Exploder a couple years ago and they had to put some tires on it a week or so ago. Factory Hankooks were complete dogschit, bald as eggs and down to the wear bars in 28k of easy highway driving. Only thing available locally was more Hankooks or COOP Ironman radials. For $40 less a tire dad said fugg it and had them slap a set of Ironmans on it, figured they couldn’t last anything less than what the Kooks did.
50K and Fraud puts on Hankooks? My how they have fallen.
Michelin or Bridgestone are the only brands I will touch anymore.I know that Michelin owns one of those oriental brands and it might be Hankook. It does not mean they use the same compounding process and Michelin is the king of compounding tires.
That doesn't look good to me... I'd have 'em swapped for new ones.. Is the vehicle parked outside most of the time? If so, any way to get it inside most of the time?
Re: trailer tires, it's wise to replace those every five years on trailers that carry some real weight; especially camper tires.. FWIW.
In my experience General tires are very poor quality. Arizonan (sold by Discount Tires) are OK quality for a very good price. I had several sets on my 2009 Camry that never gave me the claimed mileage, but Discount Tire always gave me credit adjustment when I replaced them and I was good. Finally replaced the Camry recently. What I am really pleased with are Yokohama. They are really holding up well on my 2006 Chevy truck and were reasonably priced. If I were needing a new set and I were planning on keeping the truck/SUV for another 2-3 years/30-40K miles, I would seriously look at Yokohama. Cooper is also supposed to be real good, but I have no experience with them. Michelin makes a good car tire, but their truck tires used be poor quality - weak sidewalls. Not sure how they are now, as that was a number of years ago. Just my .02 worth.
I had a set of General Grabber STX tires from Wal-Mart that were worn out in 40K miles despite being rotated and balanced every 6k miles. General would give me a prorated discount if I would buy another set of them, but who would want them?
Tire talk ; did you know you can't buy the same tire as what comes on your vehicle when new ? You can buy the same exact tire ''you think'' is the same but it isn't . First set on my new [ back then ] f-150 lasted 80K miles - 5 years use , second set [exact tire I thought ] last 60K ? Cousin who was a GM employee told me the factory tires have higher spec materials than what appears to be the exact tire you purchase at the tire store .
I'm going to get all new tires and spare now that I think it over . I travel to my hunting lease - speeds 65mph steep shoulder and 75' to the bottom 2 lane - oncoming traffic with no run off room . So head on collision or flip it 2-3-4 times . I hope oncoming traffic drivers have fresh tires .
Good read , made it through about 30min. of the first fast & furious movie at a friends house - too hokie for me . But very sad indeed - two young fellows trying to have a bit of fun - then gone . May they rest in peace .
The Author likely figured out why the crash happened - old tires . Friend of mine had a few 911 twin turbo cars back in the late 90's - 2002 , Porsche recommended new tires every 5,ooo miles or 2 years .
Iirc, Discount tire will not mount a tire on a rim if its 8 years old.
I could be wrong, it may be 10.
I would gift those to Diddler.
I never heard that, they could have made an exception for me.
I have a daily driver beater truck that I wanted a set of snow tires for, its a 2002 model truck. I had 4 steel wheels from a 1987 truck of the same make and model that I use to own, Discount Tire put the snow tires on them and never said anything. I run all season radials on the 2002 factory wheels in the summer.
A few years back I bought an 11 year old Nissan pickup. I pulled the spare, it still had the little rubber stobs on it. I read the date code and it was 11 years old. The original spare, never had been used. I took it to my tire shop here in the NC mountains and told the guy I didn't want an 11 year old spare, and I wanted a new tire on there. And he told me there was nothing wrong with that tire.
And I told him, "So you have no problem with an 11 year old tire. Well, I didn't ask your opinion. I want a new tire on that rim." And he told me there was nothing wrong with that tire.
And I told him, "I am going to another tire store and get a new tire put on that spare. And you will never see me again. Good bye." And I left and they never saw me again, and I was giving them a lot of business.
I removed the spare on my Tacoma last week , The wheel is rusted but the Tire looks brand spanking new and has 30+ lbs of pressure in it. I have never filled it and unless someone is breaking into my garage at night and filling that tire then it has the original tire pressure. I am going to bet the dealer has been filling it and not telling us . Its a 2006 tacoma. Tire and Wheel are going to the junkyard in the next few weeks.
I'll add that I have been told by 2 different tire shops that I should replace trailer tires every three years regardless of mileage.
Americas Tires wouldn't touch a small trailer tire that was over 5 years old. They recommend replacing a full size spare after 7 years.
About 6 months ago we bought a new dryer but they could not deliver it on monday my day off. My truck has a bed cover so I hooked up the horse trailer checked air on all tires and while airing up one the stem failed. All 4 tires were badly dry rotted p ut the spare on and picked up the dryer and delivered it to the house. Made appt and had new tires installed the next morning. Thank god we had no emergency where we needed to move the horses , could have been ugly. Original tires and we bought that trailer in 2012.
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018 Share: For years, people have relied on tread depth to determine when to replace a tire. If the tread passes the "penny test," they assume the tire still has life, regardless of how old it is, which can be a fatal mistake. Old tires are dangerous, regardless of tread depth. While there's no federally sanctioned safety guidance on when a tire is too old to be safe, many carmakers recommend replacement at six years from the date of manufacture.
Old tires have been the culprit in fatal accidents. Here are just two examples:
In 2008, the owner of a 1998 Ford Explorer in Georgia needed a new tire for his SUV and bought a used one. When he was driving two weeks later, the tread suddenly separated from the tire. The Explorer went out of control and hit a motorcycle, killing its rider. An analysis of the used tire revealed that it was nearly 10 years old.
In a more recent and high-profile example, the investigation into the cause of the 2013 accident that killed the actor Paul Walker revealed that the Porsche Carrera GT in which he was riding had 9-year-old tires. The California Highway Patrol noted that the tires' age might have compromised their drivability and handling characteristics, according to the Los Angeles Times.
These incidents illustrate the potential danger of buying used tires and the perils of driving on aging tires — including those that have never spent a day on the road. The rubber compounds in a tire deteriorate with time, regardless of the condition of the tread.
For some people, old tires might never be an issue. If you drive a typical number of miles, somewhere around 12,000-15,000 miles annually, a tire's tread will wear out in three to four years, long before the rubber compound does. But if you drive much less than that, or have a car that you only drive on weekends, aging tires could be an issue.
Similarly, if you are buying a used car, there's a chance it may be riding on old tires. The age warning also applies to spare tires and seemingly new tires that have never been used but were produced years ago.
What Happens to a Tire as It Ages? Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies Inc., compares an aging tire to an old rubber band. "If you take a rubber band that's been sitting around a long time and stretch it, you will start to see cracks in the rubber," said Kane, whose organization is involved in research, analysis and advocacy on safety matters for the public and clients including attorneys, engineering firms, supplier companies, media and government.
Cracks in a tire's rubber begin to develop over time, appearing on the surface and inside the tire as well. This cracking can eventually cause the steel belts in the tread to separate from the rest of the tire. Improper maintenance and heat accelerate the process.
Kane and his organization have identified over 250 incidents in which tires older than six years have experienced tread and belt separations — most resulting in loss-of-control and rollover crashes. These incidents were the cause of 233 fatalities and 300 injuries in 2012.
Every tire that's on the road long enough will succumb to age. Tires that are rated for higher mileage have antiozonant chemical compounds built into the rubber that will slow the aging process, but nothing stops the effects of time on rubber.
How Long Does a Tire Last? Carmakers, tiremakers and rubber manufacturers differ in their opinions about the lifespan of a tire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has no specific guidelines on tire aging and defers to the recommendations of carmakers and tire manufacturers.
Many automakers, including Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, tell owners to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association said there is no way to put a date on when a tire "expires" because such factors as heat, storage, underinflation and conditions of use can dramatically reduce the life of a tire. Here's more on each of these factors:
Heat: NHTSA research has found that tires age more quickly in warmer climates. NHTSA also found that environmental conditions, such as exposure to sunlight and coastal climates, can hasten the aging process. People who live in coastal states and other areas with warm weather should keep this in mind when deciding whether they should retire a tire.
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Spares: They usually don't see the light of day, but they're still degrading with time. If the tire has been inflated and mounted on a wheel, it is considered to be "in service," even if it's never been used. And if a truck's spare is mounted underneath the vehicle, it's exposed to heat, dirt and weather — all reasons to plan on replacement.
In 1983 I bought a 1973 cougar convertable,white, brown leather int.351 clev.,factory ac,the works.I bought from a girl that got it for a high school graduation present.now that she was married with kids she didn't t need it.car had been sitting a while,I had my mechanic check it out Drain all the fluids,flush radiator,etc.he told me it needed new tires,I looked at them and thought he was nuts.he said they were old.yeah,next time I said.2 days later booming with the top down Drivers side front tire blows and by the grace of God,I slid onto the only grassy ,open spot on that Parkway.I put on the spare and limped home.I learned a life long lesson.
I agree that tires need to be changed out every 5 or 6 years at the most but what I see are people who don't even know how to test the air pressure in their tires. They don't own a pressure gauge and wouldn't know how to use it if they had too. I have seen the results of folks who don't check the pressure or don't do it on a timely basis. The tires may have cracks in the treads and could be usable but that takes years sometimes for it to happen. But, a tire can get a nail in it, have a deteriorated stem or even have a bad valve long before the first crack shows. up. If you live on a gravel road expect at least one flat a year because of nails or wire on the road that end up in the tires.
I check mine every month in the cold months and every two months in the summer with the pressure gauge. I also look at them at least once a week to make sure one is not low in between. It's just my feeling that the tire will fail long before it's worn out our aged out because they are not monitored and the pressure is neglected. My son is good about checking his and his wife's car but I can't seem to get my daughter to do it herself so I check hers several times a year. I have even given her a pressure gauge several times for Christmas. I don't know what the heck she does with them.
Bottom line, I'm less concerned about cracks in the rubber than I am in the tire pressure and the wear patterns.
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018 Share: For years, people have relied on tread depth to determine when to replace a tire. If the tread passes the "penny test," they assume the tire still has life, regardless of how old it is, which can be a fatal mistake. Old tires are dangerous, regardless of tread depth. While there's no federally sanctioned safety guidance on when a tire is too old to be safe, many carmakers recommend replacement at six years from the date of manufacture.
Old tires have been the culprit in fatal accidents. Here are just two examples:
In 2008, the owner of a 1998 Ford Explorer in Georgia needed a new tire for his SUV and bought a used one. When he was driving two weeks later, the tread suddenly separated from the tire. The Explorer went out of control and hit a motorcycle, killing its rider. An analysis of the used tire revealed that it was nearly 10 years old.
In a more recent and high-profile example, the investigation into the cause of the 2013 accident that killed the actor Paul Walker revealed that the Porsche Carrera GT in which he was riding had 9-year-old tires. The California Highway Patrol noted that the tires' age might have compromised their drivability and handling characteristics, according to the Los Angeles Times.
These incidents illustrate the potential danger of buying used tires and the perils of driving on aging tires — including those that have never spent a day on the road. The rubber compounds in a tire deteriorate with time, regardless of the condition of the tread.
For some people, old tires might never be an issue. If you drive a typical number of miles, somewhere around 12,000-15,000 miles annually, a tire's tread will wear out in three to four years, long before the rubber compound does. But if you drive much less than that, or have a car that you only drive on weekends, aging tires could be an issue.
Similarly, if you are buying a used car, there's a chance it may be riding on old tires. The age warning also applies to spare tires and seemingly new tires that have never been used but were produced years ago.
What Happens to a Tire as It Ages? Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies Inc., compares an aging tire to an old rubber band. "If you take a rubber band that's been sitting around a long time and stretch it, you will start to see cracks in the rubber," said Kane, whose organization is involved in research, analysis and advocacy on safety matters for the public and clients including attorneys, engineering firms, supplier companies, media and government.
Cracks in a tire's rubber begin to develop over time, appearing on the surface and inside the tire as well. This cracking can eventually cause the steel belts in the tread to separate from the rest of the tire. Improper maintenance and heat accelerate the process.
Kane and his organization have identified over 250 incidents in which tires older than six years have experienced tread and belt separations — most resulting in loss-of-control and rollover crashes. These incidents were the cause of 233 fatalities and 300 injuries in 2012.
Every tire that's on the road long enough will succumb to age. Tires that are rated for higher mileage have antiozonant chemical compounds built into the rubber that will slow the aging process, but nothing stops the effects of time on rubber.
How Long Does a Tire Last? Carmakers, tiremakers and rubber manufacturers differ in their opinions about the lifespan of a tire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has no specific guidelines on tire aging and defers to the recommendations of carmakers and tire manufacturers.
Many automakers, including Ford, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, tell owners to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association said there is no way to put a date on when a tire "expires" because such factors as heat, storage, underinflation and conditions of use can dramatically reduce the life of a tire. Here's more on each of these factors:
Heat: NHTSA research has found that tires age more quickly in warmer climates. NHTSA also found that environmental conditions, such as exposure to sunlight and coastal climates, can hasten the aging process. People who live in coastal states and other areas with warm weather should keep this in mind when deciding whether they should retire a tire.
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Excellent post.. Kudos.
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Spares: They usually don't see the light of day, but they're still degrading with time. If the tire has been inflated and mounted on a wheel, it is considered to be "in service," even if it's never been used. And if a truck's spare is mounted underneath the vehicle, it's exposed to heat, dirt and weather — all reasons to plan on replacement.
Before any truck I own is a year old, that spare comes OFF that idiotic carrier (same for the camper spare) and I place it in the truck's bed.. That way I can keep my eyes on it and monitor pressure tons easier.. Maybe not for everyone, obviously, but I don't use the bed for anything much more than the spot to keep the camper's 5th wheel hitch mounted.. If I need to haul something, I hook up to one of my other trailers.. FWIW.
I just went through this. My father bought a 2003 Jeep Rubicon, it pretty much sat in a warehouse with occasional drives around town. Bottom line, it still had the original Wranglers on with only eight thousand miles on them, they still looked showroom like the rest of the Jeep.
Tire shop said they would refuse to rotate them for liability reasons, said they look good to look at but theyll rot from the inside out. They are light truck tires, and the Jeep is pretty light, they still urged I was rolling the dice on the highway. I decided to heed the advice others too gave me, and replaced them.
I all ways figured a tire was shot when it won't hold air any more. Got a new work truck back in late Oct of 2013 it has 67,000 miles on it now still running on the original Hankooks up frt, not down to the safety bars yet either. Going to get to 80 k on them and then retire and the boss can put new ones on it then if'n he wants to. MB
Just put a set of Michelin’s on the wife’s car. Two things I never neglect... tires and brakes. The OEM’s were Michelin’s with 69k. Still had Tred but visible dry tot and were 6+ years old.
Just a little fact about rubber used in tires, rubber in it's raw form is very sticky and will easily stick to itself and other objects. It will air cure over time and harden . Vulcanizing or curing with heat will set it to a non-sticky state that we see in a finished tire. However the curing process continues over time very slowly . Time (and weather including sunlight) is the enemy....
I have a brand new full sized spare under my pickup. It's now 11 years old and has never seen the sun. They tell you to rotate them to use the spare and replace all 5 at once but who actually does that? I'd be afraid of using this at high speed after all these years, new or not.
I put a set of ProComp MTs on my 79 in about 2005. Drove it for a couple years and parked it until 2016, out in the back pasture in the sun. All 4 were still up and holding air after 10 years sitting. I fired it up and drove it to work for about 3 months until I could afford a set of new Coopers. Figure they were dry rotted pretty good when you could twist lugs off on pavement when getting on it.
I bought an old single axle office trailer with probably 10 year old tires that were so dry rotted you could see daylight thru them. Only driove it two blocks to the tire store.
Just sits at the deeer lease and now on about year 6-8 on the newer tires. I towed it about 50 miles to the new lease 2 years ago with a lot of pucker factor. Only about 4500 pounds but It’s really tongue heavy and no brakes. Will replace tires before moving it again.
I bought an old single axle office trailer with probably 10 year old tires that were so dry rotted you could see daylight thru them. Only driove it two blocks to the tire store.
Just sits at the deeer lease and now on about year 6-8 on the newer tires. I towed it about 50 miles to the new lease 2 years ago with a lot of pucker factor. Only about 4500 pounds but It’s really tongue heavy and no brakes. Will replace tires before moving it again.
kind of a pain, but could you block the trailer up and remove the tires, store in basement or whatever?
kind of a pain, but could you block the trailer up and remove the tires, store in basement or whatever?
I started removing the tires from my trailers for added security. I spend a lot of time away from home and it was bugging me a little as to how vulnerable my trailers were. It's the boats, the dump-bed and the cargo trailer which can become a storage unit of sorts at times.
This stuff is easily stolen and most hitch locks can be defeated. Which can be a good thing since I sure as hell have lost the keys before and had to cut the locks off.
With a good floor jack and a impact wrench it just takes a few minutes to have any one of them on the road. All it cost me was a few concrete blocks I have taken notice as to what great condition my tires are staying in being stacked in the shop, no UV damage from the Florida sun at all...
On a side note, I also took notice how interchangeable some of the wheels are, I really might not need 6 sets of trailer tires at all..I just doubt I am going to be using my dump-bed at the same time as my cargo trailer and suddenly need to take one of the boats some where....hummmmm
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Maybe new tires should come with a manufacture date embedded in them.
I wonder just how old some of the new tires I have purchased may have been.....
I guess we could have bought econo tires and saved $200-300. But that really doesn't amount to much over the course of 4 years which is about how long I think we'll keep the vehicle. No doubt these will be the last set of tires we buy for it.
And hopefully they are good tires and maybe provide better traction than the econo's.
And rather than leave it sit outside all the time we can park it in the garage more often.
I have taken notice as to what great condition my tires are staying in being stacked in the shop, no UV damage from the Florida sun at all...
Yep.. Inside storage is the key to longevity.. All my trailers are stored inside my bigger pole shed and only come out when I need one.. Only exception is the camper - but even that one is outside only 5 months a year; the remainder of time it's also inside that pole shed...
Thank GOD I had the foresight at the time (1980) to build a 40X96' with 14' clearance inside...
Thank GOD I had the foresight at the time (1980) to build a 40X96' with 14' clearance inside...
That's gotta be nice, not applicable in my situation. I'm parking on a unbuildable 50 x 400ft easement. Only other location is between the house and the bay and I am not gonna obstruct that view.
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Maybe new tires should come with a manufacture date embedded in them.
I wonder just how old some of the new tires I have purchased may have been.....
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Maybe new tires should come with a manufacture date embedded in them.
I wonder just how old some of the new tires I have purchased may have been.....
They do, and once the public caught on that some tire shops were selling two year old tires, the tire industry went to a new code more complicated for the public to crack.
Do Car Tires Have a Shelf Life? Ronald Montoya by October 24th, 2018
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.
Maybe new tires should come with a manufacture date embedded in them.
I wonder just how old some of the new tires I have purchased may have been.....
To find your tires age you need to find the DOT Date Code on the tire. Find the raised DOT letters and numbers. Look for 4 numbers together, often enclosed in a raised oval. The first two numbers are the week the tire was manufactured, for instance in the example below, 35 stands for week 35. The second two numbers are the year the tire was manufactured. In the image below we see the 07, indicating the tire was build in 2007. This particular tire was made the 35th week of 2007.
These codes are not difficult to read. They are difficult to find. I have an Infiniti and a Nissan pickup. For each vehicle, the spare is a different make from the road tires, so I have 4 different makes of tires. I just went out to check the dates, and in every case the date is on the inside of the tire, which makes it very difficult to see.
This is the spare of my Infiniti. It was made in week 37, so, September of 2015. Four year old tire, not bad for a spare. They have been using the same code for at least the past 8 years. Obviously it is federally mandated because the numbers are all the same size, about 3/8 inch high.
My pickup spare tire, I just bought this one two months ago, manufactured January of this year.
I have had tires fail from age that looked good. After 7 years they need replacing. Have a coworker that found out the hardway. Had a camper that he moved a couple of years ago. His tires were 10 and had low miles. He moved and all 4 blew out on a cross TX trip. None of them at a convienent time or location. He also had an old tire blow on his dualie the same year. Did 4000 dollars damage to the truck.
I know that many tire stores in AK, will not install tires that are 10 years or older on cars. Since we usually swap out studded for non-studded depending on the season, I have been in tire shops more than once and seen this occur to people. First I saw it occur at as Costco. I really didn't think about it, as I had always been accustomed to having replace tires about every 3-4 years minimum anyways,.
I have had tires fail from age that looked good. After 7 years they need replacing. Have a coworker that found out the hardway. Had a camper that he moved a couple of years ago. His tires were 10 and had low miles. He moved and all 4 blew out on a cross TX trip. None of them at a convienent time or location. He also had an old tire blow on his dualie the same year. Did 4000 dollars damage to the truck.
Had a Michelin LTX fail at the sidewall. Original owner thought the tires were 5years old and according to her receipt she was right. Turns out they were 7years old. They were two years old already when she purchased them!
Campers, RV's and utility trailers are the worst! Customer looks and sees practically new tread, you tell them it's dry rotting, they ask well how long will it last?
Could be 3 years, 3,000 miles, 3 seconds or 3 feet your guess is as good as mine!!! No way I've seen to predict. Would you like to call a service truck out in the North Ga Mtns on the side of a highway or would you like to have them changed now? Up to you..Your mileage may vary has never been truer!
So I went outside and looked at the tires on four vehicles. Every one of them has slight "cracks" in the tread grooves similar to what Sam showed (maybe not as large though), except for some new tires that are about 4 months old.
The tire codes date the various tires from 2007 to 2016. The 2007 LT tires have the least amount of visible cracking. None of the tires have over 35k on them.
From that, one might conclude that tires show tread groove "cracking" without it necessarily being a sign of old age. What do you think?
I hope everybody's happy. I replaced the old tires on my car today. I would have gotten 20,000 more miles out of the old ones if this thread had never occurred.
,...going on the road soon and this thread got me all OCD about the small cracks in my tires.
On the other hand, these General Altimax RT43's seem like a decent tire for the money.
My tire guy says he is not able to lawfully sell a tire over 7 years old.
The lesson here is, and I did it, is buying a tire with 100,000 mile tread wear out warranty, they were Toyo's, in 6 years i had one weeping air through a side wall with ~40,000 miles on them, lots of tread left. Take to dealer and he said if you are not going to put the miles on then buy a tire that is rated for less miles , say 40,000. So if you drive less than 40,000 in 5 years buy tires with a tread warranty of 40,000.
Anyway, I replace tires at 5 years or when tread is about 70% gone.
if you are not going to put the miles on then buy a tire that is rated for less miles , say 40,000.
That's where I'm at. The tires rot off of my vehicles before they have any miles on them. Still, I want a tire that performs decently. The General Altimax tires seem like what I need. They're not the cheapest tires out there, but they're good value for the money. I'm probably going to put them on everything from now on.
... On the other hand, these General Altimax RT43's seem like a decent tire for the money.
The ones on the Wife's Corolla have 55K on them so far, and they look great. Even wear, and they appear to have another 15 - 20K left in them.
They rode so well they convinced me to put them on the Camry, as well. 20K miles in, I'm still well-pleased with them.
FC
I bought mine at a big tire place. I asked the young man behind the counter if they sold General Altimax tires and he answered, "A lot of them". They also had a special going on,...$70 off a set of four,...and he was telling the truth because I got a quote for the same tires at another place and it was almost exactly $70 more than he quoted me. The other place also wanted an additional $65 for a 4 wheel alignment. It started turning into a lot of money, so I went to this other place.
They sold the set of tires for $70 less and threw in a 4 wheel alignment for free.
My car didn't behave as if it needed an alignment, but I always get it looked at when I put on a new set of tires.
Sam , you are to be commended - I think you might well have saved lives with this thread , we should buy you a case of beer or something .
Damn right... I'd buy him a few beers for sure.
It was a learning experience for some of us, group hug.........grin
My next door neighbor who owns the tire shop said there was a very slight chance the cracks in our tires would have caused an issue. He said they were 'surface cracks' and rarely go in deep enough to cause an issue.
Given that advice I decided wife could drive on them for a couple more years.......
I did it too. Today I replaced my 12 year old tires on a Honda Pilot. Only had 32000 miles on them. Wife hardly drives anymore. I bought her a new car so I’m driving this Pilot to work everyday. I knew it was time but this thread pushed me over the edge.
Sam , you are to be commended - I think you might well have saved lives with this thread , we should buy you a case of beer or something .
Damn right... I'd buy him a few beers for sure.
It was a learning experience for some of us, group hug.........grin
Learning of the date stamp was really good for me. I've never given a tire enough time to get old on my vehicles, kinda fanatical about keeping them fresh. Somebody always want my old tires.
It's my trailers that sneak up on me and get old. Years seem to pass fast anymore. I take my boats all over the place, that's the big one here but my dump-bed and cargo trailer get old too.
Just not a lot of excuse for having to change a tire out on the road unless it's impact damage or something.
Sam , you are to be commended - I think you might well have saved lives with this thread , we should buy you a case of beer or something .
Damn right... I'd buy him a few beers for sure.
It was a learning experience for some of us, group hug.........grin
My next door neighbor who owns the tire shop said there was a very slight chance the cracks in our tires would have caused an issue. He said they were 'surface cracks' and rarely go in deep enough to cause an issue.
Given that advice I decided wife could drive on them for a couple more years.......
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