Guys,

I have 10 yr old tires ( Goodyear Eagle ST ) with approximately 30 thousand miles on them... Still plenty of thread ... Do tires have a life independent of thread wear ? I would assume that eventually the tire composition would start to break down; however, I see no visible signs of it. I keep the car garage and I know I could ask Goodyear ( and eventually I will ), but I did want to ask someone who's primary interest is not selling me a new set of tires... Thanks

Up untill this year, I was running on Firestone 721 white letter radials. They are about 25 years old and still have good tread. Late last year I broke a belt in one of them or I would still be running them this summer.
Daniel

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67 RS/SS 350 2004R (owned since 81)
97 V6 5-speed Coupe (work car ordered new)
http://homestead.juno.com/dakcoffman/

Tires will last for many years depending on how they are stored. If you keep the tires out of sunlight and in a cool, dry place they won't deteriorate very fast at all. If they are on a stored car it is best to have them off the ground or at least move the car every couple weeks to prevent flat spots. My brother-in-law is one of the top research chemists at Goodyear and says that they do put special additives in commerical tires (like for trucks and farm equipment) that typically sit outside in the elements, which keeps them from deteriorating quickly. Of course it's an expensive additive, so they don't put it in auto tires.

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George Thomas
1969 Camaro Z28 X77
gst@cox.rr.com
http://home.cox.rr.com/gthomas/gt.htm