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How old of tires, is too old ?

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  pdq67 
#1 ·
I'm just curious if anyone has a rule of thumb, when is a tire too old to be used safely? My tires are radials that still have good tread on them, but they are now ten years old. I believe they are OK but, the question remains. Yes, I have read about expiration dates etc. in the archives. Tires have been stored inside on my car on a cement floor.
 
#2 ·
I think tires will pass a visual Safety Inspection IN Missouri as long as they don't have cracks in them so that you can see cord!

Use your own judgement.

pdq67

PS, the old P/U I bought had four old tires with better than 3/4 tread, but two sat flat for about four years so had a crack in each sidewall like I mentioned and Walmart said they wouldn't pass inspection so I threw ALL four away and bought new inexpensive ones from them b/c the hassle/danger really isn't worth it, imho!!

AND I am a tight-a--, er, eh, "FRUGAL" too!!!
 
#3 ·
Let how you use your car be your guide. If you break out the Camaro on tues night for the local criuse in a few miles from your house and hit the ice cream parlor on Sundays, 10 year old tires might be ok. If you go on long freeway drives or are hitting the track a lot you might be wanting new tires...
 
#4 ·
I personally think it is time to change these out. Here in Utah we just had 8 USU students killed when a five year old tire blew. There were of course of things adding to the accident, speed, and a 15 passenger van "top heavy", but it was still a tire that blew starting the whole ugly sitiuation. Also on old tires, just dont pass them on down to someone who is unsuspecting. Cut the sidewalls so they cant be used. It could well save a life, and at very least property. They may look great, but time is hard on rubber products.
 
#5 ·
I had a guy tell me 7 years like he knew what he was talking about. I always thought the 7 year thing had something to do with bad luck and broken mirrors.
 
#6 ·
Anything five years or older needs to be removed from service. I run a tire dealer in TX and I put holes in them at that poing if they are still in my warehouse. One person comes to mind. He came into my store wanting a "brand new" tire pro-rated out. It blew out after about 5 miles on the road. After I talked to hime, it turned out that he bought it at a garage sale for 10 bucks. It looked like a brand new tire...never been on the road. The DOT code showed that the tire was 7 years old.
 
#7 ·
Texas and Minnesota are two very different things. The Texas sun will kill a tire more quickly than in Minnesota. Tires should be replaced if there are any visual cracks in the sidewall. My personal time limit is 20 yrs. Tires can last that long if you take care of them (and don't live in the sunbelt).
 
#9 ·
Depends on how much the car was moved. If it sat still for 5 years? Toss 'em it ain't worth it. If it was rolled around on a regular basis for 10 years, kept out of temperature extremes excessive UV light and the inflation checked regulary? Maybe.

Part of the problem with sitting tires is that the carbon black doesn't get pulled to the surface. This holds true if it's sitting on a rack (new) or under a car. If the carbon black isn't pulled up then the UV light and atmosphere starts to break the tire down....and problems start. Of course, sitting under load and underinflated won't help things! I've told this here before but I got some Pro Trac bias plys off an old project car, 1974 is what I remember them being. One blew out within 100 miles (sat flat), the other? 20,000 miles and it's still holding up a parts truck (got nervous and it got pretty bald). Is it worth it for the risk? Probably not.

Only you know your tires...did you take care of them?
 
#10 ·
My rule of thumb for tires is this: Any cracks in the sidewall=change 'em! Tread too low=change em! If a vehicle sits for a long time, leave it on jackstands so the weight of the car is not on the tires. My sister went to Romania for a year. She came home and her forerunner drove weird when she returned. We took it down to the tire store, and they said that the weight of the vehicle probably put a "flat spot" on the tires on the bottom. If you drive the vehicle every week or more but the tread stays good for 5 or 6 years, I would think that is acceptible.
As for the van that had a blow out...Several "elongated" vans are known to flip on their sides when the wheel gets jerked just a bit too fast, and many times the weight of the van on the TWO tires is enough to make them blow out... 60 minutes did a long story on this and took several vans to a test track and had a stunt guy run the slalom course. My wife calls them "tippy vans" since we watched the show. Keep an eye on these long vans on the freeway. When some of the ledfoot's weave into traffic, watch the angle of the vans body and you can see it! Sorry for the long post, but the numbers of long vans flipping onto their sides is more than many people think.


Dano
 
#11 ·
1969 RS/SS DROPTOP said:
Is that a typo or did i just read 20yrs???? I like my car way to much to leave a set of tires on for that long, IMHO 20 yrs is ridiculous for no more than a set of tires cost.
Let's take a step back and not be so condeming... If you just bought a survivor '82 pace car with 1,000 orig miles and orig tires you might not be so quick to pitch the tires and put new ones on the car. There are 1st gen's out there with orig tires or dated vintage replacements from the period. I know someone that just spent big coin for "real" old tires to put on a 70's Judge... Like I said above, base your judgment on your use of your car. My point here is you don't know just how the person that suggested 20 years uses his classic or if he was speaking of his daily driver...
 
#12 ·
Lets put it this way...have you ever seen what a steel belt will do to the side of a car when it comes apart? IF THE TIRE IS OLDER THEN 5 YEARS< THE TIRE MANUFACTURE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE!!! Actually it is 5 years from date of purchase or 6 years from date of manufacture.
 
#14 ·
Fwiw, my Mom stored her (6) new house trailer tires in my Sister's basement and then for a bit in a shed and then I took them and put them in my basement to protect them and they looked/felt brand new when we sold them two years ago!

She bought the trailer in August, '66!

Still had '66 mud on them, He, He!!

Stored almost 100 percent in the cool dark basement air under the stairwell most of the time..

BUT this is the EXCEPTION I would think...

pdq67
 
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