how old is too old for tires?

it was spring and summer.. and they were just simply stacked outside of the garage... but it was a real eye opener about how bad rubber can get

They have been stored in unknow circumstances in Phoenix. The heat is pretty bad even if just in a garage sitting. There is always a chance they were outside.

mad_machine wrote: honestly, I would not trust a tyre older than 3 or 4 years... no matter how good it might look

What he said. While I run soft tires that force me to replace them annually, I encourage my friends to replace their tires after three years, regardless of tread wear.

What is all this I am hearing about getting rid of a tire because of its age? I am still running some tires on my 81 Corolla that are almost 10 years old. I have 2 hpde events, 1 auto cross run and 20,000 miles of daily driving on the same exact tires that sat on the car when it was parked almost 10 years ago.

Goodyear T-Metric 86S Tires

I roll on older (6-7 years) tires all the time with both my cars. I've never had a problem.

Do a visual inspection and look for plugs or any dry rotting/bead damage at all. If you find something questionable run away.

The Dunlop's (D60-A2's I think) I use for the winter on my porsche were manufactured in 1996. I only use them for winter service only. I inspect them regularly and I don't push them. I have actually never had a tire fail to dry rot. De-lamination or separation of the steal belts seems to be the mode of failure I get most often. The Firestone's on my explorer did this with some regularity (not old tires either) They would get a funky wiggle or "S" in the trend over about 1/4 of the tire. Tires on my porsche have also had this problem. I have found that the first sign is a shimmy when driving the car. it almost feels like a tire is out of balance (because it is) but when you stop to look at the tire it looks fine because when a steel belt brakes or separates it will only move and deform the tire when you are inn motion. It will take some time for it to either create the "s" in the tread or you will get accelerated ware on the tire in a specific location.

I think the answer to your question is use common sense. Older tires can (and do) provide good service however it is like anything that is older you have to pay more attention to them. Inspect them more regularly. I have never had a tire fail catastrophically that did not warn me it was on its way out. IT is like ignoring an inflamed appendix. Eventually it will try to kill you. Tires are made so well now that they will try to hold up until they just can't and they give alot of warning. Tread ware will get funky, tires will deform (as noted above) side walls will discolor bulge. The tire will start to crack. There will be signs of accelerated heat cycling and it will usually start to ride poorly making noise, causing a shimmy or the handling will get poor. The problem is that people will ignor all these signs and just keep driving the car until they are doing 70 MPH and it fails. It is not that tires don't warn you, it is that people ignore the warnings, and fail to properly inspect there tires. My dad and my grandfather would never get into there cars with out first walking around it and looking at every tire on the vehicle. Tires were that bad back then. We really have been spoiled in the last 30 years with the fantastic increased in tire technology.

I know there has been alot of debate about getting rid of tires after a set period of time. I feel this is stupid and probably being actually propagated by the tire companies and the people that service/install them (after all they get to sell more tires). It will also add to the numbers that will end up in land fills. Ya, recycling has come a long way but it is only a percentage of what gets tossed. I think mandated obsolescence will not be good for the environment. The real problem (once again) is the operator of the vehicle. People will go for literally years and not even so much as look at the passenger side tires never mind actually check the tire pressure.

How often do you think the average (man / woman / mom / singe mom single dad / senior citizen) actual walked to the passenger side of there car and looks at there tires? I was working at a service station years back and I had this guy actually tell me that he had been putting air in to the tires on the driver side thinking that some how they were connected to the passenger side tires. Many a customer would come it and say it failed with out warning. But question them further and they can not remember ever checking or inspecting the tire. And ya the car may have been pulling a little to that side for a week or three before it failed. People just put blinders on and keep driving. This is operator error and people should be held accountable for this kind of thing.

I think there needs to be better inspection / more critical inspection of tires as part of the safety inspections cars get as mandated by the states. There also needs to be better education of people with respect to tire inspection and safety as well as making it clear to them what can happen if you fail to maintain your tires.

Getting back to the use of old tires. Just use common sense. Inspect them regularly (as you should with any tire new or old) and they should serve you well. Ignore the signs that you have a issue with a tire and it will bite you.

I had a Goodyear rep tell me that dry rot, cuts and flat spots are OK as long as they don't reach the cord... but those were aircraft tires

A very timely thread, I'm a little concerned as the tires on my truck (basically a dump/Home Depot/trap rock/top soil hauler) are coming up on 10 years old. The truck sees maybe 3K a year in mileage, so tread wear is pretty minimal. However, much of that time is spent with a decent load in the bed, so I'll have to perform a more thorough inspection the next time I'm working on the truck. Thanks for all of the info!

Maybe I am brainwashed by the tyre makers... but it seems that if those four small rubber patches are between me and the road.. and they are the bits that keep me from spinning off into the nearest hedge/guardrail/ or oncoming car.. I would want the best and and least compromised rubber I could get.

In a great coincedence of timing we replaced the tires on the shop truck here at work yesterday. 3/4 ton 1992 GMC It only gets driven a few thousand miles a year so while being 12 years old they still had alot of tread left and no rot or cracking.

The old duellers were replaced with the cheapest chinese tires on the shelf in the size we needed.

The results? The truck used to have a real tendency to wander all over the road that no alignment seemed to fix. All that is gone. It tracks straight and true and rides alot better, Also the braking is improved enough to be considered miraculous. I wish we had done this years ago.

In reply to aussiesmg:

Next thing you know, you're going to spell rally as "rallye"

Kids these days! (I'm kidding...)

dean1484 wrote: however it is like anything that is older you have to pay more attention to them.

now all of youall please keep this in mind when you're dealing with us "older folk"

Not trying to beat a dead horse here but I just stumbled across these links in a UK forum

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=140&t=770610&mid=182536&nmt=The%20danger%20of%20old%20tyres

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1004/1004470_mechanic_killed_by_car_he_treasured.html

thankyou Ditch...

ditchdigger wrote: Not trying to beat a dead horse here but I just stumbled across these links in a UK forum.. . . . .

From the second link. It proves my point completely. They had warning, allot of warning if he knew he could drive through it. This is a case where being dumb got someone dead.

Passenger Ann Brehaut said she had felt a `wobble' as they were driving, but Bob said they could drive through it.

A lot of warning? A temporary wobble that could have been a road irregularity or thrown wheel weight to death an indeterminate amount of time after the wobble went away.

The only dumb thing here is running old tires.

I find it odd that here where folks nitpick the differences between brands of autocross and street tires, that some folks are saying tires as much as 30 years old are just fine and dandy.

Kumho just destroyed 500 13" v700's that were Manufactured in 2006 because they were aged out and couldnt risk selling them to the public. These were tires that sat in the factory warehouse under ideal conditions.

A few months ago a co-worker was showing me the "new" tires he just bought off craigslist. Full tread with all the knobbies on them but now something was wrong with his brakes. The date codes confirmed the tires were 18 years old. He doesnt beleive that a tire can "age out" when it still has good tread so he plans to keep them. :shrug:

I came home one afternoon and just happen to spy something odd on my trailer's spare tire. It had blown out just sitting in the driveway. There was a hole in the tread face you could put your hand through.It was a ten year old passenger car tire with lots of tread. It had been outside in the sun for at least 4 years and didn't show any cracking in the sidewalls. I went and bought 5 new trailer tires the next week.

I once had a nasty tire blow on my pickup truck while I was driving 75mph. I kept on thinking the tire was bad because it had a bad feel to it at speed. For the peace of mind it isn't worth worrying about how long is that old nasty tire going to last on the road and for the 75$ tow I could have almost gotten 2 new tires.

I've had discussions with tire reps, wholesalers, retailers, and a chemical engineer in the past about this issue. The general answer was 6-7 years, less in harsh conditions of light or extreme temperatures. . Old tires can fail in an instant with little warning if they are loaded and run at highway speeds which causes more heat than around town driving. I'd been telling family members for years to replace old tires. Recently my mom decided I might be right when she found this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24390155/

ditchdigger said: A lot of warning? A temporary wobble that could have been a road irregularity or thrown wheel weight to death an indeterminate amount of time after the wobble went away.

No No that is not what I meant. I read it that he he had a problem with that tire and knew that he could just drive through it. If the tire blew up the first time he experienced the wobble then I am with you

So are we going down the path of government mandated tire replacement after they are 6 years old? I am not sure how I feel about this.

$75 for two new tires? Are you kidding me? What size? Were? If I could get new tires for my cars for that price I would be first in line demanding obsolescence after 6 years but for my cars the tires average about 100-125 each PLUS another $20-$40 to have them mounted and balanced . Ohya then there is the disposal fee and tax's and the next thing I know I am spending close to $180 a tire. Again these are nothing special street tires. We in the snow belt have snow tires as well (or should have) so add at least another 2 tires and in my case 4 tires per car and you are talking over $200 / car per year (average) in tire costs. That will start to add up.

I know everyone says you can not put a price on human life and safety but this is not pocket change we are talking here. This is also huge $$$$$ for everyone in the tire business. From the gas station on the corner to the manufacturers.

So what to do? I am wondering if the technology is out there to make tires that will last 10 years. I am sure that the manufacturers could do this but it would be bad for business.

Hmmmmm .. . . A problem.

article in the atlanta journal today about a blow out on I-20 from old tires. apparently 1996 is too old. made an SUV do a headstand.

article in the atlanta journal today about a blow out on I-20 from old tires. apparently 1996 is too old. made an SUV do a headstand.