Tire Age?

It would be really cool if there was an article to read about tire age, as well as maybe ask an expert on what has made it more of a concern now than in the past. 
 

Of course is should also subscribe so I could read such an article. 

Peabody said:

In reply to chandler :

If I recall it's a recommendation, and they say that specifically.

But now that you mention it, that's who's ass somebody likely pulled it out of, and made it internet law

This conversation comes up every few years and I think I posted a snip from one of their commercial data sheets that said "(not actually verbatim)tires, if stored properly do not age out". Which is funny if they also say this 10 year suggestion for passenger tires.

Peabody said:

dean1484 said:

Back in the 70's,  80's, and 90s we never cared about date codes on tires.  We were poor and would pull tires out of dumpsters or off the side of the road or out of the junkyard.   No one cared.  There was no mention of it.  Why all of a sudden in the last 15-20 years or so have tires become so date dependant on not killing you?  I don't get it.    Tire companies making cheaper rubber?  With specific chemicals now known to cause cancer has the formula changed and we now are much less UV resistant?  Simple scare tactics by the tire manufacturers to sell more tires?  Someone sued someone and now the CYA answer from the tire manufacturers is 5 years?  

Yes.

In the 90's I won a championship on tires I picked out of tire piles behind garages. I didn't think twice about it.

As far as I know, no tire manufacturer says how long a tire will last. Somebody probably pulled the 10 year recommendation out of their ass and it stuck.

So, if we go to the regulatory text for utqg, fmvss 104, first published in the federal register July 1978...

I think it's more that we actually talk about this stuff with the Advent of the internet...

Plus higher handling thresholds of more modern vehicles making it that much more critical, higher highway speeds, etc.

dean1484 said:

I am commenting on the internet myth and legend that if a tire is over X date you will face certain failure and death.

It was just not that way up until recently.

Does "recently" mean a decade ago?  Paul Walker died in a Porsche Carerra GT in 2013, with the crash being partially attributed in the investigation to the 8 year old tires on the car.  I think that event pushed up the awareness of the risks of old tires in a lot of peoples' minds.

But even back in the 90s, we (as a community) were aware that just because tires had tread didn't mean they were good.

Back in the 60s and 70s tires didn't last nearly as many miles as they do now, so they didn't get as many opportunities to get old.

Since a few of you have asked for some data, some more old vs. new tire testing that we have conducted: Running on Old Tires vs. New Tires.

And resharing our testing on new vs. 10-year-old tires right here. 

I can feel the decrease in available grip after a couple of years on performance summer tires. 

My V6 2000 F150 came to me with 10 year old tires. It would light up the rears over half throttle at any speed in 2nd and 3rd. Made me giggle at first, then started to be really annoying (also dangerous).

Did anyone follow on viper club of america the guy trying to sell 11 year old PS2 tires and claimed they'd make a great track tire?

chandler said:

Peabody said:

dean1484 said:

Back in the 70's,  80's, and 90s we never cared about date codes on tires.  We were poor and would pull tires out of dumpsters or off the side of the road or out of the junkyard.   No one cared.  There was no mention of it.  Why all of a sudden in the last 15-20 years or so have tires become so date dependant on not killing you?  I don't get it.    Tire companies making cheaper rubber?  With specific chemicals now known to cause cancer has the formula changed and we now are much less UV resistant?  Simple scare tactics by the tire manufacturers to sell more tires?  Someone sued someone and now the CYA answer from the tire manufacturers is 5 years?  

Yes.

In the 90's I won a championship on tires I picked out of tire piles behind garages. I didn't think twice about it.

As far as I know, no tire manufacturer says how long a tire will last. Somebody probably pulled the 10 year recommendation out of their ass and it stuck.

Michelin says 10 years.

From a Michelin engineer I was competing with, 10 years is in a climate controlled environment with no UV exposure.

So, as long as you never let your car outside, I suppose 

A couple things:

1) Tires that "we" tend to use are mostly optimized heavily towards performance in a narrow window of operating conditions.  That's the price we pay for grip. Those same compounds don't age as well as more general purpose compounds compromised to work in all conditions and for a good long time. 

As extreme version of this is the set of Yokohama slicks that we recently tested here.  Five years old, stored in a climate controlled warehouse...and clearly well past their prime.

2) Cars didn't used to be so fast...nor were they pushed as hard.  Plus most vehicles have gotten waaaaay heavier.,  We ask a lot more of our tires these days.

3) Communication via the Internet is sooo much more ubiquitous.  The tire stuff I did in my early motorsports days would have been considered ignorant these days.  Many teaching moments there.  Of course, the internet also spreads urban legends, too.

Andy Hollis said:

As extreme version of this is the set of Yokohama slicks that we recently tested here.  Five years old, stored in a climate controlled warehouse...and clearly well past their prime.

A couple weeks ago we had a rare rainy race weekend here in NorCal.  On a good day I'm maybe 1.5 seconds slower than the pace of the fast guys in the class, but I had new Hoosier wets and they had 5-6 year old ones.  That made for an 8-9 second difference in pace the other way, I had enough extra grip to literally drive around them on the outside in a sweeper.  Another guy had no wets at all and was turning in similar times on R7s to what they were doing on the old wets.

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to No Time :

Yeah, that, too. What is the heat and sun doing to all these tires, especially those that sit a bit? 

If only I had taken pictures of the tires I would see on Landcruisers in Saudi: absolutely bald and weirdly scorched looking. Kinda like what really old tires look like that have been in the elements for decades. 

And on the rare occasion it would rain? Absolute chaos. You do not travel.