bald tires on dry roads

[Canawler]

Just remember, sooner or later you will get caught in some rain or wet roads.

 

[TallPaul]

Rather than mod the tires, upgrade the stabilizer bars, or install if not equipped. My F150 did not have any stabilizer bars (AKA anti-sway bar), and I installed one in the front. Seriously improved cornering, which then resulted in accelerated tire wear as I whipped around corners with reckless abandon, for thrills.

 

[fsskier]

Bluemax said it best: Tires get hard as they age, heat and age combine to greatly reduce the traction of the tire. A belted tire has lots of strength left under the rubber - assuming that is a quality tire that does not fail due to miles alone.
I would not worry about a blowout, but even a quick suprise thundershower could send you sliding on what seems like ice. This can happen at VERY low speeds on old,hard bald tires.

 

[CapriRacer]

Tony,

You didn't tell us how old the tires were. Here's my standard advice:

Quote:
Recent bulletins from the tire industry indicate that tires degrade simply due to time. The age of a tire is important even if the tire is unused. There some disagreement over how to best express this age limitation, but my take is:

If you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) then the limit is six years. If you live in a cold climate (MN, ND, WI, MT, etc), then the limit is 10 years. States in between are ..... ah ........ in between.


You are in one of the 5 states were time becomes more critical than mileage. As Fsskier said the rubber changes as it gets older - and that is not only true for the tread rubber, but also true for the rubber used internally.

So if the tires are older than 6 years old, then replace them!