Originally Posted By: Char Baby
CapriRacer,
Warranty Coverage? LOL! The whole car only had a 12 month 12,000 mile warranty when I bought it new! The car only get driven up and down the strip every now and again. Most of my drives are 5 miles or less and then parked, ususlly around gathering crowds. There in no dry rot or cracking that leads me to beleive that they will just come apart at 40 mph. The most that will happen IMHO is that a steel belt might break and I will have to THUMP,THUMP THUMP home. I won't take the car on the highway at 65 mph or higher. And new tires are in order I agree! Im just having a hard time deciding which tires I want this time considering this will probable be the last set. And if I live that long, I'll have to live with these new tires for at least the next 20 years.
Just so you are aware:
There have been a lot of bulletins published in the last few years pointng to the advisability of removing tires simply because of age. Anywhere from 6 years to 10 years has been mentioned and my take on the difference has to do with heat. If you live in a hot climate (AZ, NV, CA, TX, NM, and FL), the limit is 6 years and if you live in a cold climate (MN, WI, MI, MT, etc) the limit is 10 years.
In your case, the 10 year limit would apply.
BTW, don't be fooled into thinking that if the tires aren't cracked, they are OK. Here's what I told Nikolas in another thread:
"...... An indicator of where you are in the durability part of this is the cracking. If the cracking is superficial, then the tire is probably OK (notice I said probably), but if the cracks are plentiful and or deep - and especially if the cracks are on the tread surface - the part that contacts the road - then it's time to replace the tires.
What do I mean by "Probably OK"? I have seen tires that show very little cracking that have failed - and the common denominator has been age - many of these have been spares as installed at the vehicle assembly plant and became part of the second set of tires. Cracking is a combination of material properties and flexing. So a tire that hasn't flexed very much, isn't likely to show cracks as readily as a tire that has......"
What you should be concerned about is the "not much flexing" part. Tires without cracks aren't necessarily OK - and I can guarrantee that 28 year old tires do not have very good material properties.