Minor cracking between tread

[sxg6]

I've got some 3 year old Nokian WR G2 SUV tires that are primarily used from November to April as snow tires. I noticed that there is some mild cracking between the tread blocks, and I just wanted to see what people thought. The date stamp on all four tires is "0511". I'm honestly not too worried about it, but I'm not an expert either. I emailed Nokian out of boredom a couple hours ago, so I'm curious to see what they say as well.

 

[zzyzzx]

I would not worry about that. Those crack look cosmetic and do not appear to go deep to me.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I would not worry about that. Those crack look cosmetic and do not appear to go deep to me.


+1

 

[michaelluscher]

I'd contact them about it Anyway...

 

[toneydoc]

That looks bad. I would take them back to purchase point for warranty evaluation and possibly new tires. How do they drive in winter snow as they are? They do not even look like snow tires to me. But in AL we only get a few inches each year. Let me know what they say.

 

[The motor guy]

If they're 3 years old then that's pretty normal. My tires look worse then that.

 

[901Memphis]

My Kelly tires from 2011 are way worse than that.

 

[johnachak]

That looks like dry rot to me. Not good. My Bridgestones from 2010 don't have 1/2 as many cracks as that.

 

[sxg6]

Thanks for the replies. I bought the tires in June 2011 from a tire retailer on ebay, so I'm unable to take them back to have the retailer check them out. I don't do a lot of shopping on ebay, but the seller has over 8000 feedback ratings, with 99.7% of them positive.

The WR G2 SUV is a unique tire that Nokian considers to be both an all season tire, as well as a snow tire that carries the mountain/snowflake symbol. They perform just as good in the snow as other dedicated snow tires I have used in the past, and handle like an all season tire would. A few years ago I believe they were #1, or at least top 3 in consumer reports snow tire ratings as well.

I'll give an update after I hear from Nokian.

 

[Rand]

cosmetic, you should be ok for another 1-2 years easy.

 

[johnachak]

It might be a tendency of the winter rubber compound that regular m&s tires dont have and they might be ok. See what Nokian has to say. Good luck.

 

[sxg6]

Nokian said it's normal ozone cracking, and that it isn't a safety concern and won't affect the performance of the tire.