Tires-Age

mgm13 · Mar 2, 2012

I am seeing small cracks eminating from the wheel outward only 1/2" at this time. The tire are OEM Michelens, 6 years old with 28,000 miles-no where near wore out. Should I replace, just keep an eye on them or what?
We are original owners and as you can see,less than 5,000 miles a year and I don't have the $ to spare unless safety is a real concern. Help please.

friendly_jacek · Mar 2, 2012

pictures?

I understand mild weathering is OK. Multiple or deep cracks are a no-no.

eljefino · Mar 2, 2012

Is the car parked outside in the sun? You are in a hot spot...

Quattro Pete · Mar 2, 2012

Are you located in the south? If I'm not mistaken, according to Capri, our resident tire expert, in the south, tires should be changed after 5-6 years, regardless of tread left. Just to be safe, I think I'd go ahead and change them.

IndyIan · Mar 2, 2012

How are they in the rain? For me that's the only time I notice older tires in normal driving. Maybe Capri has some stats but I bet old hardened cracked tires can add 1/3 to stopping distances in the wet. In the dry I'd guess its maybe 10% difference as the shorter tread blocks help dry handling.
For me when I can light up the tires on a WO 1-2 shift in the rain with the Neon I know they aren't good anymore!

SteveSRT8 · Mar 2, 2012

If they are Michelins I would not be worried.

But I agree with our resident expert, after 5 years in the blazing sun they may be ready...

HerrStig · Mar 2, 2012

Tubeless tires are subject to air loss if the cracks get through to the liner, and alloy rims can corrode along the rim and cause slow leaks over time.

Artem · Mar 2, 2012

Tires have a "safe" operating time range of 6 years (according to a report i saw a few years back about exploding tires and super old tires being sold)

Here's my neighbors tires off of a Lexus RX-300. The date on them shows up as 5 years old but as you can see, even though there's a little bit of thread left, they don't look too good / safe to drive around in.

4D-56 · Mar 2, 2012

I just recently had a 6yr old Michelin blow out while the wife was driving on I95. not good, luckily all went ok, no accidents.

remember that these are your tires we are discussing, the only contact you have with the road.

change them.

crosseyedwx · Mar 2, 2012

Change them.

mgm13 · Mar 2, 2012

Deep South Texas-lots of 100*+, car is garaged all the time-this means night and day as we are retired and the annual milage shows not much road time. Most of the miles it does get are short term deals-trip to San Antonio which is 250 miles north of us.Back Dr. is there and we do checkups, 3 or 4 times a year-500 mile rt and then back in the garage. Pressure at 34# and checked once every 5/6 weeks, they are not run on low pressure.

daves87rs · Mar 2, 2012

If it's hot here, I'd replace them.

I'm in the north, so tires last a bit longer here. The OEM Goodyear Conquests (sister tire to the GY Integs) are still on my Cavalier. The tires have a 2/04 date on them. Even at 8 years old, the tires still look good for their age, due to good care and being out of the sun.

I even recently took the tires on a good 35 mile jog on the freeway, up to speeds of 90mph (I hope Capri doesn't read this part) to clean out the fuel system. Tires gave me no issues what so ever.

Even though I got away with it for a while, I wouldn't recommend it to others. While my tires look good, I'm not going to try them on the freeway every day. With that being said, I'm picking up some closeout Touring TAs in the next few weeks until I get the rim/tire package I want.....

Coprolite · Mar 2, 2012

I have heard that the magical retirement age for tires was 7 years from the date/shift code.

weebl · Mar 2, 2012

In the south, I would definitely replace them. Sounds like with the mileage you put on, long tread life doesn't need to be a determining factor for your next set. Still, stick with a good brand and model, you don't want to compromise safety.

hattaresguy · Mar 3, 2012

5-7 years is about as old as I go with tires. Not worth risking a blow out.

If money is tight replace them in pairs as you can afford too.

friendly_jacek · Mar 3, 2012

Originally Posted By: Artem
Tires have a "safe" operating time range of 6 years (according to a report i saw a few years back about exploding tires and super old tires being sold)

Here's my neighbors tires off of a Lexus RX-300. The date on them shows up as 5 years old but as you can see, even though there's a little bit of thread left, they don't look too good / safe to drive around in.

This is bad! My 8 year old trailer tires were not as bad (always covered), but one blew up last summer. I replaced the remaining one as well.

One of the problems was I never got the memo that trailer tires are limited to 55 MPH. I usually worked them to 70-75 MPH.

rg200amp · Mar 4, 2012

Dry Rot + Highway Speeds + Pot Hole = Possible Blow Out!

I'd change em out.

When you get new ones, you can spay them with 303. That should offer some sun protection. But, like other have said, I would still not run the tire past it's service life.

If your not going over 30,000 miles in the 5-6 year service life, save yourself some money and get a low mileage life tire. A 75,000 mile tire will only drain your wallet!

Kestas · Mar 4, 2012

I too have a low use situation, where the tires age-out before they wear out. I've switched to grippier (sport) tires that wear out more quickly than touring tires, and enjoy the safety advantage of the tires.

daves87rs · Mar 4, 2012

Originally Posted By: Kestas
I too have a low use situation, where the tires age-out before they wear out. I've switched to grippier (sport) tires that wear out more quickly than touring tires, and enjoy the safety advantage of the tires.

Same issues with mine, and debating about sport ones myself..

Win · Mar 18, 2012

I'm struggling with this same issue on our '04 Jaguar - It's still on the OEM Pirelli P6's it was delivered with, and they only have 29K miles on them with at least one third of the tread remaining.

It's kept inside, they look perfect - no cracks of any size, they don't leak air, aren't out of round, and are still quiet.

My gut tells me to replace them because of age, but I hate to get rid of good tires. We do keep speed to 70 or below to try to minimize the heat build up, when it gets driven, which obviously isn't often.

Tires-Age

Similar threads