Age to replace tires

[hattaresguy]

If you keep the car below 30 it doesn't really matter. Tires only have issues from the build up of heat, heat builds up under load or speed.

Why do you think lawn mowers can run around at 5mph all day on 25 year old tires?

Also a tire failure at 25 isn't much of an event, as say a failure at 70. A failure over 100 will get you in the newspaper.

 

[thescreensavers]

My friend bought an old car 1986 535i a few months ago, anyhow he never looked at the the tires.. so when I looked at the car I found out they used something called "TRX" which was a special size and two of his tires are from 1992. They still held air and were driven on...needless to say the rims got switched out soon after.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Also a tire failure at 25 isn't much of an event, as say a failure at 70. A failure over 100 will get you in the newspaper.


It will also get you into something else.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Official sources - ie. tire manufacturers - vary as to how to express age limits on tires. My take is this:

If you live in a hot climate - AZ, CA, TX, NV, FL - then the limit is 6 years. If you live in a cold climate - MN, ND, MT, WI, ME - then the limit is 10 years. States in between are, ah ..... Mmmmmmm ...... in between.

I would judge Maryland to be about 8 years.

I know for sure NV, AZ have 6 years limit, I don't know about TX and FL but I know CA has 10 years limit.

CA, at least within 5-10 miles from the Pacific coast, isn't as hot in summer as NV, AZ, TX, FL, NM ... Average high in summer is in high 70F to low 80F. Except the last year and this summer, we had less than 8-10 days a year with temperature in the 90's for 30-35 years. We didn't have A/C in our houses and didn't feel uncomfortable all summer long but 2-5 days.

 

[racer12306]

Thanks for the input.

 

[BrocLuno]

Age is an Ozone and UV phenomena ...

You park in garage and out of the sun. Wait until they start age cracking near the rim bead, then replace. You can prolly go 15 years because of the care you take.

I've had the best luck with tire aging with Toyo's

 

[avacado11]

I replace them whenever they go bald. My tires usually get pot hole damage before cracks develop.
To be safe, I say replace at 7 years, that's if there isn't any dry cracks/rot. I've seen 2 year old tires have more cracks than my 8 year old ones. Difference is that my 8 year old ones are stored away during the summer(winter tires) and the 2 year old ones were always on the truck, parked outside.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
.... I know for sure NV, AZ have 6 years limit, I don't know about TX and FL but I know CA has 10 years limit.......


The problem is that state boundaries don't line up with climate boundaries. CA has both the hottest temperatures in the nation and some of the coldest - all depending on where you are. So when I'm quoting age limits, I'm quoting the worse condition. Your mileage may vary.

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Age is an Ozone and UV phenomena ...


And temperature.

While it is true that sunny places are worse the shady places - and places with ozone, such as the seacoast, are worse in inland places - the biggest factor is temperature.

Also, some tire manufacturers use a different type sidewall rubber - one that isn't as prone to cracking. While this helps sidewall cracking, this doesn't help what is going on in the area of the steel belts - and it is that area that is important (and why there is an age limit).

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
At what age would you consider replacing tires. The tires on my Neon have no more than 15000 miles, probably closer to 10000, but they are 6.5 years old. The vehicle is stored outside.

They still look to be in decent shape, but with some minor cracking here and there.



I am still using 1998 tires that came on a 1999 car. The car was garaged for the first 9 years of it's life and is garaged around 8 months of the year now. The tires look perfectly fine. You don't live in Arizona or CA where it's hot and sunny all the time and don't need to replace tires when they get 6 or 7 years old unless they look bad, or are Chinese. It's not just me who thinks they are OK tires, I showed them to a bunch of people at work who said to keep driving on them as well.