New Tire Selection

Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
1,465
Location
Kennett Square, PA
Well, my plugged tire made it home from VA...no problems. My Bridgestone Ecopias will be 6 yo in October. Still have lots of tread but don't like my wife driving on old tires. Talked with a well known on-line tire supplier. He said nothing wrong with 6 year old tires and I would be wasting money replacing them. I told him about two of the tires having been plugged and that did not change his mind at all. He did recommend replacing my 10 yo spare. He said they will sell tires up to 7 years old because they have a useful life of 10 years.

I checked the size of my temporary spare and called again this morning. Got a different guy. He recommended replacing the 6 year old tires. Ok, two different tire experts with two different opinions. Talked with him about the spare. Said I want to replace my 10 year old spare but don't want to buy a replacement if it will be 7 years old. He then asked me if my current spare has ever been driven. I said yes, one time for 3 or 4 miles. He said once the spare has been driven even for a very brief period, the rubber degradation process starts.This sounds like a huge load of BS to me. I did not tell him the spare was used just last week. Following his theory I should have another 10 years of life on the spare.

So, would you replace 6 year old tires with lots of tread but two of the tires have been plugged? Would you replace a 10 yo temporary spare that has been driven one time for a few miles last week? Thanks.
 
I would probably do neither of those things unless you are having strange handling or traction? I would go for the 10 years if the tread wear supports that, you didn't say the miles or type of tire so those can effect it also, its a winter only tire say I would not go for the max. Were the plugs and repairs done properly or did you or some corner gas station do them? If they have not had a problem by now I would think its good to go. Check the sidewalls more, any cuts or bubbles? I've had old tires that "someone" curbed develop a bubble with not much sign of problem on outside just a rub mark.
What I would consider myself is can you upgrade the temp spare to a full size wheel and normal sized tire? That is something I always tried to do now actually easier with online junkyards, ebay etc.
 
1) Do not talk to those 'tire experts' again.

2) "but don't like my wife driving on old tires" - You just answered every other question you asked.


Buy new tires ASAP.. sell the tires you have on craigs or fb.

Replace the Temp Spare.. it has done its job and got you out of a bind once.. It did its job.
 
I would stay away from on line tire resellers.

I would search around and find the best local tire dealer in your area and do what they say. They would be much more likely to tell you the truth looking them face to face.
They can look at your tires, inspect them and give you proper advice. If you have problems, they know you will be coming to see them.

I have never replaced any spare tire in any of my cars.
 
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I'll be hitting 6 years next year on the tires on my pickup. That's an expense that costs more than the truck is worth. I've been told 7 or 8 would be safe too but I just don't trust them that long.
 
Two of my cars are garage kept. I won't go by the 6 year deal with them.

The church van that sits in the sun all day will get new Michelins in the 7th year. Probably have 10K miles on them.
I have responsibility for other people here.
 
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I'd probably hold off on the spare for another couple years.

The other 4 tires, I dont mess around if I want new tires or I need new tires... I get new tires.

Usually after about 5 years they start hardening and the wet traction drops off quite abit.. I dont feel bad about replacing even if they have 6-7/32

If they are in decent shape I do craiglist them but cheap.. maybe $100 for set of 4.

if you see the people around here driving with steel belts showing.. you know they just got a heck of an upgrade.
 
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Originally Posted by Gebo
I would stay away from on line tire resellers.


I have been buying from Tirerack for decades since a local NTB trashed beautiful alloy wheel on an almost brand new 4Runner. As far as I know, we no longer have the type of local tire service you mention. Just big outfits with highly unskilled labor and salespeople who know less than I do. You know, the same situation we have with auto parts and hardware stores. That is what makes BITOG such a valuable resource.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
I would stay away from on line tire resellers.

I would search around and find the best local tire dealer in your area and do what they say. They would be much more likely to tell you the truth looking them face to face.
They can look at your tires, inspect them and give you proper advice. If you have problems, they know you will be coming to see them.

I have never replaced any spare tire in any of my cars.


Online retailers like Tirerack will also tell you their best customer rated local installer.

I tried that before, and the local installer was making up B.S. on why I should buy his preferred tire brand.

SimpleTire, I went through last time, I liked their recommended local tire shop enough, that I went back for an alignment.
 
My preferred installer doesn't care if I get the tires from wherever or if he gets them. He makes the same amount of net profit either way.




Originally Posted by UG_Passat
Originally Posted by Gebo
I would stay away from on line tire resellers.

I would search around and find the best local tire dealer in your area and do what they say. They would be much more likely to tell you the truth looking them face to face.
They can look at your tires, inspect them and give you proper advice. If you have problems, they know you will be coming to see them.

I have never replaced any spare tire in any of my cars.


Online retailers like Tirerack will also tell you their best customer rated local installer.

I tried that before, and the local installer was making up B.S. on why I should buy his preferred tire brand.

SimpleTire, I went through last time, I liked their recommended local tire shop enough, that I went back for an alignment.
 
I use to have sets of summer tire and sets of winter tires 4 of each on rims for both cars. 16 tires on 16 rims total and switch for winter or the rest of the year. It was kind of a PIA each fall and spring to do the switching, but the winter tires really did perform in bad conditions, and they really were too soft to run in the summer without wearing them out. I really admire the way the Bridgestone Blizzaks do have traction on glare ice even without studs. They are not as good a studded tires, but if you take it easy they have more then enough traction to keep you from loosing control of your vehicle in situations where other vehicles are sliding into things or just not able to move.

Tires were designed to be good for summer driving and aggressive handling, or designed with soft rubber that did not get too hard in the winter and had noisy big aggressive tread patterns that went good in the snow, and even some like the Blizzak that have a decent amount of traction on ice. It use to be you could get tires that were rated good for some of these categories but no tire was rated good for all of them.

Now with the improvements in rubber compounds and improved design of the ziz-zag small cuts called sipes so they no longer make the tire too flexible when the tire is new and the tread depth is thick, there are tires such as the BF GoodRich T/A Sport with the three peak mountain snowflake rating that perform good in all conditions. The Sport rating means they perform good in the summer and for aggressive driving, and the three peak mountain snowflake rating means they have winter traction. It is only recently that improvements have enabled a tire to have the best of both worlds.

TireRack posted winter reviews of several tires and the BF GoodRich T/A Sport (with the three peratak mountain snowflake) scored a 8.9 and the dedicated winter tire Bridge Stone Blizzak WS90 scored a 9.3 so while the BF Goodrich is not a good in the winter as a dedicated winter tire, it is darn near as good. I think it is good enough that I am not going to buy rims and Blizzaks for my new to me vehicle next winter, and just keep the BF GoodRich tires on it.

So if you want to get some serious good all season tires for you wife that are good for the summer, good in rain, and really do have decent traction in the winter, you might want to consider the BF GoodRich T/A Sport with the (three peak mountain snowflake) rating.

Also when purchasing, be aware that there are slightly older versions of the BF Goodrich T/A Sport without the three peak mountain snowflake symbol (rating). This new rating is because of the new recent improvements, and you want to be sure the tires you buy have it.
 
Originally Posted by artbuc
He said once the spare has been driven even for a very brief period, the rubber degradation process starts.This sounds like a huge load of BS to me.


Nah, it's true. Tires get a waxy preservative coating but the flexing of the sidewall and heat from running them starts shedding this preservative.

I found the original 20-year-old spare under my F150 a few years back. It had more tread than my other tires and no cracks, so I said, hey, I'll run it. Five years later it was still doing fine, as it had been preserved and out of the sunlight for the start of its life.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
Nah, it's true. Tires get a waxy preservative coating but the flexing of the sidewall and heat from running them starts shedding this preservative.

I found the original 20-year-old spare under my F150 a few years back. It had more tread than my other tires and no cracks, so I said, hey, I'll run it. Five years later it was still doing fine, as it had been preserved and out of the sunlight for the start of its life.


After I posted that comment, I realized the surface could be sealed until it was put under load. Maybe from a coating as you suggest or maybe just the rubber structure itself. Either way good news fir me. Since my spare was never used for most of its 10 years, it is likely good for another 10.
 
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