O/T Tire age

37chief · Apr 23, 2012

About all the tire stores I talk to about tires, say they should be changed after 5-6 years no matter of the condition. Years ago I just changed tires when they were just about bald. Didn't worry much about age. Are the shops just trying to sell tires, or what? Stan

Anonymous-0 · Apr 23, 2012

You can have full tread, but if the tires are old (I believe 6 years), you won't pass the safety inspection to renew your plates and a shop won't mount or work on them.... Something about the rubber getting hard....

rustred · Apr 23, 2012

what? i have a 1938 mccormick deering with still 1 original back tire. that would put that tire at 74 yrs. old. the other rear one went on me a few yrs. ago.

4020deereboy · Apr 23, 2012

I know in Utah that in order for your vehicle to pass safety inspection tires have to have a date code no older than ten years and a certain amount of tread

Anonymous-0 · Apr 23, 2012

(quoted from post at 00:20:42 04/23/12) I know in Utah that in order for your vehicle to pass safety inspection tires have to have a date code no older than ten years and a certain amount of tread

skads of tires go to waste here because they are old before the tread wears out. Most folks have a winter set and a summer set. I don't have to go thru the real strict version of the inspection so get some real good deals on tires thru ebay.......

bill mart · Apr 23, 2012

I think someone said it has to do with changes in the manufacturing process. Bill

Tom-NorthCenTX · Apr 23, 2012

Talking about passqanger car tires, tire shop here says about 8 years is the safe life of a tire, regardless of milage or amount of tread left. They claim the tires are subject to failures after that age. Tom

ASEguy · Apr 23, 2012

Vehicle tires after six years should not be used because they dry out on the inside and can come apart at higher speed. To verify the age of the tire take the last four numbers of the DOT# on the tire. The last two are the year after 2000 model year and the two numbers before represents the week. 1311 would be the thirteenth week of 2011. Before 2000 model year they used three digits. So a tire DOT that ends in 139 would be the thirteenth week of 1999 or 1989 "etc".

Tom-NorthCenTX · Apr 23, 2012

I quickly went to some tire web sites and found this at Michelin:

"While most tires will need replacement before they achieve 10 years, it is recommended that any tires in service 10 years or more from the date of manufacture, including spare tires, be replaced with new tires as a simple precaution even if such tires appear serviceable and even if they have not reached the legal wear limit."

Tom

Ken Macfarlane · Apr 23, 2012

Its kind of a rule of thumb, somewhere between new and falling apart from dry rot a tire becomes unsafe. When it happens exactly depends on how much sun, ozone, road oil etc it gets exposed to.

LJD · Apr 23, 2012

Some car/truck tires are fine when 15-20 years old and some are bad when only five years old. It all depends on the rubber-compound used. As far as I can tell, there is NO way to know when buying. It's hard enough to find out who actually makes a tire and country of origin.

Our 95 Suburu has Douglas tires on it that are 18 years old and are fine. The rubber looks like new.

My daughter has a 2009 Ford Escape with 40K miles on it and all the tires are dry-rotted and cracked and need to be replaced. Has General tires on it.

My 1983 diesel plow truck got a used set of Goodrich tires on it in 1991. The tires are too old to have acurate DOT date codes. They still look perfect.

My bro-in-law called me recently (because I'm the mechanic in the family). He has a 2010 Honda Odyssey van. He failed inspection because his tires are rotted and though he was being ripped off. Date code shows they are 3 years old.

A few legistators in New York state are trying to pass a law so it will be illegal to have tires that are more then 10 years old. The way I see it - it should be illegal to make tires with rubber so bad it goes bad that fast.

From what I've seen - the tires go bad from the outside in. So, if they look good, they probably are good. I've had one blow apart from rot that looked OK. I've had several blow apart that WERE obvisously dry-rotted.

ericlb · Apr 23, 2012

like everything, the newer something is the cheaper its made, i have a 1949 farmall cub with 1 original tire on the rear, its weather checked but fully serviceable still, bought a 1980 chevy 1 ton 4x4 flatbed from the original owner, truck was in a barn since 1989, has bias ply mud snow tires on it that look and run like new, [ hard ride] when i buy new tires for my other trucks, most are some version of china junk, if i get 2 years out of them im lucky think i have one that is 3 years old but its badly checked now

agpilot · Apr 23, 2012

Rustred: Yea... I have an old wagon we used back in the early 1950s that still has one military WW-2 Jeep style tire on it. It is still way better then any of the 3 other newer tires.. only 60+ years old and still trust worthy with a big load on it..... ag

M-MAN · Apr 23, 2012

I don't think there's a safe time frame on tires but I would get nervous running the interstate if I knew the tires were over 7 years old. Woulden't worry about local driving though. I just had 2 Sumatinos pulled off my Taurus that were dry rotted and less than 1 year old. Probably a fluke that any tire would rot that fast but they did.

Red Mud · Apr 23, 2012

I had new steel belted firestones on the front of my 1 ton, they had only been on it about a month, running around 70 mph the left front peeled the cap off and it dang near took the fender with it. it slapped the cab floor right where my left foot was and raised the floor 3 or 4 inches, my foot was sore for several days. I had to pound the floor back down with a BFH.

Mike M · Apr 23, 2012

I have heard that 6 year is to be considered the "life" of a tire ?

This stuff made today is not very good at all ! Don't wear good and gets weather checked in a few years.

Have the same trouble with air hoses. Still have one that is older then me Dad bought and most bought latley don't last long at all.

Stephen Newell · Apr 23, 2012

That's true for stinking radial tires. I don't know how many steel belted tires I have had the tread come completely off and beat my truck and traier up. With running radial tires it's like using re-treads. If you would get bias tires they will last a lot longer. I have some on my jeep I bought in 1999 and are just now starting to look bad. Then if you are talking about tractor tires you can get about 25 to 30 years out of tires if you don't wear the rubber off.

mkirsch · Apr 23, 2012

This is for ROAD tires ONLY...

No need to get all uptight about your tractor tires.

Modern tires are garbage. Whether it's the EPA or just a grand conspiracy by the tire manufacturers to sell more tires, something has changed in the way the tires are made.

After about 5-6 years, you're on borrowed time with trailer tires in particular.

John B. · Apr 23, 2012

I use to sell tires. The delivery men use to tell me if you get a new fresh tire from the factory they will last a long time, 5-7 years. But many tires are kept in a warehouse for a year or maybe two years laying under other tires. So when you get those warehoused tires they can already be 1-2 years old. As we all know rubber breaks down over time along with the sun and heat.

John B. · Apr 23, 2012

Were you running recaps for your steers?

kyplowboy · Apr 23, 2012

Tires are like every thing else in life, the better they get the more they cost and the shorter they last.

While I am not say'n I would want to pull them very far at 70 mph I have some tobacco wagons with tires that I have never seen changed and they still hold air, have tread, and hold up a load of tobacco a few times a year. I am 34.

Dave

1936 · Apr 23, 2012

A tire Co. unnamed said my used tire were 9 years old and would not mount on my rimes in the back of truck - drove 2 miles down the same street and the business put them on and balanced and kept the old ones for 10 a tire cash no ticket. So it's in the eyes of the beholder. Lightly drove the blazer for 2 more years and sold with the same tires holding air.

ss55 · Apr 23, 2012

Older tires get harder as they age, check the pulling forum. Harder tires don't grip the road as well as softer tires.

Tire companies need rules that are easy to understand, so they have blanket policies that err on the side of caution.

Dieselbreath · Apr 23, 2012

A few years ago I bought an older (1985) motor home with low mileage. What made the deal was the tires looked like new.
After the third blowout (2 on one short trip) I broke down and bought new tires. The old ones were made in the '90s.
So I found out the hard way that yes, today's tires have a limited life. They dry out and go "BOOM".

Walt Davies · Apr 23, 2012

My Saab Sonett has two Michelin tires that I bought in 1971 still look good hold air an I last drove the car at over 80 MPH.
THey have over 250,000miles on the back of the front wheel drive car. Can't say enough about michelin tires.
Walt

paul · Apr 23, 2012

After the tire seperation deal that Ford/Bridgrestone (I think?) had a few years ago, the govt needed to 'do something' and the tire companies needed to 'do something' to make all us sheep feel better because we demanded something be done to make us safe from everything.

This is one of the results. The govt could look cool passing restrictions, and the tire companies could easily agree with the new rules, and...

The tire companies get to sell more tires, and we sheep get to buy new tires whether needed or not, and the whole world is so much better.

--->Paul

Red Mud · Apr 23, 2012

No, these were new firestone tires.And whats really strange they had a recall and I had 6 new firestone tires on my truck, I went to the dealer where I bought'em and ask them to check and see if any of them was in the recall. the guy remembered me and said the tires I had them put on wouldn't be in the recall. I ask him to check'em anyway, kid came back in and said the one on the left front was in the recall and they would put me on another new tire. That was the one that the cap came off. New tire and not a recap.

Red Mud · Apr 23, 2012

That was Ford and Firestone, Ford had been using their tires since back in the 50's that I know of, I don't believe you can buy a new Ford with Firestones on it now.

bill mart · Apr 23, 2012

LJD "The way I see it - it should be illegal to make tires with rubber so bad it goes bad that fast."
Living in western NY (the rust belt) I feel the same way about brake lines that rot out from the road salt and liquid chloride they use on the roads. Bill

Mark - IN. · Apr 23, 2012

The movie "Christmas Story"? Remember when Ralphie was helping his father change the tire on the car on the way home with the Christmas tree? Now, them were some bald tires. I have one of my scooters in getting new tires on it now. Not because are bald, but because look good and are old. I don't want one coming apart at highway speeds while on the highway.

A tire guy told me this past winter while having new snow tires put on my sister's car that if someone brought tires into him to mount that if I recall correctly were five years old, maybe six, that he could not and would not do it. Said can and would check the serial or whatever number on them, and if matched or exceeded, I thought he said five years, nope, would not touch them.

Mark

barnE · Apr 23, 2012

Send me all your old not BALD tires. Inspect them then run them. Dave

DeanOlson · Apr 23, 2012

Used to think that was BS. UNTIL Dad and I went to pick up his new to him motor home. Low mileage and all 8 tires replaced 7 years ago. Still looked new. Less that 5K miles per PO. No sign of weather rot. Blew 4 tires, all at different times, in the 1st 1000 miles of a 1400 mile trip. Slow learners that we are, after the 4th one blew, we broke down replaced all the rest.

I now pay attention to tire age.

fixerupper · Apr 23, 2012

I have an old wagon I use as my rock picking wagon, only it doesn't pick the rocks, I do. This wagon never gets a very heavy load so I run old radial car tires on it. A week ago one of the front tires started to show the tube so I replaced it and while I was at it I replaced the back two with almost new radials that came off the S-10 before it went to Grab-n-Go. The right front looked pretty darned good so I left it on. Today the right front blew while I was pulling the wagon down the road with my SC Case with almost no load on the wagon. My right ear was ringing and hurting for an hour or so afterward. I continued the half mile home with it flat so the sidewall is pretty well shredded up. Don't know if I will be able to find the date. Looks like I'm going to have to pay more attention to dates after this.Jim

O/T Tire age

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