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How long does a tire last in years

C

colekicker

Member
Okay, this is a first for me. I have a set of tires, 245/75R16 load range E tires that still have good tread on them. Not trying to debate brands here. I put these tires on the truck in 2007, so they are 6 1/2 years old.
I don't want to get stranded far from home with a blowout or anything, especially if I am pulling a trailer. Should I have them replaced simply because of the age of the tires?
 
A 7 year old tire is tested and proven itself. You may well get a new one that is not as good. If a tire is going to blow it will mostly happen when near new. When the tread wears down they will sometimes start to pickup nails and such and go flat tho.
 
At 6 1/2 years old, it's time to replace them no matter how much tread is left on them.

At that age they are a blowout waiting to happen.

I own a motorhome and that's a real consideration as most folks with motorhomes don't put a lot of miles on them and old tires are dangerous.

Here's a couple of pics of a rear tire from the motorhome I bought recently that had old tires on it. I hadn't paid any attention to the date code, and this is what happened.

Note how much tread was on the tire. Fortunately this was a rear tire and not a steering tire.

3939.jpg
3940.jpg
 
You will have to do what you think is correct. I had a set on a pickup that were 12 years old when I replaced them with good tread on them. The reason I replaced them is because they were starting to show cracks all the way around the bead. They are still running today on another pickup that does not get too far from home and he has never had a problem with them and he loads the pickup heavy all the time.

Bob
 
My RV tires never wear out due to excess tread wear, however as a safety matter I replace them at 5 to 7 years absolute max due to UV exposure. Better safe then sorry is my view.

John T
 
That looks like from running low pressure and over
heating. I see that all the time, and it is the
most common reason for blowouts.
 
Nope, it was at the correct pressure, and not over heated. Blowing out the sidewall like that is pretty much a classic thing with old tires.

UV and Ozone does bad things to tires over time, the side walls get weak, and ....

That's something that wasn't all that much of a consideration years ago, as tread life wasn't what it is today, but with todays tires that have much higher tread life, age becomes a consideration.

Old tires are just flat out unsafe.
 
I was checking recommendation on line and found some companies won't even repair a tire more than six years old. Steel belted Car and LT tires I will not trust past 8 years old. Have had 3 car tires explode on the highway that turned out to be 8 years. The cracking in the sidewall lets in moisture that rusts the steel belting. Which can come apart at any time, depth of tread has nothing to do with it. Tire companies are trying to sell tires, but recommend replacement every six and half years. Sure you find some that will go past ten but how much do you like changing a tire at the side of the road?
 
With the junky rubber they use anymore the manufactures are saying to replace them every 6 years.
I see more and more laying along the roadways then even in the recap days.
If you go far from home you may want to get new ones and put those on something that stays close to home.
 
I bought an older RV a few years ago. I liked it because of the like new tires on it.
After a blow out every outing with it (first three) I replaced all the tires. Turned out they were 15 years old.
After some researching I found that tires age and recommend replacing them at least every 10 years.
Learn how to read the date codes and be careful buying new tires that may have been sitting on the shelf for 3 years or so.
 

This picture sure shows signs of being a Re-Cap.

More often called "Band-Aids"..and the casing looks to have been in very poor condition.

Ron.
 
Many believe there is a 6 year "rule" where RADIAL tires need/have to be replaced or they'll blow out.
There is no such rule. Heck, some people say tires should be replaced every three years!
It is prudent to inspect older tires often. Look at the sidewalls for checking, look for cracks in the tread, look for bulges, look for a change in the profile, check your air pressure regularly.
Is the truck stored in a garage, or shed, or are the tires exposed to sunlight?
If there are no outward signs of cracking, checking, bulges, and if the tires don't lose pressure, I'd be inclined to keep them in use a while longer, but I would look them over often and replace at the earliest sign they are deteriorating.

Bias ply tires are another story. It's not unusual for bias ply tires that don't see a lot of mileage to last 20 or 30 years....or more. There have been Bonneville speed racers that have run 200+MPH on 70 year old bias ply tires.

Let the condition of your tires dictate when you replace them, not the calender.
Chances are the tires you buy today won't last as long as the ones you replace them with.
 
Oh, you definitely need to replace them to be safe and don't forget to dispose of them properly. For those tires the only proper disposal is to ship them to me. Just email me for my address. :)
 
I got the same thing, only a size bigger that came on my 07 2500 HD. I wouldn't even think about replacing them yet. They have 42,000 on them. They have plenty of good tread and no cracks. I'm figuring at least 3 more years at 7,000 miles a year which I put on them. I wouldn't hesitate to leave out on a trip with it.
 
I generally just watch the side walls for cracking and such. When I change them is determined by the use of the tire. I also make sure I maintain the tires by changing the air every 3,000 miles or every 6 months, whichever comes first.
 
If the side walls and down in the tread are not weather checking I would think they would still be all right( but thats why you should carry a spare}. I have seen brand new tires blow out.
 
Bob I have never changed the air in my tires but only if replacing or repairing tire . How many more miles do you get out of you tires by changing air every 3,000?
 
I'm still confused about this changing the air from summer to winter air. I guess the colder air will last longer. Funny the air around me is billions of years old I tried to update it once but failed. I guess there are something's you just can't do.
It's like changing oil because it's old, you don't change oil because it's old you change it because it's dirty and the additives have broken down and are not doing their job. The old oil goes to a recycle plant where they clean and remove old additives then rebuild it back to where it was and resell it back to you as new oil.
Walt

<a href="http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/WaltDavies/?action=view&current=0CCF3734-FE29-45A0-8ACA-2FA486B1E16F-1615-00000209DCB81DC9.jpg" target="_blank">
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</a>
This tire was about 4 years old it had very few miles on it but had picked up a slow leak which I didn't keep up. One day it just went bad. I heard that Michelin was having trouble with this perticular tires.
Walt
 
How many miles are on them?
No you do not have to replace them, cause they are old.
Do they hold air? Is the tread good? Yes....? Then use em.
 
For me the question is who is driving it. If anyone else is behind the wheel it gets replaced. If I am towing a good deal it gets replaced. I'm not afraid to run a tire until its last mile but I don't want anyone else doing that. I know the condition of every tire on my vehicles so the surprises are a little less. If I lose a rear tire I'm not surprised if I saw it was weathered.

Vehicles that are needed without fail have really good tires. I've put really nice tires on old grain trucks because I do not want a flat when my time is worth the most to me.
 
(quoted from post at 10:22:32 02/24/14) Nope, it was at the correct pressure, and not over heated.
Click to expand...

How do you know it wasnt ran low on air? You said you just bought the motorhome....

(quoted from post at 09:45:48 02/24/14)
Here's a couple of pics of a rear tire from the motorhome I bought [size=24:a03630938b]recently[/size:a03630938b] that had old tires on it. I hadn't paid any attention to the date code, and this is what happened.
Click to expand...

I agree with Jon, that looks like it was ran low. Very common on campers, trailers, cars that dont get driven much. Once the damage is done, there is nothing you can do to bring the life back in it.

Maybe I have just been lucky but tires dont just go boom on me. I have had quite a few that I have taken well over a decade, and I usually run them to the wear bars and even farther. To me, replacing 6 year old tires just because of the age is a waste of money. I would need much stronger evidence to indicate replacment is needed.
 
I bought my sister some new tires a year ago. At that time, the tire dealer told me that they would remove but not remount tires that were older than 5 years. As I recall, the guy said that it was based on some regulation, and to do so with a regulation in place, would leave him behind the 8 ball if he did and something happened. He would not mount a tire older than 5 years. So to your answer, I guess that yours are either scrap or swing material hanging from a tree limb.

Mark
 
I had a good high dollar set of tires on spare wheels sitting in my shop out of the sun and weather. Probably were 15 years old. Loaned them to a buddy to put on a boat trailer he needed to move 40 miles. Neither tire made it. They came completely apart. It is my understanding a tire has to be used to keep it plyable. My 2 cents.
 
(quoted from post at 20:38:32 02/24/14)
(quoted from post at 10:22:32 02/24/14) Nope, it was at the correct pressure, and not over heated.
Click to expand...

How do you know it wasnt ran low on air? You said you just bought the motorhome....

(quoted from post at 09:45:48 02/24/14)
Here's a couple of pics of a rear tire from the motorhome I bought [size=24:48a3c0de9d]recently[/size:48a3c0de9d] that had old tires on it. I hadn't paid any attention to the date code, and this is what happened.
Click to expand...

I agree with Jon, that looks like it was ran low. Very common on campers, trailers, cars that dont get driven much. Once the damage is done, there is nothing you can do to bring the life back in it.

Maybe I have just been lucky but tires dont just go boom on me. I have had quite a few that I have taken well over a decade, and I usually run them to the wear bars and even farther. To me, replacing 6 year old tires just because of the age is a waste of money. I would need much stronger evidence to indicate replacment is needed.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess maybe I'm just not as smart as all you "Experts".

All I know is the they were old. I had it roughly a month when that tire blew.

I checked the air pressure every time I used it so I know that was right. Tread wear was even across all tires.

I replaced all 6 tires at the time, and none of the other 5 were recaps, and actually looking at the tire and not a PICTURE of same, it didn't look like a recap.

But, I guess I'll take your 'superior knowledge' and not my personal observations and agree, it blew because it was a recap run in hot weather, overloaded, and under pressured. Not because it was it was the original tire that along with the other 5 tires, were on the motorhome when it was sold in 1999.
 
I pealed a ten year old 10ply on the front of my pu last summer. I knew the fronts were old with 3/4 tread. I had been camping at a state park 15 miles from home. We left the park and pealed the tread two miles from the camp ground, and the PSI was fine. Old tires are a problem just waiting to happen. The sad part is, I was a service manager in a tire store for 13yr, I just didn t want to spend the money for two new tires, but I did.
 
70K tires with 60K on them. They could probably go another 25K based on the amount of tread on them. They have worn really really well.
They hold air and always have. I was just thinking about the age of the tires.

Based on the comments, I am going to go with what I was thinking. Just going to replace the tires next week and then I'll be on the safe side. I'll hold the old tires back to use on a tractor for use in the brush.
 
I know people are going to chastise me but, I am running the new spare that came with my 98 F150 along with three matching new tires on my 08 Silverado. Been doing this for 6 years. My 91 Dutchman travel trailer still has the original tires on it with about 50% tread left. Both vehicles are stored indoors.
 
(quoted from post at 20:42:56 02/24/14)
(quoted from post at 20:38:32 02/24/14)
(quoted from post at 10:22:32 02/24/14) Nope, it was at the correct pressure, and not over heated.
Click to expand...

How do you know it wasnt ran low on air? You said you just bought the motorhome....

(quoted from post at 09:45:48 02/24/14)
Here's a couple of pics of a rear tire from the motorhome I bought [size=24:664ef683d1]recently[/size:664ef683d1] that had old tires on it. I hadn't paid any attention to the date code, and this is what happened.
Click to expand...

I agree with Jon, that looks like it was ran low. Very common on campers, trailers, cars that dont get driven much. Once the damage is done, there is nothing you can do to bring the life back in it.

Maybe I have just been lucky but tires dont just go boom on me. I have had quite a few that I have taken well over a decade, and I usually run them to the wear bars and even farther. To me, replacing 6 year old tires just because of the age is a waste of money. I would need much stronger evidence to indicate replacment is needed.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess maybe I'm just not as smart as all you "Experts".

All I know is the they were old. I had it roughly a month when that tire blew.

I checked the air pressure every time I used it so I know that was right. Tread wear was even across all tires.

I replaced all 6 tires at the time, and none of the other 5 were recaps, and actually looking at the tire and not a PICTURE of same, it didn't look like a recap.

But, I guess I'll take your 'superior knowledge' and not my personal observations and agree, it blew because it was a recap run in hot weather, overloaded, and under pressured. Not because it was it was the original tire that along with the other 5 tires, were on the motorhome when it was sold in 1999.
Click to expand...

First off putz, you are going to have to re-read my post, I never said your tires were recaps. I never said they were ran in hot weather. I never said they were overloaded. Words, they have meaning...

I want to thank you for clearifying the facts and agreeing with me, you only had the tires for a month and have no idea how they were taken care of before you bought it or what happened to them in the 6 years and 5 months before you got the tires. Thanks for agreeing with me, once damage is done to a tire, it cant ever be "repaired" by just keeping them at the proper pressure. Thanks for agreeing with me that the failure you showed is a classic low use, high storage tire that tends to get neglicted and ran underinflated, which causes failures. And thanks for telling us the full story as you know it. You had a set of tires for one month and know nothing of the prior 6 years and 5 months of their life, thats a huge learning point for an uneducated person like yourself to remember. The real question is, will you? Will you learn anything from this?
 
(quoted from post at 18:42:56 02/24/14)
(quoted from post at 20:38:32 02/24/14)
(quoted from post at 10:22:32 02/24/14) Nope, it was at the correct pressure, and not over heated.
Click to expand...

How do you know it wasnt ran low on air? You said you just bought the motorhome....

(quoted from post at 09:45:48 02/24/14)
Here's a couple of pics of a rear tire from the motorhome I bought [size=24:bd3a54a008]recently[/size:bd3a54a008] that had old tires on it. I hadn't paid any attention to the date code, and this is what happened.
Click to expand...

I agree with Jon, that looks like it was ran low. Very common on campers, trailers, cars that dont get driven much. Once the damage is done, there is nothing you can do to bring the life back in it.

Maybe I have just been lucky but tires dont just go boom on me. I have had quite a few that I have taken well over a decade, and I usually run them to the wear bars and even farther. To me, replacing 6 year old tires just because of the age is a waste of money. I would need much stronger evidence to indicate replacment is needed.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess maybe I'm just not as smart as all you "Experts".

All I know is the they were old. I had it roughly a month when that tire blew.

I checked the air pressure every time I used it so I know that was right. Tread wear was even across all tires.

I replaced all 6 tires at the time, and none of the other 5 were recaps, and actually looking at the tire and not a PICTURE of same, it didn't look like a recap.

But, I guess I'll take your 'superior knowledge' and not my personal observations and agree, it blew because it was a recap run in hot weather, overloaded, and under pressured. Not because it was it was the original tire that along with the other 5 tires, were on the motorhome when it was sold in 1999.
Click to expand...

Buzzard, Don't worry that others' opinions differ from yours. They are opinions only.
 
(quoted from post at 09:07:20 02/26/14) Buzzard, Don't worry that others' opinions differ from yours. They are opinions only.
Click to expand...

Shucks, I've been around long enough to ignore opinions that are based on SPECULATION rather than observational facts.

I'm just glad to see that there folks here that know so much more than the NHTSA, plus every major tire manufacturer and every major automobile manufacturer in the world.

It sure must be nice to be blessed with such superior intelligence
 
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