Older Tires...Perfect Shape...What to do?

[AdmiralYoda]

I restored my 1987 Toyota 4Runner back in 2012. It has become a garage queen since for pleasure cruises with the kids. I drove it for about 5k miles in 2012-2014 and then it stayed off the road until this year. The Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires have a total of about 7k miles on them.

No flat spots and no cracks or dry-rot, they look like they are in perfect shape. The date code is from 2011 so they are now 13 years old. The 4Runner stays in a non-heated garage when not in use so it does see temperature and humidity swings.

What would you do? The tires look and perform perfect but are 13 years old. I have a hard time possibly spending $1k to replace tires that would seem to have plenty of life left. Thanks!

 

[racer12306]

Being garage kept, they at least didn't get the UV most tires get.

But those are some pretty old tires.

I'd probably lean towards replacing them.

 

[The Critic]

Replace them.

I just replaced a 9 yr old set of Michelins on my parents car. The tires had zero UV cracking or dry rot since it was stored in the garage for most of the time. However, during a recent rain storm, it was evident that the rubber had aged — there was a noticeable loss of wet traction where I least expected.

Even a fresh set of lower end Continental tires brought a significant upgrade in wet traction.

 

[eljefino]

What are your current and near future plans for the truck? Are you going to start driving more?

If you go to a tire shop with those tires, they'll resell the old ones, so they'd still be on the road, just not under your car.

I'd keep going, but cautiously. Watch for decreased rain/ snow performance.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If it's at all in the budget, replace them. The ride and safety difference will amaze you.
I am in the same bucket with my beloved Tundra... What's a poor boy to do?

 

[JimPghPA]

4 blowouts waiting to happen. Not worth the risk.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Thanks for the quick responses! The 4Runner is just a pleasure car for scenic drives and trips to for Ice Cream with the kids. It will NEVER see snow/ice again but I may be caught in some rain occasionally. Probably 2-3k miles per year, tops. Doesn't seem to have any degraded performance in the rain....though I generally try and avoid the it.

And funny side note. I was at a local Mom & Pop tire shop this summer getting the yearly vehicle inspection on the 4Runner. I talked to the owner about this and he looked at my tires and then looked at me like I had 10 heads haha. His response essentially was "these tires look brand new, are you nuts!"

 

[TheOilWizard]

Thanks for the quick responses! The 4Runner is just a pleasure car for scenic drives and trips to for Ice Cream with the kids. It will NEVER see snow/ice again but I may be caught in some rain every now and then. Probably 2-3k miles per year, tops. Doesn't seem to have any degraded performance in the rain....though I generally avoid the rain in general.

And funny side note. I was at a local Mom & Pop tire shop this summer getting the yearly vehicle inspection on the 4Runner. I talked to the owner about this and he looked at my tires and then looked at me like I had 10 heads haha. His response essentially was "these tires look brand new, are you nuts!"

They may look new, but they are not. Degradation of the rubber is not always obvious to the eye.

I'm with everyone else here, replace them.

 

[CapriRacer]

The problem here is belt-leaving-belt separation. If that happens at high speed, very bad things could result!

But if you don't go faster than 35 mph, then you'll get a warning.

 

[BHopkins]

Do any of the routes you drive for "pleasure cruises" include highway speeds? If yes, I would replace them. But if you are just taking leisure drives at 40-45 mph or less, then I would be willing to take the risk.

 

[tcp71]

Not suggesting one way or another, but Calgary is very easy on tires (low humidity, mostly temperate climate, etc) and I've had a lot of tires that were in winter or summer use over 10 years old. I just replaced a set of winters from 2005 that were driven daily (short distances except the occasional drive to the mountains on weekends). zero issues. My truck winters were made in 2012 and worked great through last weeks's snow storms.

 

[IndyIan]

If they've still got wet grip, then I'd run them, just have a look at them once in a while and pay attention to any little thumps that develop.

 

[RooflessVW]

I'd run them.

 

[JohnnyG]

As long as you are not going to take them above 60 - 100 kph, they should be fine. My MB will run above 200 kph when passing, so 7 year old tires that look new, were not staying on.

 

[BrendanC]

as someone who has experienced belt separation on older tires, it isn’t worth the risk. luckily i was able to pull over before it blew out (intense vibration trying to rip the wheel out of my hands). not everyone gets so lucky.

 

[ecotourist]

I just replaced the 9 1/2 year old Michelins on my Accord. They had a bit of tread left but 9 1/2 years is getting pretty old. Two valve stems had been replaced recently because of leaking which I took to be a hint of what was coming.

 

[Sumboodie]

Run them, though some of my stuff has tires from when Carter was in office

I gad a guy tail gating when I blew a drive tire. It flew into the under of the flatbed and busted off some pieces of somewhat rotting wood which flew into his windshield.

He had the gall to yell at me for having an unsecured load.

 

[ecotourist]

as someone who has experienced belt separation on older tires, it isn’t worth the risk.

Had that happen too. Lots of tread left.

 

[fdcg27]

I've had two problems with old tires and in both cases I had plenty of warning and a blowout in one case, but the old Mercedes I was driving handled this with aplomb.
Up to you, but in my older and more cautious years I'd lean toward replacing them. A 4Runner isn't exactly a Mercedes W123 if anything bad happens.
I have to ask, since you barely drive this thing and it isn't collectible or great to drive, why even hold on to it?

 

[carviewsonic]

I replaced the original tires on my 2004 Park Ave when they were 12 years old and had 24000 km’s (15k miles) on them. They drove fine but cracks started showing up between the treads, so the decision to replace was an easy one.