These 10 year old tires look pretty good I think - Opinions?

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Nov 18, 2024
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Pics below. These are the rear tires are on my 2014 Accord. The fronts are 2020 year tires and these rear ones are the originals from the factory (dated 2014). The car has spent most of its life garaged in a tropical climate and has 22,000 miles on the odometer right now.

If you zoom in on the first pic you can make out some consistent hairline cracking on the outside (left side of the tire as pictured) edge of the tread blocks. If you zoom in on the 2nd pic the insides don't have any cracking. It's hard to see but there is some very light cracking in the gaps between the treads, but nothing major. I didn't take a picture of the sidewalls but they don't have any cracking. FWIW the front tires look more or less pristine.

To me these tires look good enough to run for another year or two which is about the likely tread life of the tires, especially considering these are the rear tires on a front wheel drive vehicle, but I am far from an expert. Also my traction on wet roads seems to be fine. Am I crazy?


tires1.webp
tires2.webp
 
They're fine. Go. Macro photography has gotten better with new cell phone tech and it makes all sorts of cracks and wrinkles look worse.
 
Cupping? When, mileage-wise, were they last rotated?
Not sure about tire rotation, but I don't plan on rotating them I figure it's safer to have the older tires on the back. Cupping wise I don't think so, the car tracks very straight and smooth at all speeds.
 
They look ok to drive on but I would test drive the car in the rain (in an empty or safe road) and see if they really are ok to drive on
 
Not sure about tire rotation, but I don't plan on rotating them I figure it's safer to have the older tires on the back. Cupping wise I don't think so, the car tracks very straight and smooth at all speeds.
Good tires go on the rear, regardless of drive type. By cupping I was referring to what looks like scalloping in the tread.
 
Why the rear ?

Ive head that suggested many times over the years.
because if you lose traction in the front you understeer, if you lose traction in the back you do a 180 360 or 720.
Esp on a fwd car in bad weather... Rear end hydroplanes since less tread depth.. boom.

I'd suggest 4 good tires.. but around my location we are lucky if the other drivers HAVE 4 tires.

That being said If the fronts are 8/32 and the rears are 6/32 because you just rotated .. they will never be exactly the same and I like to rotate
 
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I'm going to use the comment that always pops up by those on the "Chinese Tire Threads".

What is your life worth?
I'd rather run brand new Mile Star tires than one's ten years old.

 
Are you willing to risk your life on those tires to save a few bucs?
From the manufacturer...
"If the tires haven't been replaced 10 years after their date of manufacture, Michelin recommends replacing them with new tires, even if they appear to be in usable condition and have not worn down to the tread wear indicator. This applies to spare tires as well."
The old tires are beyond their expiration date and visibly dry rotted. Replace them.
 
Shoot I'd run those no problem. I just replaced my excellent looking goodyear tires that I installed on my 1998 Camaro back in 2000.
Granted they only had 30,000 miles on them but they looked and drove great. The only reason I changed was I thought of selling my vehicle.
I'm sure the manufacturer says they need to be replaced as well as many tire experts that are much smarter than me but every application is different and my occasionally driven car did just fine and I was very comfortable. You will have to decide your comfort level and make your OWN decision.
 
The claims made in this source are only partially correct. Their reason for putting new tires on the rear are all based on rainy conditions. Putting new tires on the rear in rainy conditions makes the vehicle less likely to spin out.

However, on dry surfaces an evenly worn tire at 3 or 4/32s will always have better traction and responsiveness than a full tread depth tire will. So on dry surfaces you'd want the worn tires on the rear. This would make the vehicle less likely to spin out.

The moral of the story: For most people understeer is typically safer and easier to control than oversteer (spinning out). So it's recommended that the best traction be put on the rear.

However, whether it's a new tire or worn tire that goes on the rear end depends on whether the road surface is wet or dry. Conventional wisdom where I live in California is very different than an area that gets frequent rain.

Scott
 
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You can't tell by looking. I am not going to tell you to run them or not run them. But rubber oxidizes and degrades. It could be fine, or it could separate at speed. 🤷‍♂️

Only you can decide - its a gamble. If your choice is new tires and don't eat that is a different gamble than just being a tight wad, so your situation comes into play also. I would not run them. When I gave my vehicle to my daughter I replaced all the tires including the 10 year old spare that had been used maybe twice.
 
You can't tell by looking. I am not going to tell you to run them or not run them. But rubber oxidizes and degrades. It could be fine, or it could separate at speed. 🤷‍♂️

Only you can decide - its a gamble. If your choice is new tires and don't eat that is a different gamble than just being a tight wad, so your situation comes into play also. I would not run them. When I gave my vehicle to my daughter I replaced all the tires including the 10 year old spare that had been used maybe twice.
Yup. The tightwad part hit home there. It's worth $1K for peace of mind and I'm not broke. The fact that I'm giving it a second thought means it makes more sense to switch them out. I'm gonna keep it below 65 and change them after Xmas. I think I'll get the All Season 4's looks like Costco will put them on for around $950.

Thanks to all for the responses. Love these forums
 
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