Tire age - when to replace

[johnmyster]

In 2023 I installed whole house smoke alarms and discovered one of the four stand-alone units in the house was from 1984.

My 2020 camper has the original tires on it (dated 2017.) Ideally they get replaced this year.

 

[z71bill]

Besides trying to find a reason not to replace tire, at 35mph, blown tire can easily make you change direction, end up in lane with opposing traffic or lane with cars going your direction etc, etc. When tires fail there no just two scenarios, rolling over and flames.
But hey, not everyone thinks $200 is worth someone’s life.

I would agree if you have a random unexpected blowout it could be a problem.

But put yourself behind the wheel knowing you are driving a vehicle with an 18 year old spare!

You would be hyper alert and vigilant-

I will replace it next year when I get new tires.

Until then - riding under my truck it doesn’t matter.

 

[Hohn]

The MG and Lincoln both have old, low mileage tires. I've never given much thought to tire age, except on my travel trailer. Those I usually replace around 7 years, because trailer tires typically have a hard working life and aren't known for aging well. I had to think back, and the MG got 5 new tires - when I first got it back on the road in 2003! The Lincoln got 4 new tires when dad flat-towed it out to Arizona in 2011, but it never got driven, so they only have about 2000 miles on them. None of the tires on either car are showing signs of cracking or dry rotting thanks to seeing little road or sun, except for the spare in the Lincoln's trunk. I'm pretty sure that hasn't been replaced the last few times it got tires, so it's got to be pushing 40 years or more. The MG has only rolled about 11,000 miles in 22 years, and the tires look barely used, probably because it's such a tiny, lightweight car to begin with.

What say you? The date codes put them at 23 and 15 years. Replace them ASAP even though they are barely used, look good visually and spent most of their time in a garage?

Personally I think a tire more than five years old is starting to be questionable.

 

[edyvw]

I would agree if you have a random unexpected blowout it could be a problem.

But put yourself behind the wheel knowing you are driving a vehicle with an 18 year old spare!

You would be hyper alert and vigilant-

I will replace it next year when I get new tires.

Until then - riding under my truck it doesn’t matter.

Said every driver that exists.

 

[z71bill]

In 1995 or 96 I bought new tires for my pickup- OEM size was 31 10.5 15.

I bought them from NTW which later became NTB.

After a while I noticed one tire was looking ruff. It was a slightly different color and had a few small cracks in the sidewall.

I then learned how to read a tire age code and discovered 3 of my tires were about a year and a half old - which meant they were 4-5 months old when they were installed. But the other tire was almost 8 years old so it was over 6 years old when installed.

I drove to the store and they refused to do anything- claiming they were no longer even NTW - they were a different company.

I drove over to Discount tire and even though they did not sell that brand they special ordered one for me and didn’t even charge me to install it. Just had to buy the tire.

I can hardly guess how many sets of tires I have purchased since 1997. But more than a dozen between me my wife and daughter.

I have even purchased a couple for my son in law. Once when he was just dating my daughter. Bad enough seeing your daughter drive away on a date - but worse if the vehicle she is in has bald tires.

The thing is NTB - if they would have stepped up would have gotten the business but I will never buy anything from them again.

Discount Tire customer service was great and it wasn’t even their problem. Been a customer ever since.

I also now check the date code on the sidewall before the tires are installed.

 

[Sumboodie]

When they are looking like they'll blow your face off if you put wind in them, that's a good time.

Some tires that might only be 6 months, others 60 years.

Friggin Carlile tires on my forklift aren't even 3 years old and all full of dry rotting cracks. "It's a great brand" people told me.

Skid steer doing the same. The pair are cracking worse at ~5 years than the 15 year old Bobcat tires on the ither axle.

Also factor in load and speed... and cost.

A skid steer tire blows... might get the dog running.

Steer on a 25 ton dump truck... at best that might suck. Worst, could kill people.

Your rusty 1982 305 4 speed c10 that runs 6 miles to the dump on 25mph roads once a month, they still roundish and mostly hold air. Good enough.

 

[sfbmw]

Ideally, tires should be replaced every six years, with an absolute maximum lifespan of ten years. As they age, the rubber dries out, causing the compound to harden and lose grip. This results in reduced acceleration, steering, and braking performance. Severely aged tires may show signs of dry rot, but even if a tire has been stored indoors and rarely used (such as on a collectible car), it will still degrade over time. This is a serious safety concern—replacing tires is always cheaper than hospital bills, lawsuits, or worse.

 

[barkingspider]

My cut off is 7 years. There’s always deals on tires that it’s not too expensive to replace. You can even get cheap budget tires if you’re on a budget. I’d rather have new cheap no name brand tires then 7 year old used continental or Michelins.

 

[zzyzzx]

When I worked in insurance I saw far too many accidents (including rollovers and fatalities) caused by tire blow outs. I replace mine at 6 years old including on my trailers or at the minimum tread depth, whichever comes first.

I'm guessing that a lot of those blowout where on cheap Chinese tires.

 

[rijndael]

I'm guessing that a lot of those blowout where on cheap Chinese tores.

I found the performance charts here, very insightful:

https://tirecrunch.com/are-chinese-tires-any-good/

and:
https://www.tirereview.com/buyer-beware-chinese-tires-mean-different-quality-levels/

But that was seemingly not the case for the Chinese-branded Ling Long tires tested by Car and Driver magazine. The Ling Longs wore a tread pattern identical to that of a popular Yokohama tire, a visible semblance that could cause consumers to assume similarity of performance.

That assumption would be wrong. The magazine found the braking distances and cornering grip were much worse for the Ling Long tires than for any others in the test, requiring an extra 22 feet – one and a half car lengths – to stop from 50 mph than the best tires.

“Chinese-branded tires are a whole different world,” reported Car and Driver technical director Dave VanderWerp. “You absolutely get what you pay for, which, as we found in our test, is capability that is nothing short of scary. The Ling Longs in our test scored less than half the performance-based points than even the next-best, eighth-place tire. That’s how far they are off the pace.”

 

[PandaBear]

Depends if it is parked indoor, driven daily, and the sunlight of your area.

In a almost sun burnt location where I park daily outdoor, most tires I had lasted about 7 years before they got sun damaged. In places where I always park indoor at work and at home, they lasted me about 15 years no problem.

 

[Lubener]

At that age, it's time for new tires. They may work fine if you never drive in the rain.