Replacing tires based on age

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Hi Folks:

Is there a consensus on when tires should be replaced based on age?

The vehicle isn't driven much, and the rubber looks ok. The date code is 7 years ago.

Replacement time?
 
I probably shouldn't but i'm driving on : 2 tyres made in 2000, one made in 2001, and the other in 2002, spare is uh.... from 1975.
Although i only put 1200 ish miles a year on it and they are not worn, just hard, and i will be replacing them.
They're Yokohama S306 185/70-R13 86H.
 
I had a set of Coopers that were old and hard as rocks. They did fine on dry roads, but would slide on a heavy dew. First set of tires I ever replaced while they still held air.
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I took the original tires off my 1999 in 2015.....16 yrs old. They only had 15K miles on them, had 40% tread, and not a sign of a crack or internal problem. They looked like 2-3 yr old tires. The car was always garaged and rarely ever sat out in the sun. Never driven in rain/snow. I just took them off for peace of mind and not having to worry about a "what if" when driving on the highway at 70 mph. Ironically, the new tires on put on felt no better.
 
I think officially the manufacturers all say five (5) years is the maximum, with a more aggressive inspection schedule after year 3. Recent Continental tire products have a six year warranty, so presumably formulations are getting better at resisting UV/Ozone/Heat/Road Salts.
 
I've run tires to 13, 14, up to 19 years. Some of them looked bad.

I think 10 years is okay for the Northern, cloudy climates. I've heard 6 years is default, and likely meant for the sunny climates. So for most people it is somewhere in-between, depending on where they live and how often the car is garaged.
 
Originally Posted By: Superflop
At work 10 years. Personal vehicles never make it that long on a set


Exactly the same here. Our shop recommends replacement at 10 years. I am lucky to get 2 years on my own.
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In Germany, the law states tires can not be more than 10 years, and can not be installed at 7 years.
 
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They say 6 years down in the heat, 10 years up North.

My Jeep tires will be 6 years old in March 2020, it'll get it's next set then.
 
I was told 7 by someone that has beem in the industry as long as Iv been alive. He said why risk it , its my family and yours driving beside it. As a truck driver I take your safety serious please consider mine😀
 
We put 60,000 miles on a set of Bridgestones on my wife's car, and the tread was still great! But, I changed them because the sidewalls looked HORRIBLE with cracks after 6 years.

Weird, the Michelins on my truck are over 7 years old and really don't have any sidewall cracking. Amazing.
 
I in no way claim any special expertise, but ten years might be reasonable.
We typically drive our cars enough that they rarely get beyond four or five years on a set of tires.
Would love to hear Capri's take on this.
 
Good timing! The tires on the Mustang in my signature are, I'm embarrassed to say, from 2002. They look new and they are not even that hard. I have to deal with replacing them. Glad this topic came up. No cracks anywhere, not even in the sipes, nothing. My advice to anyone else would be to replace them. Going to heed my own advice.
 
I have 3 year BF Goodrich Long Trails on my Tahoe that are cracking badly between the treads but 2 of the Firestones on my Honda are a year older and have 0 cracks and are wearing well. Depends a lot on the tire maker.
 
Originally Posted By: zeng
Continental says : 10 years after production.




Continental essentially say they have to say 10 years after production, because everyone else does, but they don't really know why.

As firm statements go, that's firmly lodged in a CYA location.

I've seen some fairly small sample-size on-road (as opposed to lab) German data on tyre failure correlated with age, but thats dodgy since tyres are widely abused in service by underinflation, even in Germany.

Tricky for tyre manufacturers since they don't want to get stuck with ageing inventory.

Car manufacturers handbooks tend to say 6 years, since they have nothing to lose, and they get sued a lot, so CYA is an imperative with no downside for them.

My handbook is in Chinese, so easy to ignore.
 
Storage, frequency of use, time spent before install all factor in. I got 3 sets of michelins this year that all came with 2015 dots. Sitting in an indoor tire warehouse is not so bad. Mounted, sitting in the sun and rain will weather them faster. Even faster if the tires dont get a good workout a few times a month. You cannot expect or rely on a tire older than 6 years to have the same performance it did new. I think they are blaming the Paul Walker accident on old tires...
 
Originally Posted By: 555
Good timing! The tires on the Mustang in my signature are, I'm embarrassed to say, from 2002. Glad this topic came up. No cracks anywhere, not even in the sipes, nothing. My advice to anyone else would be to replace them. Going to heed my own advice.


When I have "old" tires I want to change soon, I'll usually burn 'em off - like in a friend's driveway, or something
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The problem here is that heat plays a HUGE role in tire aging. Tires in Phoenix age out a lot faster than tires in Minneapolis.

My take on all the statements being made by tire companies and car manufacturers is this:

If you live in a hot state (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL), the age limit is 6 years, and if you live in a cold state (MN, ND, ID, MT, and WI) the age limit is 10 years - and states in between are ah .... Mmmmmm ..... in between.

PA sounds like 9 years or so.
 
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