Question about old tires??

[Sinister]

I had a '72 Caprice at one time, and bought some wide whites off a guy. The tires looked brand new, no cracks, had never been mounted. Tire blew out a week later. Just something to think about.

[WorkinLonghorn]

I got ya. I din't have time to google more.
The article did say"

Following NHTSA's decision to commence additional research in 2003, SRS president Sean Kane, (formerly with Strategic Safety, LLC) began documenting a trend of catastrophic tire failures in the U.S. in which the tires were six years old or older

Among other interesting stuff, like;[QUOTE][Attached is a spreadsheet containing a list of 108 incidents in which tires older than six years experienced tread / belt separations—most resulting in loss-of-control crashes. These incidents have caused 85 fatalities and 115 injuries. This list represents incidents that SRS has identified primarily through a survey of litigation, which is one of the only publicly available sources of these incidents./QUOTE]
I couldn't find any article that expained the exact chemical analysis or physical properties affected by age. There have been studies by Ford,Chrysler and safety organizations showing a problem,and my own experiences with two blowouts with old tires.
Personally,If I'm headed to Vegas in 125 degree heat at 85 MPH (with traffic in other words) I'll do so on fresh tires.I'm a gambler,to a point!

[special-K]

So,the belts can seperate.That`s what I was after.I had a brand new "Official Harley" Dunlop tire mounted on my bike and immediately saw checks in it when I walked into the shop.They told me that was acceptible.I asked if that was their bike.No answer,of course.So I said,"Exactly,now take that off and give me an acceptible tire."