Question about old tires??

[Joesjunk]

I have a set of 9.50 16.5 Michelin tires that have 14k miles on them. They were on a truck I drove from Florida to Kansas City (1200 miles). It was 100 degrees out when we drove home. The tires rode perfect and drove very nice. Now heres my worry, I found out they are 24 years old!! They look perfect, no dry rot or anything. Would you guys trust them to put on a nice polished set of slot mags, or worry about them because of there age?? I want to put them on nice 72 I have. All the people I have talked to say the should be thrown away because there too old and could come apart. What's you input????

Thanks!!

[Longhorn Man]

I've had a lot of old tires blow out when theylook fine, and they all looked great. No damage, no dry rot, nothing. The 3/4 ton and one ton tires are worse becouse they take a much higher PSI than P rated tires.
If it is a nice truck, I'd pass.

[nightmare]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I've had a lot of old tires blow out when theylook fine, and they all looked great. No damage, no dry rot, nothing. The 3/4 ton and one ton tires are worse becouse they take a much higher PSI than P rated tires.
If it is a nice truck, I'd pass.

[chevguy7]

don't do it

[s95930]

I would get new ones.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm

[jeffspower]

I wouldn't trust them either. The '68 sits most of the time, and about 10 years ago, an 8 year old tire with maybe 5,000 miles on it blew up UGLY. No rot, wear and rarely seen the sun. Luckily, the out of style running board took the beating instead of the fender.

A friend has an '88 Formula he bought new. About 35K on the clock I think. Still on the original rubber. He wanted to take it on a trip a few years back, I told him he was crazy. So rather than buy tires, he parked it

[El Jay]

I'd toss them.
Tires are "cheap", trucks cost money.

[Sammy]

I have the worst luck with valve stems too that are too old. I'd toss them. I just did that with a set Monday but they showed some cracking. One valve stem was rotted real good & it was on the front. Good thing I did anyway.

[uncle]

Been there,CHUNK EM!

[WorkinLonghorn]

I had a set of Michelins that were 8 years old on an old Cougar and as I was backing out of a parking space one just up and blew really loud. Scared the crap out of this jogger girl who had just passed.
If that would have happened on the Hollywood autobahn ....
Just ditch those things,and don't sell them to some poor guy either! Slash 'em and Trash 'em.

[DANTIP]

Joe,

My SWB 4x4 had 34 yr old fiberglass belt (original) tires when the truck was driven from Anaconda, Montana to Kansas City. I contacted Uniroyal to have thm verify their originality (DOT code on inside of tire). They verified the tires were from mid 72. The first line of their e-mail said to never drive on extremely old tires. Maybe they know what they are talking about.

Dan

[Joesjunk]

Ok, Well Looks like I should get new ones. I have been looking at new ones , but cant really find any I like. I am kinda picky on what tires look like. Any suggestions on a good tire? The only ones I can really find are Firestone and Cooper.

[sleric77]

it's better to be safe than sorry .

[72gmcworker]

they just did a news story not to long ago in Toronto about tires and age and was quoted that after 6 years (from the date code stamped onto tire) you chuck them period.

Works for me...never any tire issues yet.

right now I'm using Uniroyal Cross Country's on 2 of my trucks....they ride and work well even in the wet.

Get some 16" rims for better tire choice.

[tcb-1]

I read a report put out by the NTSB several years ago on the "church bus" phenomenon.

In essence, it described the high risk of blowouts of tires that see little service, but look fine. I forgot the shelf life they finally came up with, but it is a major safety hazards.

[67_C-30]

Hey Joe, try these guys if you an old looking tire.




http://www.hotrodhanks.com/products/...Short/875X16.5


These look good too.



http://content.sears.com/shc/s/p_101...0P?keyword=rib




I've got 9.50-16.5 Mastercraft COUSER's on oine of my trucks, and they do pretty goo.

[dan42]

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

I had a set of Michelins that were 8 years old on an old Cougar and as I was backing out of a parking space one just up and blew really loud. Scared the crap out of this jogger girl who had just passed.
If that would have happened on the Hollywood autobahn ....
Just ditch those things,and don't sell them to some poor guy either! Slash 'em and Trash 'em.

That's funny as heck, right there. We used to make an old '69 chevy stepper 4WD backfire when we'd go by construction crews when I worked on a ranch in San Luis Obispo - turn the key off and back on real fast - really made some guys mad. Should'nt have ever have done it, but it was funny when I was 22.

[Eddie H.]

I had 15 year old tires on my 69 GMC. (BFG TA's) . They still looked good, lots of tread, but one of them just blew apart while it was just setting in the garage. It hadn't even been driven for a couple of weeks.
I DON"T TRUST OLD TIRES after seeing that.

[sameyrasmea72]

Toss them!! I love Michelins and would not buy anything else. My dad had a set there were nice LOOKING but were over 10 years old and two seperate times the thread just pealed right off one of them at high speeds.

It is just not worth using them if they are that old.

[special-K]

I`ve run lots of old tires and never had a single problem.Not saying it doesn`t make sense to toss them,but I`ve never had a problem.I`ve had nearly new BFG A/Ts come apart in a few different ways.
What exactly is the problem with old tires?

Joe,does general tire still make 9.50 x 16.5s?Ameri...somethings.

[Joesjunk]

The funny thing with these old tires is we drove them 1200 miles in 100 degree plus weather last August strait from Florida to Kansas city. If I didnt know how old they were I wouldnt have thought anything about them. The truck they were on had the recepit in the glove box. I guess ill keep looking, I am not in a big hurry.
Thanks!!!

[WorkinLonghorn]

"What exactly is the problem with old tires?"

This doesn't address the exact causes,but is still enlightening;




Tires: Aging Dangerously

Copyright Ó Safety Research & Strategies, 2006


Tires, like any other rubber product, have a limited service life regardless of tread depth and use. The dangers of "aged" tires is a little known problem outside of the industry and one that is likely the cause of a significant number of tread separation problems. "Aged" tires are often unsuspectingly put into service after having served as a spare, stored in garages or warehouses, or simply used on a vehicle that is infrequently driven. In many instances these tires show no visible sign of deterioration, and absent any visible indicators, tires with adequate tread depth are likely to be put into service regardless of age.



Tire age can be determined through decoding of the required DOT number molded into the side of a tire; however, the DOT date coding is consumer unfriendly and confusing. [Decoding the DOT Number]



Following the Ford/Firestone tire investigations in 2000 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began examining tire aging as a factor in tread belt separations and proposed a tire aging test in 2002 [Docket 2000-8011-19]. However, overwhelming industry opposition and the lack of an agreed upon aging standard led NHTSA hold further rulemaking and to begin additional research [June 26, 2003 Final Rule, Docket 03-15400-1]. As a result the agency is currently testing tires to discern possible test protocols that would ensure tires do not fail catastrophically before they wear out. This process is still several years from fruition. 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. Kane also found important evidence that tire manufacturers have internal recommendations related to tire aging that were either never disclosed publicly. A summary of these findings along with a recommendation that NHTSA consider a tire expiration date requirement was submitted to the agency on September 17, 2003 [Docket 15400-12].



One of the most important documents disclosed to NHTSA regarding the industry knowledge of tire aging is the British Rubber Manufacturers Association (BRMA), which consists of the same tire manufacturers who are present in the U.S. market, recommended practice dated June 5, 2001. The BRMA's recommended practice on tire aging states



"BRMA members strongly recommend that unused tyres should not be put into service if they are over 6 years old and that all tyres should be replaced 10 years from the date of their manufacture."



It also notes that environmental conditions like exposure to sunlight and coastal climates, as well as poor storage and infrequent use accelerate the aging process.



"In ideal conditions, a tyre may have a life expectancy that exceeds 10 years from its date of manufacture. However such conditions are rare."



The BRMA document goes on to say that aging may be identified by small cracks in the tire sidewall, however,



"'[a]geing' may not exhibit any external indications and, since there is no non destructive test to assess the serviceability of a tyre, even an inspection carried out by a tyre expert may not reveal the extent of any deterioration."



Further, Kane's comments to NHTSA disclosed little-known warnings in the owner's manuals of German vehicles (i.e., Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW) and Toyota that tires older than six years posed dangers. This information, combined with a number of other technical documents provide clear evidence that the tire and vehicle manufacturers are aware of, and likely in the possession of important data and testing upon which these obscure findings were based. However, none of this information was disclosed to NHTSA in response to its request for comments about tire aging.



As a result of our continued research into tire aging, SRS petitioned NHTSA on November 5, 2004 requesting the agency take three important interim steps to address the tire age problem. We requested (1) a Consumer Advisory alerting the public to the hazards, (2) NHTSA request specific information from the tire and vehicle manufacturers that will help with further evaluation of the problem, and (3) petitioned to require a date of manufacture molded in both sides of the tire in a non-coded fashion.



SRS is continuing to document the scope and magnitude of the tire aging problem as well as its investigation into what is known and when it was known about this danger.





Other Tire Aging Developments:



Ford Motor Company added a 6-year tire replacement recommendation, regardless of tread wear, to its website and all 2006 owner’s manuals. DaimlerChrysler acknowledged it too will add a 6-year replacement recommendation.



In response SRS has requested Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers support a NHTSA-issued Consumer Advisory in order to reach a wider audience.



SRS Letter to Ford

SRS Letter to DaimlerChrysler

SRS Letter to the Alliance

[passthebuck]

Looks like you now have plenty of burnout-tires to get started on!

[PanelDeland]

I have a set of tires that came on my truck.They are 12 years + old.I am looking to replace before driving much.I do run down to the store and around my local area but no road trips.

[special-K]

Workinglonghorn,about all I got out of all that is a bunch of fear in liability mumbo.I didn`t see any explaination for what the actual problems could be.The only thing I saw was a reference to sunlight and about rubber (so-called) cracking,etc.When the rubber is deteriorated on the outside it`s obvious the tire is no good.I`m talking about what goes bad inside a tire casing to support this "buy new tires every six years whether they`re good or not" recommendation.I`ve never given age a thought and have run 20 year old tires with no problems.Those Firestones Wilderness` were new tires,not even 6 years old.No relation there.Back when tires were made of rubber,as in gum,they never checked.It`s all the additives that make them deteriorate.Rubber doesn`t go bad.Not in our lifetime.There are Firestone "Gum-Dippeds" on my friend`s `40 Harley.They are the original tires and are safe to ride.he rarely takes it out.But,guys have offered all kinds of money for those tires.
I just want to hear an actual explaination of what goes bad in a tire that can`t also go bad when they`re not so old.There are always flaws,but what does age cause that you can`t see?