How old is too old if you're a tire?

[sheepfarmer]

Well to continue the saga after going off roading unintentionally in my truck, and having the local Chev dealership tell me I needed all kinds of expensive steering components (pitman, idler arms, tie rods, lower ball joints) not due to the slide off, but general wear and tear, I went to the discount tire store to get them rotated and to see if they saw any evidence on the tires that the truck was out of alignment, and any other problems due to the fact that I have had problems with slow leaks. The Chev guys had already said I had plenty of tread and the tires were fine.

Well the tire guys said they didn't see anything wrong with steering, but OMG your tires are past the expiration date, they were made in 2008, and one in 2007. We hate to see you drive down the road on these old things, anything we can do to get you in new tires? I was seeing a pattern here, and said I'd have to think about it.

After googling extensively I did find support for the idea that tires lose their grip and flexibility with time, and some people, mostly tire dealers advocated for replacement at 5 or 6 years. The tire makers were saying a tire should be replaced at 10. These are Michelin tires, and their website said 10 years, but check them annually after 5 years.

Check for what? This truck 2003 silverado, duramax diesel, is garaged when not in use so not out in the sun a lot. You can see next to the edges of the outer tread bars some very fine cracks, but nothing like what you see on an old tractor.
Tread was 9/32 front and 7/32 rear before rotation.

Obviously if money grew on trees I'd get new tires, but it doesn't and these are/were top of the line Michelins. Any thoughts? I know several of you have experience in tires. Thanks!

 

[85Hokie]

Well, I am glad that you are smarter than the average bear!
I just dont get the "rip off" approach in business. If your tires were bad, ok fine. If they had cracks and you could hide dimes in the sidewalls, that guy would be saving your life. But....

Those Michelin's are some very expensive tires, and well worth it. On the subject of buying cars for youngsters, I bought my youngest son a 2001 Rodeo, IT HAD brand new Michelins all the way around, shoot - that told me that the guy who sold it - cared about his car!

But getting back to the business end - I dont get the first guy saying you needed the whole undercarriage replaced, nor the AH that wanted to sell you $900 in new tires, and bet that HE WOULD turn around and sell your used ones too!

I would agree that over time, the tires do lose their grip a bit, the depth of tread and the cornering ability both start to go south when the depth of tire decreases. And in a downpour - deeper tread is better than no tread, I think most if not all of us have hydroplaned at one time or another. But as we get older, we the old brain people seem to think differently when driving than someone under 30! We drive according to what conditions that are present.

IF you are going to drive on packed snow a lot, maybeeee you should get new tires, but as for buying new ones cause the old ones are past the point of usefulness is .....Horse stuff....

When I buy tires for my wife's car, I always ask the guy ( been doing it 40 years - local little shop) "what would you put on your wife's car and be safe without breaking the bank?" And when I buy tires for my POS - I ask the guy, whats the cheapest tire you got!

Glad you didnt get taken on either side and hope that your lessons will help others not to get burned by simply doing their homework as you have!

 

[Daren Todd]

We've had vehicles still going great down the road on the farm in vermont with 20 year old tires (old plow truck) My first car (65 belair) was on its second set of tires at 70,000 miles and were still biased ply tires Found the reciept for the tires in the glove box, and they were purchased in 1978. I got the car in 1992

Personally, I don't trust tire shops all that much. I had a tire store sell me "Brand New Tires" for a service truck down in florida. After a month the tread started seperating. I googled how to check the date of manufacture, and found out my brand new tires were 9 years old

Unless you know how to read the manufacture date on the tire, your at the mercy of the tire shop.

I usually check for signs of dry rot ( hairline cracks in the side wall), and tire wear. Look along the edges where the tread starts, and look for seperation.

Personally the amount I drive though, I usually wear out a set of tires in four to five years on a vehicle. Now on my trailers, I replace them every seven to eight years just for piece of mind.

 

[Lil Foot]

Back east, I couldn't say what the limit should be. But out here, the experts say 7 years, I use 6 years as a limit. With our heat, UV, long distances, & high speeds, tires do not last as long as other places. Now, on something like a trailer that I pull with the tractor on my property in the mountains, anything will do. On the highway, 6 years max.
Side note: I think Michelin makes some of the best car tires on the planet, I have had great service from them. On heavy trucks or trailers, different story- 4 different sets, 2 on the truck, 2 on the 5th wheel, catastrophic blowout in each set. And I am fanatic about tire pressures & tire loading.

 

[D2Cat]

Wouldn't be interesting if you could go out to the vehicle they (the sales person) drove in to work that day and have them inspect their tires.

My guess is they have similar tires (or worse) on their personal vehicle. And they sell tires, and probably get them at a discount!

Point is, they sell tires. They use every thing they can think of to get you to part with your money.....for their own job security!

I personally buy tires when I determine the tread is too thin to provide traction for my use. Every truck I have has 16" tires and when I get then replaced they are use for a trailer if they are 10ply.

I pay no attention to the government telling me it's time to replace tires.

If all this crap about tire life was valid, it would be mandatory to have all removed tires destroyed when removed and no option of you taking them with you. Price of destruction would be built in to price of new tires to you. Tire shops would have very, very few used tires for sale.

 

[boz1989]

To tell the age of the tire, stamped in the sidewall is DOT, then a 4 digit number. The first 2 is the week, last 2 is the year. You can recap tires if they are less than 10 years, and still in good shape. With age they may lose grip, but shouldn't be dangerous.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Daren, Lil Foot, those are good points. I'll look carefully at the sidewalls since I do a lot of highway driving with it. I picked those tires on the basis of the Consumers Reports performance analysis for that year, but they don't test them long enough to catch things like blowouts. I don't think discount tires did a very good job of looking at them, neither the sales guy nor the tech really looked at the insides, and rotation is just front to back on the same side. I have had better service from another of their stores, some years ago, but this one was recommended by a friend.

Their idea of checking the steering was to jiggle a front wheel while it was up on the rack. I asked them to look for a slow leak on one that was down to 30 lbs when I checked the other day, but the tech did nothing that I could see that would indicate he was looking for one. When I made the appt I said what I wanted, and expected to pay for it, but what I got was their free tire rotation and a sales pitch. They refused to take my spare down and check it. Said company policy prohibited them from putting air in a tire over 10 yrs old. Well at least all it cost me was time. Sigh, and I view this rig as my new truck...

 

[hodge]

I had a 51 Willys Jeep with tires as old, or almost as old, and the vehicle. They were hard as a rock, held air like champs, and looked great. I know that is pushing it way past the limit, but the point is, I believe that this tire expiration date stuff is 1) a way to limit their culpability, and 2) a way to sell expensive tires. I know that I can't afford to buy $1000 worth of tires every 5 years, when I only put 5,000 miles a year on my truck.

 

[aeblank]

Man, sounds like hogwash to me. I still drive my truck with tires from 01. Where is mid Michigan? Try Cadillac Tire.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[RCW]

sheepfarmer - I'm with the other guys. They are great tires in good shape, and not subject to extended sun, heat, etc.

If they were motorcycle tires, maybe different story....you only got 2!

 

[CaveCreekRay]

RCW,

You had to go and say that didn't you?

I have a 2000 DR200 trail bike with original tires. They are coming off this Spring. I have a 2006 on originals. I have a replacement tire for every one of these, I just gotta get around to putting them on! (All are tubed tires...)

Thanks for the hint.

Ray

 

[skeets]

Im old and tired,,, oh wait,,,,,,, never mind

 

[eddiebob]

My take on tires. I run top end Michelin on both trucks and the car. And they are replaced every 5 years regardless of mileage. Uv rays (sunlight) are probably tires worst enemy and the best application to address it is 303 Aerospace Protectant, made for the space shuttle. Cheers. Ed B

 

[Tooljunkie]

My dunlops weatherchecked in the first year i had them, when i asked the dealer, he said they all do that. Was 10 years ago- no,wait maybe 12-13 years and they still hold air and wear was decent.
I prefer BFG A/T for heavy gravel road use.
Im not big on expensive tires, when they become unsafe i replace them.

Its a miles per dollar thing, the more you spend, the farther you get to go on your tires. You get what you pay for.
10 ply Sailun tires on my truck less than 200 apiece and took 2oz of weight between 4 tires. 2 required no weight at all.

As far as your front end inspection goes, lifting it and shaking a few things here and there isnt a complete inspection, a jack needs to be used to properly inspect ball joints.

 

[Diydave]

Main thing is to check for dry rot cracks. I gots one on the work truck, that is real bad, moved it from the front to the outer duallie. I think Dot has some rule for school busses, but I'm not sure how many years you can go...

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I agree with aeblank. I don't know Cadillac Tire, but in general I like to deal with the local independent tire dealers rather then tire chains. Places like Cadillac Tire, Rowley Brothers in Bay City, or Great Lakes Tires in Graying. If you buy tires every 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years you will usually be dealing with the same person. Like TJ they are more interested in your repeat business than one quick sale.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I agree with aeblank. I don't know Cadillac Tire, but in general I like to deal with the local independent tire dealers rather then tire chains. Places like Cadillac Tire, Rowley Brothers in Bay City, or Great Lakes Tires in Graying. If you buy tires every 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years you will usually be dealing with the same person. Like TJ they are more interested in your repeat business than one quick sale.

Yes, I prefer that type of business too. I am pretty far south of you guys though, near Lansing, so I'll have to look around. Sounds like it is not a flaming emergency to get new tires though, so I have some time. Now if TJ were a little closer that would be good too.

Thanks everyone, as usual I learned a lot from you guys.

 

[ShaunBlake]

I'm a little hesitant to say this, but I'm a bit miffed at the treatment you've been given by the various outfits you've asked for help. I would bet a pretty nice dinner that each of them would have given different advice had it been one of these guys who had been doing the asking.

So: if you were just using the truck on the farm, then ignore the age thing, and run them until they won't hold air. However, you're on the highway, with a pretty good commute, and on the Michigan highways (snow, ice, black ice, salt, potholes, etc.) I suggest you try to keep the tires at least another couple of years, but watch them like you'd watch a two-year-old. And I'd suggest that you get new tires from Miller Tire when you think it's getting close to the end of their service life, and keep them in the barn until it's time to put them in service. Then put the tires in the truck and take it to Wal*Mart to get 'em installed. They'll do it (with balancing) for five bucks a tire.

My preference is to "support your local sheriff", but he (they all) have already betrayed your trust. Miller won't.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Too bad Discount Tire is all over by Detroit. They are THE BEST tire store I have ever dealt with.


Tire aging info...

http://tires.about.com/od/Tire_Safety_Maintenance/a/The-Science-Of-Tire-Aging.htm

 

[sheepfarmer]

Hi Ray, this was a Discount Tire, and I had had satisfactory service from them before, but at another location. Things change, but other than the high pressure sales pitch, at least I learned that there is some basis for the age thing which I hadn't really grasped, other than to store trailers out of the sun to avoid ruining the tires. Thanks for linking that article. That is the best summary that I have seen so far.