I was on my local auction site and they had a lot of sets of snow tires with almost no tread wear. Sets of 4 were going for $10- $50 and I was thinking about picking a up a set. I remembered something about tire life span and checked the Net and found out that tires are only good for 6 years due to decomposing of the rubber. The auction guy checked the dates and sure enough, all the tires were over 6 years old or within a few months on being so. Reality set in when I realized that I had a set of high dollar tires on a non HAMB friendly project that have zero miles on them and are over 6 years old. I'm bringing this up because I notice that on a lot of HAMB projects, the tires and wheels are one of the first things people seem to buy and then the build takes several years. Anyone have any concern about their tires being past the 6 year date considering the build time and limited mileage put on some cars each year?
The rears on my truck in my Avatar are 14 years old, 12.50-15 Hoosiers, still no cracks and only 16K mi. But I drive locally, if I were to take a extended road trip I would replace them. I inspect all of my vehicles that I have built every spring when the car season starts, everything gets checked and addressed if need be.
I get ansy about radials that are close to 10 years old. I'll replace them if I intend to put some miles on the car. Bias ply...I'll let them go a lot longer. Something about not having rubber bonded to steel cords, makes them seem to last a long time?
I learned that lesson after my first build, my tires were 8 years old when the car was done but they had no miles on them. My second build was going to be quicker and only took a year, so I didn't worry about it much. The next build may be longer, so I'll get some old "builder" or "painter" wheels to use during construction - old wheels and tires that have the exact same specifications as those I intend to run when the car is finished - and pop new ones on when that car is ready to drive. Gary
The 6 year life was for all tires, not just snow tires. They did mention that the life span they used to go by was ten years so maybe the new rubber doesn't hold up as good
Industry standards are for the worst possible conditions for tires, out in the hot sun all the time. Generally speaking, tire shops do not want to mount tires that are over 6 years old due to this. But tires seem to hold up much better if kept out of the sun, like in a garage as most hot rods are. I have tires on the front of one car that I've been 124 mph on in the quarter that are older than the modern dating system that started in 2000. The tires on my truck are 10.00-15's, who knows when they were made. I should replace them, but I only put about 500 miles a year on it so its hard to justify until one goes out. Just my experiences.
That six year thing is if you live in Phoenix... here in Washington, as long as there's no age cracks and the tire hasn't spent any extended stationary time (year +) in contact with soil, I'd expect a lot more life; at least double. Heat is the biggest single factor in rubber aging, expose it to less heat, it lasts longer. Keeping it out of the sun helps too. This came out of the Ford/Firestone tire debacle. To make a long story short, at the end what came out was a recommendation by the NHTSA that six years was the maximum safe tire age (note that this study was done in Phoenix, the hottest major metro area in the US). Some of the various car and tire makers adopted recommended times of six to ten years, some said nothing. Two key things to note here; one, these were only RECOMMENDATIONS, not, repeat not, requirements. Two, in spite of all the antidotal stories you hear, the NHTSA was unable to confirm even one reported accident with tire age as the cause, and they looked. And if you ask the car/tire manufacturers if their product becomes 'unsafe' on that magical date, they'll uniformly tell you 'No, but we recommend that you have your tires checked by a professional'. This is more about avoiding legal liability than anything else. Enter the tire retailers. They're the 'professionals', aren't they? I haven't found one yet that would do the 'recommended check' of my tires for age-related problems. They look at the date code, and would you like me to price new tires for you sir? Can't do anything with those... So unless you have access to a tire machine or have a shop that isn't on that bandwagon, you're screwed. One last thing; the NHTSA study also noted that tire aging increases exponentially with ambient temp. So those of you in the sunbelt, start looking at six years. The cooler the climate, the longer you can wait. And if you're not maintaining your tires properly (which is when you'll spot problems), no 'date' is going to be much help.
I'd pretty well have to agree with 4 pedals. On a rig that sits outside all the time in sun and changing weather they tend to deteriorate pretty fast, Snow tires that are run for maybe 4 months a year and stuck in the shed where it is dry and no sunlight hits them are probably good for a bit longer. I've got tires on my sailboat trailer that have maybe 2000 miles max on them that are around 10 years old and don't look bad but I blew one the last time I had the boat out and I figure it was because it had deteriorated over the years. It's mate on that side of the trailer is weather cracked real bad. The two on the other side don't look bad at all but they seldom sat in direct sun light. You can add me to the list of guys who wonder why the hell guys starting a new project run out and buy a set of brand new tires and wheels before they ever hit a lick on chassis or body work or in many cases even have and engine bought. I know of one pair of Hoosiers that are well over 20 years old and still have never done a mile on the road. A buddy bought them and had some wheels made and the project stalled and now due to health issues never will be finished in time for him to ride in it.
If I used snow tires to commute across town with no real highway travel (as I do)...I would use them past 6 years old, no sweat.
You got to keep your tires full of air and out of the elements if you want them to last. I got a nearly new set of Armstrongs ( no use nearly new) in my garage, never mounted them and they dry rotted on me. I can still use them for roll around tires and setup but they'll never work on a driver. There is actually a tire treatment that you can put on tires that don't get use much. I don't recall what it is. Google it I think that the newer rubber compounds don't last as long as the older compounds. I have run 50 year old bias plys and never had a problem with them other then the fact that they were brick hard and traction challenged. Modern compounds are not like that. I got Goodyear tires on an OT car that actually get better traction in the cold then in the heat, I am not a chemist so don't ask me why. They are a 60K tire supposedly so given a 10 K yearly mileage then 6 years would be about right.
Snow tires use a softer rubber compound to get traction on ice and snow. As the rubber ages, it gets harder so less winter traction. After 3 years they are pretty much useless on ice and snow. They become mud and dirt tires. If the tires are removed for the summer, they should be stored in black plastic bags and suck the air out of them with a vacuum cleaner. There are tire durometers to measure the hardness of the rubber. Tires harden quickly. Using nitrogen in the tires and the storage bags can slow the process but nothing can stop it.
the last time I had a tire fail (tread separation and air loss), it was sitting in the dark in my garage, filled with air, not on a car. It was old. It was a steel belted radial.
One problem that I have discovered with radials is that they are often worn out long before they are worn out. When they get old the plies start to separate unless the plies break and your tread goes in an S the tires look fine. You can tell if you pay attention your car will sound like the front end is worn out or you need axle bearings, put new tires on it and it sounds good again. NOTE: this is not a radials is bad comment just a statement of personal experience.
The steel belts are the worse, The Missus has been throwing the money at Kevlar belts on her pickup, they wear like iron, you can actually run them right down to the wear bars no problem. I got some real good use out of a set of Mickey Thomson Aramid belts when I was in Mexico, they were normally out of my budget but some of the guys dealt me a little cash to try 'em. Back in the '80s they were worth the extra money if you had it.
Last summer, made a thousand mile trip with my motorhome and utility trailer in tow, loaded down with the shit you'd normally take with you. Watched the tires on my trailer religiously, couldn't remember how old they were, but completed the trip, parked the trailer and two days later noticed a flat on it. Looked to find it had blown the tread out, huge hole in it after feeling confident in it ready for more. Now, trailer has new skins, marked date of replacement down for future use.
"I think that the newer rubber compounds don't last as long as the older compounds. I have run 50 year old bias plys and never had a problem with them other then the fact that they were brick hard and traction challenged." I think Pork n Beaner is pretty accurate here. I have a pair of bias ply retreads on my old Fairlane that probably date from the '60s, they are fine. On my off topic small pickup the tires date from 1989, I drove it on a thousand + mile trip last summer with no problems. But I don't drive like a mad man, and investigate when I feel any vibration in the drive train. The few tire failures I have had over the years never resulted in any drama, just a heavy pulling to that side. Also they weren't particularly old tires. I speculate some of the failures could have been from the tire sitting flat on a car at the junkyard before I got them, damaging the steel belts.
I looked at a 50 Cadillac years ago that was still on its original tires. The owner drove the car all the way from Minnesota to LA where I had looked at the car. The tires were a little cracked but still held air. Maybe they had tubes in them. Either way it didn't seem he had any problems driving it that way.
I had a nice steel belted radial (205R65X15) that I used for a spare for my F100... It was new when mounted, good tread, as it only got used once in 5 years. I took it out and stored it alongside the front garage, 'within earshot'. The reason I say 'within' is that one day around 2P.M., I heard what sounded like a small (40mm.?) cannon shot. Sitting there behind the gate was my spare, tread separated for 14", the hole was 5" long. Neighbors were out looking skyward. (maybe remembering my oxy/acet. balloons)
P205/75R15 Remington Maxxum II. These are on my '77 Thunderbird. It's been sitting for about 10 years, driving around the block every now and then. The tires are about 13 years old, the first three years I drove the car daily. I came home to find one tire blown out recently, the car was just sitting in the driveway. Tires we're worn to the steel belt on the inside, but held air, the blowout tore a huge hole in the tire tread. I bought them all at the same time. Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Every time this old tire question appears the responses remind me of the movie Dumb and Dumber. What don't people understand about the reasoning for date of manufacture codes on tires?
Six years if your car sits outside in Phoenix. The worst case was used when setting the guidelines.....probably to scare you into buying some new tires. Don't know who set the standards, but I don't trust much that the government does.....and big business, pretty much the same.
Tires don't have an expiration date, they have a manufacture date. It's up to you how long you use them. Just be prepared to do some evasive driving, and maybe some bodywork, if an old radial comes apart, because you didn't replace it soon enough.
One thing to remember and let sink in. There are guy on here now that drive more miles going to work in one year in their commute than some of those cars with old bias tires have on them. The best bias tires out there were good for 40K if you rotated and balanced them every 5 K and kept the front end aligned and didn't have a 17 year old at home with a lead foot. It's not a big deal now to see radials on some cars with over 80K and still have legal tread and be less than two years old. Still a lot of us have rigs that sit far more than we drive them. Even some of our rods and customs don't get enough miles a year to call for oil changes by mileage. In the past I don't know how many rodders I have talked to who have told me they would go more but they don't want to put miles on their car because it would hurt the value. I'd say some of those cars are the ones that have the tires dry rot before they wear out. If you drive the piss out of it the tires won't get old enough to worry about them rotting and popping on their own.
My wife's German sports car had about 5000 miles over an eleven year span and the dealer was very reluctant to work on it based on the age of the tires. Cost $1800 to replace them...which I did.
Sour cream and yogurt will still be fine long after the date. It's only a "best before" date. The only time I toss the sour cream is when starts growing the fuzzy green stuff.
When I bought the Merc. the seller implied that the tires were fairly new and the treads looked like it. The car was always garaged and driven only to cruises, shows and small trips. Well, on the way home from the L.A. Roadster Show one year the right rear tread peeled and wrapped around the springs and threw me out of control. I replaced the tire. On the way up to Pleasanton Good Guys the left blew and I was able to pull over and change it. I went to a tire shop and got two new tires, the shop guy checked the dates and they were 13 years old. Tires in this day and age have a short lifespan so beware and always check if the seller implies they are newer tires.
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