How old are your tires

[Duodec]

BF Goodrich Belted T/As purchased in 1984 or so.  But they are just there to protect the wheels; the car has not been under its own power since 2005 and that was from the delivery truck into the garage running on gas poured into the carb vent

[chargerdon]

Note:  date code for tires made before 2000 are only 3 digit.   On my 66 Charger i had four BFG Advantage tires with 3 digit date codes.   

Back in 2018 the car which had been garage kept always and only driven 500 year the tires still looked great.  I.e lots of tread and no cracks on the sidewalls, but taking it for a spin the car felt funny and would kinda "bump" along.   When i got home i jacked it so that the tires were slightly off the ground and spun the rear tires..it would hit half way around.   Looked closer and saw that the tread had a longitudinal hump half way across it. I guess that means separated belt.  Then i saw the 3 digit date code and realized they were at least 22 years old.  Drove it to the nearest Cooper tire dealer and got all four replaced.  PS got Coopers because i wanted the largest 14" and that was 235x60x14.   Only 3 braands in that size..Futura from Pep boys, Cooper, and BFG's.   The Cooper dealer gave me a great price. 

So 1) keeping it out of the sun might help but not that much
   2) Even if they "look good" doesnt mean they are (course that is even tru of new tires !)
   3) Most tire dealers will tell you for safety good rule of thumb is 6 to 10 years, beyond that is who kows. 

[cuda hunter]

I have some 25 or more registered vehicles that I drive.
Replacing tires is like replacing batteries.

I get tires that are quite old.  Get a flat, take it to BigO and they won't do anything but remove a tire if it is older than 6 years.  Sometimes they will let me slide at 7. 
  Here are some of the problems.  Tires are only made a couple times a year in two countries.  Those countries are using less and less OIL in the making of rubber tires.  The tires are not 100 % oil. 
  I tell my tire guy, who is a friend outside of his work, that my tires look just fine.  No cracks outside visible at all.  He takes the tire off and shows me little round fish scale looking cracks on the inside of the tire.  He claims that the air in the tires are what are making them go bad so quickly as he is told by manufacturers and salesmen.  But what is happening is there is not enough oil in the tire itself so the tire cracks due to this. 
  I'm over buying tires (and batteries).  This sucks. 
I have a 76 station wagon 440.  Runs like a champ!  Has tires that are more than 20 years old.  Look great and have no issues. Although they are all different.  I have yet to have a tire from pre 2000 blow up due to cracking.  I have had multiple tires since 2000 blow up or lose tread.  All new tires from top end brands. 
  I had a tire this year get a hole in it.  What put the hole in it, A tumble weed.
A simple little stem of a tumble weed.  Sure they are kinda hard but that is ridiculous that I lost a tire to a weed in the driveway. 
  So tires are too soft now but don't last long and harden up quickly. 
 
  Those reasons from manufacturers and salesmen are their words.  Of course they just want to sell us more tires. Isn't that what everyone wants.


  Batteries only last 3 years now if you are lucky.  I'm slowly replacing all my early 2000 batteries as they are dying.  My red top batteries are dying in 3 years no matter what.  Interstate luckily has a great warranty program so I try to stay with them now.  Off subject.

[cuda hunter]

If you have tires that are older than 6 years and newer than 25 years I would say you need a new set of tires regardless of how much tread is on the tire and how little checking you see on the tires. 
Welcome to the new formula's for tires.   Science made them to take your money.

[cuda hunter]

I also have seen multiple posts in the last few years of both BF goodrich's and Good year tires blowing up. 
Just research that on the forums.  You will see 20K worth of damage just about every time you find a blow out post. 

Paint messed up, rear quarter ripped off. Terrible looking instances.

[torredcuda]

I bought my previous set of tires with the Torque Thrust wheels used off a friend, I ran them until about three years ago when I decided to check the date codes after seeing  number or tire blowouts on classic cars. My dates were 2002 which at the time were about 20 years old, they still had plenty of tread but I decided it wasn`t worth the risk and replaced them. The Cooper Cobras were around $800 which is only $100 a year if you get eight years out of them - cheap insurance. I agree the tires made today don`t last anywhere near as long as they used as far as dry rot/cracking - not sure why? I`ve had nothing but new Mopar brand batteries in my Barracuda, not sure who makes them, but I get at least 5-6 years out of them and I`m not very good about putting on the battery tender (It`s been sitting for a couple months now and it`s still not on it yet).

[7212Mopar]

I am thinking of getting the Nitto NT555 G2, 320 treadwear, W rated. 245/45/17 front and 275/40/17 rear. Much cheaper than the Michelins I have on my daily. I will do that when the rain stops.

[pschlosser]

My tires are 40 years old.  I keep them out of the sun, and don't drive on them, much.  They still look pretty good.  But I would not trust them on a long road trip.

[usraptor]

BF Goodrich TA radials bought and installed in 2018. Rears have approx 60% tread left.  Front's are like new.  Car is always stored inside and not driven at all in the winter.  Therein is the problem.  When a car sits for several weeks/months at a time without moving they develope flat spots in the cords that can lead to premature failure and cause blowouts. These aren't obvious and will not show on the outside of the tire.  One reason you should inflate the tires a few pounds extra during storage or lack of use.  Industry standard is that tires should be replaced no longer than every 6 years regardless of the amount of tread.  Considering I only drive the 'Cuda locally to car shows (200 miles in 2024) I'll probably stretch that to 10 years: However,my cars and travel and boat trailers tires get replaced every 6 years if not sooner.  I did have two blow outs on my travel trailer with the china bomb tires that came on the trailer and were within the 6 year window.  The second blowout caused over $10K damage to the trailer. Replaced all the tires with American made Goodyear Endurance tires. That was 6 years ago and they will get replaced this spring even though they still have over 50% of their left.  Just saying.

[JH27N0B]

When I bought my trailer a couple years ago from an estate it had a mishmash of different tires and date codes on it. It had belonged to a well respected member of the Mopar club in my area, but he had a reputation for being frugal!
I replaced all the tires and spent extra to get Goodyear Endurance tires because they were the only trailer tires still made in USA.  All others are China bombs. 
Then I did my first haul, about 900 miles round trip.  A month after getting home I went to the storage yard to install tire covers I'd just bought, and while putting them on, I noticed a lump on one sidewall.  I took the tire back to Discount tire and they installed a new tire under warranty pro-rated for the couple months since I bought them.  A year later I noticed a second smaller lump I decided I'd live with.
Needless to say, I was not impressed.
Along with the experience I've had with the Yokohamas on my daily, I am not happy with the quality of tires these days!
I got 5 years out of the battery on that car after buying it new, and 4-1/2 out of the replacement, which gave up the ghost during our worst cold snap of the season last January, and to add insult to injury my hood was froze by ice and I couldn't get it open for a few days to replace the battery! I used to count on 7 or 8 years out of a battery.

[torredcuda]

I had an `03 Ram 2500 I bought used with 16k on it around 2008, low miles as it was only used to plow the owners driveway and local  stuff. I sold it in 2013 with 125k on it and the original factory battery cranking the engine over like it was new in single digit temps.

[captcolour]

I assume you all know that there are date codes on tires so you don't have to guess how old.  Four digits usually in an oval, format:  first 2 digits week of the year; last 2 digits are the year.  Rubber will degrade over time.  UV and heat help accelerate the degradation.  I let my BFG radials get to 12 years before replacing.  I think 10 years is a good rule of thumb.  That's like $200 a year in insurance.  Worth it to me. 

You mean there's an expiration date?

No, date of manufacture.

[70vert]

I would definitely NOT drive my car with over 10 year old tire! And actually I wouldn't go past 5, because I drive regularly even if just short distances. I would much prefer to spend money on new tires than repairs from a blow-out or lack of traction.

[Spikedog08]

Recently I somehow got a nail in one of the rear tires on the convertible .. took it to the tire store to get fixed and they wouldn't fix it due to age.  Suck!  Look brand new with a lot of tread left. 

[YellowThumper]

10 to 12 is my rule of thought now...
Had a front one go flat in an instant on freeway @about 65mph. It was 15 years old.
I have heard they dryrot from inside out also due to the stale air.