Tires Expire... Who Knew?

[HatTrick]

Alan Cole started a thread back in 2008 that linked to a Popular Mechanics article warning of the dangers of old tires:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81935

But somehow the issue of tire age—as opposed to tread condition—had escaped my attention until I read this in the local paper:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/do-tires-expire

So I started searching the Web and found numerous videos like this one:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/aged-tires-driving-hazard-4826897

So I checked the “born on” date of my Michelin tires with only 30,000 miles and plenty of tread left on them: 4704. Which means they were manufactured in November, 2004. My car was manufactured in September, 2005, so the tires were nearly a year old already when they were put on at the factory, and they are now over 7 years old.

It’s going to cost around $900 to replace my tires, but from what I’ve seen and read, the possibility of catastrophic failure is too great to ignore. And you can bet that I’ll be checking the manufacture date of the new tires before I purchase them.

Regardless of when you purchased your vehicle or latest set of tires, you might want to check to see how old they really are.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Loose Wheel Balance Weight -- Most Unheard Of Thing I Ever Heard Of.

Right before we drove to Kissimmee FL for a nice 2-week timeshare vacation (January 2012), we got a set of 4 brand-new radials from Billy Weber Tire Co. Installation included balancing. We also ordered 4-wheel alignment.

With the new tires on the car, the car passed state safety inspection just fine -- no problem, except that the official inspector wasn't exactly sure what he was inspecting. The inspection sticker has a space for writing down the make & model of the car. The inspector wrote Scion. The car is actually a Nissan Cube. (Close enough for government work.)

However that may be, The Chief Of Staff said she heard a clicking or rattling noise when the car was going slow (as in gas stations or timeshare parking lots). With the windows open, she said it sounded like something loose inside a hubcap. Listening more closely, we narrowed it down to the left rear wheel.

I pried off the hubcap & took a look. No gravel inside. No loose or missing lug nuts. The balance weight was right at the bottom -- 6 o'clock position. For some reason I touched it & thus discovered the lead weight was not fastened securely. Its clamp was still looped over the wheel rim, but not fastened, so it slid easily, round & round, resting at the bottom when the wheel stopped. I picked up the weight & put it in the glove compartment. Mo more clicking & rattling.

When we got home, I drove out to Billy Weber Tire to get the left rear wheel rebalanced. This time, they fastened the balance weight on good & tight.

All's well that ends well.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[hypnotiq]

Yeah, I was aware of the expiration date. I race motorcycles and this is something I always look at/check when a sponsor offers up free tires. Sometimes the offer is too good to be true.

 

[Htoo0]

I recently had to put on an unused full size spare which came with my 2004 Camry. Got less than 1/4 mile when I realized something was wrong. The entire sidewall had disintegrated. The tire had never been on the pavement before.

 

[Fern Modena]

I used to have to park my car on the driveway instead of in the garage (don't ask). In Nevada if you do this, it is quite possible that you will never replace a tire for tread wear, because the sidewalls will fail long before the tread. I know.

Fern

 

[UWSurfer]

I ran into this recently when Costco ran a sale discounting their tires by $70 if you bought a set of four. Knowing a friend who had the same model car who could use a couple of good tires I tried to get Costco to save me the best two.

The tire installation guy came back to me informing me that the tires were expired and he recommended highly against passing them on. I took his recommendation.

 

[Talent312]

Right before we drove to Kissimmee FL for a nice 2-week timeshare vacation (January 2012), we got a set of 4 brand-new radials from Billy Weber Tire Co...

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Consider that these grease-monkeys are often paid minimum wage, and one cannot be too surprised that such mistakes are made. One time when I got my tires replaced, they did such a poor job or replacing the hubcap that it rolled off somewhere, never to be seen again. They did buy us a new one.

 

[HatTrick]

From Bridgestone in Australia:

How old is too old?

This is a subject of much debate within the tyre industry and no tyre expert can tell exactly how long a tyre will last. However, on the results of experience many tyre companies, including Bridgestone, warrant their tyres against manufacturing and material defects for five years from the date of manufacture. Based on their understanding a number of vehicle manufacturers are now advising against the use of tyres that are more than six years old due to the effects of ageing.

Tyre Ageing Mechanism

There are three main mechanisms of tyre ageing. The first involves rubber becoming more brittle. Sulphur is used to link rubber molecules together during vulcanisation with the application of heat and pressure, giving the rubber its useful elastic properties and strength. As the tyre absorbs energy in the form of light, heat or movement the tyre continues to vulcanise. This ongoing vulcanisation causes the rubber to become stiffer and more brittle.

The second mechanism of tyre ageing is oxidation involving oxygen and ozone from the air compromising the strength and elasticity of the rubber and the integrity of the rubber to steel bond. Basically heat and oxygen cause cross linking between polymer chains (causing the rubber to harden) and scission of polymer chains (leading to reduced elasticity).

Thirdly, breakdown of the rubber to steel-belt bond will occur due to water permeating through a tyre and bonding with the brass plate coating on steel belts. This causes the steel to rubber bond to weaken leading to reduced tyre strength and reduced heat resistance. If compressed air used for inflation is not completely dry, tyre strength will be affected over time. Even unused tyres will become more brittle, weaker and less elastic with exposure to water, air, heat and sunlight.

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx

 

[MelBay]

In 2004, we ran across a 1994 Chevy Lumina with 14,000 miles on it. For those of you as challenged at math as I, that's 1,400 miles a year, on average. The guy who bought it new in '94, slipped into a coma a year or two later, and then passed away in 2002. It had been garaged all that time. It took two years to get his estate closed, and the trustee sold us the car for $2000. We took it to our mechanic, who almost had to have a cigarette after he looked under the hood.

It needed oil changed, lines flushed, etc., but basically it was like new. Even though the tires had been in a dark cool garage for a decade, our mechanic begged us NOT to drive on them, particularly on the highway, for all the reasons previously mentioned. We took his advice. I'd just have assumed it was fine since the miles were so low, but that's obviously not the case.

DS#2 drove it for a while, then we sold it to his girlfriend for $1,000, and she's still driving it.

And by the way, we still refer to it as "the coma car".

 

[ampaholic]

... And by the way, we still refer to it as "the coma car".

I once bought a 1956 Mercedes 300d "coma car" from the poor woman's estate. We tried to tow it home with a rope - got about a mile before 3 of the four tires blew out - luckily we were going slow.

It was like this:

I also ruined a tire by taking it past it's speed rating back in the day, talk about educational. As I was going in for coffee after a "Nevada run" it sort of melted and deflated - the mechanic said it could have killed me.

 

[Htoo0]

Another case of "they sure don't make 'em like they used to". My first car was a '50 Merc I bought from my aunt. She had parked it in '59. I ran it all over on the Goodyear tires which were on it. Well over 90 MPH for more miles then I care to think about and plenty at regular highway speeds as well. No blowouts. Parked it in '72 and two of those tires are still on it. Weather cracked for sure and no way would I drive on them now but they hold air.

BTW, I've heard about this problem since around the '90's. A friend bought her daughter new tires for her first used car and they quickly began blowing out one after another. She was afraid her daughter was hitting curbs or something and asked me to check the car. I couldn't find any signs of collision damage and took it to a friend who worked in a tire shop. He looked at the third blown tire and the last one still on the car. He said that although new, they were nearly 10 years old and that was probably the cause of the blowouts. He said it was fairly new information being looked into as a danger factor.

 

[HatTrick]

Even though the tires had been in a dark cool garage for a decade, our mechanic begged us NOT to drive on them, particularly on the highway, for all the reasons previously mentioned.

Good mechanic!

 

[pedro47]

There was a nice story on this topic public by Consumer Report Magazine.

How to read a tire marking dates.

 

[bullroc3]

We also vacation in a Montana 5th Wheel camper. You should see the discussions on tires on those forums.

 

[HatTrick]

Got a set of these, November 2011 production date.

Now I need to get one of these. :whoopie:

 

[14thMed]

Tires

So, I guess I should replace the tires on my 87 vette. And they look so good!

 

[AwayWeGo]

Bicycle Tires, Too. (Who Knew?)

My outstanding 20-year old red Schwinn 5-speed is great for pedaling around the campground. Its original tires still had plenty of tread, but the nasty looking formerly white sidewalls dry-rotted so bad that the inner tubes were showing through the fabric front & back, & the rear tire no longer would hold air.

No problem. I just took the bike over to All Wheels Bike & Scooter for new tires & tubes. That was Tuesday. Wednesday morning they phoned telling me the bike was ready to go. Wednesday afternoon I was riding around the campground on new rubber, blackwalls all the way.

Is this a great country or what ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​