Any of you see the Dateline piece on TV about aging tires? Long and short of it is that there are dates codes cast into tires, but most people don't check them or have a clue how to de-code them. The lawyers they interviewed claim they've documented tire stores selling tires that have been on the shelf for 5 - 6 yrs. Tire manufacturers say tires that old, even if never mounted, should not be used. They are lobbying NHTSA and others to legislate clearer date coding and mandatory junking of tires based solely on age. Purely out of concern for the consumer (uh-huh).

So guess where this is heading? Yep, you could be forced to buy new tires for all your vehicles every 5 yrs, no matter if they have 10 miles on them or 75,000. Faced with the possibility of having to toss unsold tires after carrying them in stock for a year, do you think dealers are going to stock anything but the most common? This could really jack prices for some tires, and jack costs for vehicle owners out of sight. Big Truck owners, you reading this???

After seeing the failures of old tires on TV, it is sobering. (Remember these are lawyers talking -- ka-ching, ka-ching) I realized I bought my '52's present tires in about 2001, and I bought them with about 90% of tread remaining at the boneyard for $20 apiece. So they are probably 8 yrs old. If I were flying around at breakneck speeds in my truck (like over 45) I would be real worried. It would really gall me to HAVE to buy new tires. These are doing just fine with my kind of driving...

 

The tires on my 56 are 20 years old!!!!! They still look great and have less than 5K miles but I have noticed cracking for some time. I put the old armor on but the cracking is still there. This is sobering and one needs to be aware-fortunately no breakneck speeds for me.
ED

 

Saw the same story, I did check the tires on all my trucks, some may need to be replaced soon. I will always make sure my wife's truck is up to date on everything, no matter what.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...e-age-too.html

 

not a big fan of shelving tires every 5 years, but if they had a 5 year inspection with relation to tread depth and tire wear, I can see it being a way to keep things safe. That would put the liability on the consumer and not the manufacturer, just like fix it tickets, when my tail light goes out or muffler falls off, it's my responsibility to get it repaired. My question is, how many stores keep tires on the shelf more than 5 years anyway?

 

You wouldn't think it would happen, but some sizes are slow movers.

 

Ross, I watched the program on that and was really surprised that the Tire police (govt) and the rubber mfrs with the help of the money grubbers (lawyers ) would be allowed to make us believe that. After spending years working with Firestone,Badrich,Badyear,and Michelin, I wonder why all 4 of those mfr's told (taught )store owners and dealers that rubber due to the additives like plastisizers,UV stabilizers,carbon black,gum and other stuff, that tire rubber was designed to last many years. The mfrs were told to make rubber last longer so we could use more of the virgin materials for the war effort. We were told to sell any tire regardless of age. We were trained that the ONLY thing that degraded rubber products is heat. In the case of tires, scuffing was a wear factor but that is obvious. We were told that the RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association ) had a mandate from the gvt to formulate tires to last longer so that we would stop filling the landfill so rapidly. The rubber formula was only a part of the effort as tire wear was a separate issue and was addressed with Radials,Cords,Belts,placement of said,wall thickness,tread design,siping,directionals,and other things that do not affect rubber aging AKA "shelf life" . Now I realize that direct sunlight can age rubber but telling us that a "New" tire is unsafe after a predetermined timeframe is just a big load of garbage IMO. I don't think new tiers are stored in the sum. I also believe that the rubber formulas have only been improved over the years to assist the car makers get to the higher MPG numbers required by thej gov. It just smells like the lobbyists at work to make us swallow whatever they want us to. All these facts do not support the latest effort. They know that we will not get involved. They know that as a society, we are like lemmings. . FTE'ers, Excuse long reply, but I am one to take a stand against gestapo tactics.
The only thing I have not considered is that maybe, all the tire rubber is from China and that would explain a lot. Then I better toss the tires I bought last month.
OT: And bring back my transfats, I have tired of tasteless food.
Jon

 

Jon,

Atta boy! I'm with you.

I wonder what the tire ****'s would say about my 30 year old bias plies? I gues in the interest of public safety I'd better step up my plans for their replacement. I've developed a rapid tire wear system that appears to be working rather well. Their are a few side effects however, such as, huge clouds of blueish smoke, long black marks down the street, and an inner fender coated with small rubber pieces......LOL

Bobby

 

We should remember, most of the general public are NOT auto enthusiasts like us who frequent forums like this one.
Most of us here are somewhat knowledgeable about autos and are most likely to notice potential problems with our cars and trucks.
We all know tire failures can happen at anytime. I would hate to be the person in the lane next to a car that has a tire failure, and the car suddenly veer in to my lane causing an accident.

I had a tire blow on me recently (Really crappy tires that the PO put on).

I was in the left lane and I need to make it to the right shoulder, but nobody would let me over (I had my blinkers on and a flat tire, go figure).
A dufus driving to fast from behind did not see me, had to slam on his brakes, nearly causing an accident himself.

I hope you check your families tires and tire pressures for them on a regular basis. It does start with us, the people who know better. (check their brakes too).

 

I ran into this a few months back trying to get a set of tires to use on a trailer I had. I had one nice pair of tires off one of my trucks that I wanted to use. Took them into the local "chain" tire shop to have them swapped onto the trailer rims and was told that they could dismount them, but that due to their age (think they were made in 95) they could not remount them. Kinda pissed me off since they look really nice and have 3/4 of their tread left.

 

"Discount Tire" in Poway, California would not fix a nail hole in my 2000 Lariat because the tire date-code was too old.... but they would be happy to sell me some new tires....

 

This is just more BS we have to deal with. I have an old guy in a one man tire shop that he owns I use.
He will mount and ballance a tire for $5 a piece! If you set and talk with him he will give you more of a discount haha.
I was figuring $60 or more on four new tires I had for my 49 Sedan with all clean painted rims. It was $20 out the door. I couldnt believe it. Now I take all my junkers there. He charges $3 to remove old tires off rims that need painted.
Now that I think of it I need to go see him.

 

Out here in New Mexico there are tons of "llanterias" on every corner. You can buy llanta usados and have them installed for a few bucks, My favorite is Los Gils. Mount & balance for $5 but you have to take you old tire away with you.

Los Gils, doesn't care about date codes.

I have been known to change my own tires at home when I'm feeling real cheap. I can usually break the bead between the reciever hitch on my suburban and a floor jack, then a couple of prybars to work the tire on and off.

Bobby

 

tires more than five years old are not safe at highway speeds especially in the south
last two I had come apart were bought the same day and had about 12k miles,one blew two weeks short of five years the other five weeks later
these were two of eight that done the same over a few years

 

My 45 ford jeep still has the original tires on it, and I still get it around the block every once in a while. jk Their not quite that old but I know they are pretty old, I paid $20 A pair (used with the steel wheels from I think the sixties or seventies? jeep) about 11 years ago. They have new tubes as of mounting them 11 years ago and one replacement tube from last week. the tires look great still and I can't imagine buying 5 new tires every five years.
Is this mostly for tubless tires or does it not matter?

[edit My Jeep never see's highway speeds- if so the tires would be the least of my worries ]

thanks
Josh

 

I just towed two loads on my 78 F250. Now the front tires were on it when I bought it in about 2000 and the rears are about five maybe six years old.
The trailer is over 35 years old. I know because I asked my friend that owns it. The tires are looking bad, cracked to hell and bald. Those tires been on that rig since about the eighties!
I hauled an F3 and then I loaded 4300 pounds of scrap on it and hauled it in. The one trip was right around 1000 miles round trip.
The only tire I had come apart was a recap on a truck once. It flung about eight inches of rubber off. I ran it all summer like that to. It was on the rear and didnt vibrate or anything. Only way I knew was it flew off and hit the side of the truck and I saw it bouncing on the highway.