Keep in mind the year think is a general remark from the companies that have more to do it the worst case conditions.

If all tires fell appart after 6 years 3/4 of the cars today would be on the side of the road.

This stuff is from companies covering their butts from lawyers.

More people should be worried about their air pressure more than the age. They are doing more heat damage on a tire with too little air than age and 0zone will ever do.

Lawyers are the reason most white sidewalls and letters are gone. White rubber holds heat and is not structual. It is an issue for any car over 110 MPH and today that is most of them.

 

Sell that BS to someone else..I ain't buying it...Older tires are drier, harder tires..

I've had different tires start dry rotting, & / or tread separating, & if they weren't fresh when I got them I would have been out of tire warranty..Which benefited me with fresh new tires for minimal outlay of coinage..

But that's me..

 

When you have family and friends that work for some the largest tires companies her in town you learn a lot.

The fact is most people are not smart enough to read their tire pressures so how can they have enough sense to notice cracking or dry rot? No!

Ozone from the sun and electric motors and poor storage conditions can damage the rubber. Conditions the tires are used in such as low tire pressure adds heat to the tire that damages it. I have seen many who run a tire low and not flat damage the tire internally it kills it while it looks factory freash outside. The rim in many cases will gaul the inside of the side wall to the point the tire is killed. Also where you live can effect a tires life. So the time frames they give is worst case to prevent the no nothings from having a issue and getting a lawyer.


Note also it depends on the tire too. Race tires for the most are degrade faster as they are a softer rubber and are not really made to last. Most have gown hard in a year. Slicks are like apples and really need to be used up or they are no where as good as they could be. No warranties are applied so they really don't give time frames.

Most companies [not all] control the conditions new tires are stored to prevent issues as if they do have them for a while they will be less effected. But most try to turn inventory quick and not let them sit around.

It is like a racing harness. They make rules to change them out after a couple years with date codes because no all are stored in good conditions. Many are still usable and the belt companies will let you send them in and have the recertified. Tire companies have no such programs.

Yes some tires can degrade in as little as 6 years I agree there but the truth is not all are in poor condition at this point. The turh is the 6 years is a general time frame to protect people and companies.

There are a lot of old tires out there. There is also a large used tire market out ther selling very old tires and few fail. Often they sort out the ones with cracking and dry rot damage, Many don't and they still finish out their tread life.

I not only have family and friends that work for MFG here in town but I have in the past worked with most of them where I used to work. We used to work with many of the tire engineers mocking up new prototype tires with them. You can learn a lot from them when the teach you.

Your statement is true "Older tires are drier, harder tires.." but it also does not cover the fact that all tires are equal in condition or quality at any age. The questions is this. Is the owner smart enought to read and understand the tired condition and did he maintain it in proper condition?

I have seen 3 month old since built tires seperate so the fact remains it can happen at any time. In other words we all need to pay attention to our tires now that they go many many more miles today with few failures.

Few people here know or have ever been in a tire factory to see a tire built. My grandfather did it for near 40 years from bias to radial. It is still today mostly hand built and while standard have gotten more uniform each tire still is a little different. That is why many racers still seek tire sets all made buy one tire builder for their cars. They do mark them on who built them.


Just trying to put it all into perspective. Some here are not automotive in thier background and can take some of this out of context.

What you do is fine but I just want to make it clear that just because a tire is 6 years old it in not an abolute it is going to fail.

 

Good discussion guys..but now I'm really curious about when my tires we're actually manufactured. Solman, the 1st oval is stamped PJAH, the 2nd has JA1R but the 3rd oval is blank. All 4 have the same markings. Could these be blemished tires? Should they still have a date stamped?

 

Hyper-

Well put !!! I agree..


Frank- even if they are Blems they MUST have a date code imprinted into them.

Google how to read your brand or tires date codes.. You should find plenty..

 

just to wrap this up I mounted my steelies today and did find date code for my Eagle GT's on the inner sidewalls. 2309 which is June of 09, I purchased them in Feb 2010 so they were pretty fresh at purchase. My GTs have about 30k on them now and plenty of thread left so I'm happy with these tires..

 

I just put a set of the new style GTs on the wifes GTP. I have not tryed these yet but with all the people I have spoken too they liked them and had no issues in the snow with them.

I note the miles are a little less but then again that is the norm for most performance tires if they have any grip.

I got a really good price on 17 inch Eagles. I may replace the old Comps on my Fiero with these. The Comps are in good shape with no cracks or any other sign of age. But they are getting harder as they just don't have the grip they once had. But then again they are a soft compound tire that were only good for 17,000 miles anyway. I don't drive the car much and these were the original comps that BFG used to race on with shave tread. Mine were not shaved.