<VV> Old tires

[Ken Pepke]

On Oct 27, 2012, at 2:11 PM, henry kaczmarek wrote:

>> snip<<
> 
> NEVER TRUST OLD TIRES.  If you're buying a used car, check the date codes on 
> the tires.
> 
> Hank
> 

As a person that really enjoys the ride of a car with new tires I had a tendency to replace tires on my daily drivers fairly frequently.  Not so with my heavy hauler trailer.  I had not thought about it until this thread started but late last month I had a need to transport a 35 tom Gap press about 40 miles.  The press was loaded, transported via I-75, and unloaded without incident.  The tires are Firestone 6 ply purchased new in the mid 60s.  They look good, have about half their tread and hold air.  Should I replace them?

I am not so sure!  Over the years I have had six or seven serious 'blowouts' [not just flats] at high speed in which the tires split or were shredded before the car could stop.  Not one of them was older than two years.  Sooooo … now I don't really 'trust' new tires until they have stood the test of time.  Even then I do not really trust them.

Ken P
Wyandotte, MI
Worry looks around; Sorry looks back, Faith looks up.

******************************

> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Grant Young
> Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2012 1:25 PM
> To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: Re:  Old tires
> 
> Just read in the AAA travel magazine that the safe life on tires, regardless 
> of mileage, is about 6 years. Seems the loss of ozone has not lessened its 
> ability to deteriorate rubber. Article says that the effects can not always 
> been seen. My daughter has some personal experience with some 10-12 year old 
> SUV tires. Two of them came apart on two different occassions, so she 
> replaced them (not Firestones and with more than half the tread life) before 
> the other two failed. I guess that also means we should be wary of using our 
> regular spare tires which are usually stored for many years?
> Grant
> 
>