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Can aged tires kill?

70K views 58 replies 44 participants last post by  someotherguy 
#1 ·
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

I'm not convinced. The report plays an awful lot on one (no doubt tragic and sad) confirmed case, followed by a ton of speculation. It also fails to mention that the US alone recycles somewhere around 14 million tires a year, meaning there's probably somewhere around that number sold each year. Statistically speaking...

But still, its no secret that as rubber ages it looses its elasticity.

Thoughts?
 
#35 ·
One thing that has been overlooked is, with any tire, the compound gets harder day after day....Therefore a 3,4,or even a 5 year old tire will hurt somebody if they think they can haul the mail thru the same corner at the same speed as to when the tire was new...I live in the Southwest, and worked at a dealership. We use to sell tires, and its amazing how uneducated people are when it comes to proper tire care. They think as long as its round,black and holds air, then it must be good. Tires out here dry out long before they actually wear out physically. Im pretty particular when it comes to tires and maintenance.
 
#37 ·
There's a very good reason why motor homes have tire covers for when they're sitting in the driveway for longer periods of time .... to keep the Sun from drying out and dry-rotting the tires !

And Ford and Chrysler Corp now advise to replace tires once they get to be 7 yrs old, regardless of thread left.

Oh, and as far as the aforementioned Michelin tires ... in my ~8 yrs as a Service Advisor, I've seen a LOT of 3-yr old Michelins that were dry-rotted to the point of recommending replacement .... I never consider Michelin for one of my cars, usually due to their cost though ... definitely the most overpriced tires on the market ...

 
#38 ·
It's so rainy up here in the NW my tires never dry out! :racing:
 
#40 ·
My Grandad passed away in 1999 and hadn't driven for at least two years before that. 2 years ago my Grandma finally passed away and I was given their 1994 Chevy Lumina 3.4 Euro with 31,000 km's on it. The thing had been sitting on flat tires for at least 6-7 years. After working on it for a week getting it back up to snuf, my Aunt decides that she wants it and because she's more entitled to it than me. Convinient that after all the work is done to get it road worthy, she know wants it.

Anyway, like I said the tires had been flat for YEARS. All they do when they pick it up is fill them with my compressor and go about their merry way. A week later they're still running on those tires but no matter how much I told them to get new ones, they said they were just fine. About a month later I get a call that my Aunt was on the highway and the drivers fron tire blew. She wasn't hurt or anything but it was determined that the age and condition of the tires caused the blowout. They replaced the front tires and to this day are still using the originals on the rear. I'm waiting for another phone call.

Sorry for the rant.
 
#41 ·
My Grandad passed away in 1999 and hadn't driven for at least two years before that. 2 years ago my Grandma finally passed away and I was given their 1994 Chevy Lumina 3.4 Euro with 31,000 km's on it. The thing had been sitting on flat tires for at least 6-7 years. After working on it for a week getting it back up to snuf, my Aunt decides that she wants it and because she's more entitled to it than me. Convinient that after all the work is done to get it road worthy, she know wants it.

Anyway, like I said the tires had been flat for YEARS. All they do when they pick it up is fill them with my compressor and go about their merry way. A week later they're still running on those tires but no matter how much I told them to get new ones, they said they were just fine. About a month later I get a call that my Aunt was on the highway and the drivers fron tire blew. She wasn't hurt or anything but it was determined that the age and condition of the tires caused the blowout. They replaced the front tires and to this day are still using the originals on the rear. I'm waiting for another phone call.

Sorry for the rant.
That's insane. I don't understand how some people can be so blind to safety. Maybe you can do them a favour and sneak around one night and slash the tires?
 
#42 · (Edited)
We replaced a set of original tires on a 2002 F150 today. Had DOT code ending in 4101 meaning they were built during the 41st week of 2001 ... they're almost 10 years old. Needless to say, they had some dry rot.

All 4 were leaking air through the dry rot.

Still had lots of tread left. Truck only has about 18k miles on it

 
#45 ·
Old tires are deffinetly a danger but i must say that when i needed a spair tire for my cherokee i found an OLD display tire in the shop i work at for 30$. It was a Marshal powergaurd M/T (31/11.5/15). The tire was 14 years old and the rubber was perfect, maybe because of never moving in its life and i never had a problem with it.
 
#49 ·
ABC News Videos - ABC News

I'm not convinced. The report plays an awful lot on one (no doubt tragic and sad) confirmed case, followed by a ton of speculation. It also fails to mention that the US alone recycles somewhere around 14 million tires a year, meaning there's probably somewhere around that number sold each year. Statistically speaking...

But still, its no secret that as rubber ages it looses its elasticity.

Thoughts?
Sure aged tires kills for sure
 
#50 ·
:blam:
 
#51 ·
I recently picked up my girlfriends grandmothers car, looked at the tires and they all looked good enough to drive, no cracks or anything.... so drove the car from point A to B... the next day I was out working on my car and looked over and bammm! OLD Tires rule!


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#52 · (Edited)
From what I read the Paul Walker crash was due to aged tires. I recently replaced Michelin LTX tires on my Silverado that were a year past the expiration date and were loosing ****** out of the tread.
But if one is smarter than the engineers go for it, just keep friends and family out of the car.


The curve where Walker and Rodas died is a popular spot for drifting cars. No alcohol or other drugs were found in either man's system,and neither mechanical failure nor road conditions appeared to play a role.Police found no evidence of drag racing.The investigation concluded that the car's speed – between 80 mph (130 km/h) and 93 mph (150 km/h) – and age of the tires were the primary reasons for the crash.
 
#53 ·
I was a big Vette show in the 90s and this guy had a 75 convertible with about 140 miles on it, the car was absolutely like new and perfect in every way including the original Goodyear GR70 radials. I caught up with him again later that day and the entire left 1/4 panel was gone, one of those 20+ year old tires blew and took a big chunk of the car with it. He was only going about 45 mph but that was enough.

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#55 · (Edited)
On the Mclaren MP1 / P1, the Pirelli P-series tires are replaced every four years - regardless(!) of mileage. Its about a $50,000USD touch each time. Not because of tire costs but that the tires must be balanced, while mounted on the vehicle, on a road course at significant speed by a Mclaren Technician (tire cost + Technician costs + track rental + track insurance, Drive Tech. insurance, etcetera). If its not clear; the root of this procedure is about occupant safety.

The takeaway should be that anyone who elects to drive at high speed - really needs to be mindful of dated tires. Note also that ultra-performance summer tires are dangerous at temperatures approaching freezing - and downright dangerous below freezing (all compounds used in quality hi-performance tries are hygroscopic [absorb water] to produce prodigious amounts of adhesion at higher operating temps).

Driver beware; check those date codes...

Edit: some high performance tire warranties are null and void if exposed to or even just stored at or below freezing (and they can tell - the compound has been altered by frozen / expanded H2O - which has effectively broken the molecular bonds that are essential to hold the outer rubber to the carcass)...
 
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#58 ·
Reminds me of the question, "Does base jumping with no parachute kill?" And then there is that one guy who points out the stewardess who fell from 30,000 feet when the plane broke up in flight, and she lived.

Sure some people get away with driving on 20 year old tires. That still doesn't make it a good idea.

One of my cars was almost killed by a guy hauling a trailer (probably the most common source of expired tires). I noticed chunks of tread bouncing around in the other lane and backed off, there was a line of cars trying to pass. Just about then he hit the brakes absolutely as hard as he could. I was fine, but the two guys in front of me tail gating him, not so much. That guy wrecked two cars and a trailer because holds air means they are good.
 
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