Tyre age

Deliberator

Just wondering if there is a recommended age limit for car tyres? As in, regardless of tread wear or mileage, should tyres be replaced after x years? I googled a bit, and I'm seeing 6 years from an independent advisor(http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html) but also 10 years from a manufacturer (http://www.uniroyal.com/care/tire-maintenance.html#tirelife).

As an example, if your spare tyre has never been used but is X years old, should it be replaced?

thanks

Alun

Up until last year, my wife's car, a Yaris, still had what appeared to be the original tyres that were on it when it was built in late 1999 (it was an 00 reg). You can tell the age by looking at the DOT code on the tyrewall (Google it for details of how to interpret it).

They rather surprisingly still had a good bit of tread left on them, but were beginning to show signs of hardening, and some very small hairline cracks in the rubber of the sidewalls. I seem to recall seeing that this was caused by exposure to UV. I replaced all 4 tyres, just as a precaution.

This might not be a problem for a spare, seeing as it won't have been exposed to UV.

Deliberator

Out of interest, if you were getting tyres replaced by a garage, would you expect the new tyres to be fitted, to be less than X years old? What manufacture date would give you concern?

Alun

Deliberator wrote: »

Out of interest, if you were getting tyres replaced by a garage, would you expect the new tyres to be fitted, to be less than X years old? What manufacture date would give you concern?

I don't know to be honest. As I said, the tyres on my wife's car lasted an amazingly long time, but in most cases you'd be pretty unlikely to run over the recommended 6 year limit regardless of how long they'd sat in the garage, and in any case, I'd imagine most places would have turnover that would mean it wouldn't be an issue. The last tyres I had put on my car were manufactured only 6 months previously, for example.

JHMEG

My car, a '00, is still on its original tyres (Dunlop D87m). I don't feel too comfortable with them on the car, but yet I've done 7k miles without any issues.

Deliberator

Thanks for the input. I guess I'm just trying to guage opinion, to see if I am off the mark. I got the tyre replaced on my spare wheel, in Winter 2007. I just checked the trye this week, as I planned on buying four new tyres and I thought it would be nice to make them all the same.

What I found was that the tyre was manufactured in December 2002, and that the tyre model was discontinued, probably back in 2004!

I'm hoping it was an honest mistake by the garage. I had indicated that I intended to replace the rest after Xmas. I guess they are going to have trouble matching the model, unless they have a warehouse of old tyres...

Fizman

Slightly OT here, but how many miles are a new set of tyres supposed to last? 10k....15k....20k etc?? I'm aware that the front tyres (assuming its FWD) will wear much faster. Is it common place to swap fronts with rear wheels at a certain point??

Black Swan

"It's not the age... it's the mileage." (Indiana Jones)

WHITE_P

Never mind the age or milage. You should check your tyres regularly for signs of damage and or wear, usually take a good look at mine when I'm cleaning the car. However the older the tyres are, the more likely they will need to be replaced. Check the side walls for cracking etc. if the tyres are getting on a bit. The last thing you want is the side wall blowing out.

WHITE_P

Fizman wrote: »

Slightly OT here, but how many miles are a new set of tyres supposed to last? 10k....15k....20k etc?? I'm aware that the front tyres (assuming its FWD) will wear much faster. Is it common place to swap fronts with rear wheels at a certain point??

There's no definitive milage a tyre should last. It depends on several factors like, type / brand of tyre, some brands are made with softer compounds and wear quicker, particularly low profile ones, driving style will affect tyre life, wheel spins typically burn off about 500 miles worth of tyre, tyre pressures will have a big impact on how long your tyres will last (should be between 28 and 30 PSI) any more or less and tyres will wear unevenly.