6 year old tyres, change or not?

silverharp

We have a couple of big drives coming up and we will be using the mommy wagon, its 6 years old but car has less then 20K on it. Tyres have plenty of thread. Recent NCT gave an advisory on the age but are we any more likey to have a puncture just due to age?

Anan1

Rubber hardens with age, so accidents & punctures are both more likely. I'd replace them.

kerten

Yes you should change them. Tyres have 4-5 max shelf/road life regardless tread depth. They got hard by time and can't grip road as much as they do at the beginning.

At 6th year of their life, I can easily say they lost a lot of grip already.

Problem here is you won't notice this until you need max grip like emergency stops or driving into an unexpected sharp bend fast.

I think many people who ends up in a ditch or accident prefer to blame themselves than tires they have. That's not 100% wrong but a good tyre can save you from accidents with better grip to keep you on road on a bend or shorter distance to stop when you slammed brakes.

Stevie Dakota

I've seen tyres go a lot longer than that. If the tread is safe, and the rubber is not looking perished I would get a bit more life out of them.

YouTookMyName

They'll start to perish fairly fast at that age.

Gone Drinking

One night in perish

TestTransmission

Gone Drinking wrote: »

One night in perish

?

JerCotter7

Tyres can just rip apart at that age. http://www.wisebread.com/are-your-new-tires-really-6-year-old-ticking-time-bombs

Matt Simis

JerCotter7 wrote: »

Tyres can just rip apart at that age. http://www.wisebread.com/are-your-new-tires-really-6-year-old-ticking-time-bombs

From that article you could spin the stats the other way very easily. It says in the US they sell tyres upto 10, even 15years of age as "new". So far only 100deaths or so have been attributed old tyres. In a country which puts up more annual miles per person than we do, with far greater weather extremes and a huge 135million cars, this if anything proves there is statistically no exceptional danger with old tyres (under 15years of age).

US Government Warning:

The age of the tire can be determined by checking the identification number on the sidewall that begins with the letters "DOT". The last four digits represent the week and year the tire was manufactured.

Some tire and vehicle manufacturers have issued recommendations for replacing tires that range from six to ten years of age. Consumers are advised to check with their tire or vehicle manufacturer for specific guidance.

Needler

Gone Drinking wrote: »

One night in perish

There isn't much thread left on her either

silverharp

thanks, can't argue with the comments, I wasnt aware of all the age effects