6YR old tyres

dball

I bought a second hand car last December - it came with 4 decent tyres fitted.
The rear tyres turned out to be winter/snow tyres so I removed them for the summer months - I popped them back on last week prior to my NCT.
I passed the NCT but was warned about the tyres being 6yrs old. it didn't fail me but it was just given to me as a warning.

What are the implications of having these tyres that are 6 yrs +
Looking at them they are like nearly new.

Do i run the risk of a blow out?

Should I replace them?

Kenny Logins

Look for cracks and damage, dryness. They might be OK.

http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/About-your-Vehicle/Example-of-non-Dup/Your-Vehicles-Tyres-/Buying-part-worn-tyres/

biko

I ran >6yo tyres through several NCTs and got noted for it every time but tyres were fine, looked and felt fresh.
That said, if you feel this is a concern, do get new or new-ish tyres.

Special Circumstances

Most noticeable thing I've seen with older tyres is loss of grip. The compund has lost flexibility or something and just slips where it used to grip - I could force lift off oversteer in herselfs car with 6year old Continentals on the rear.

Cracks weren't quite as bad as some of the results you'll get if you google image "perished tyre" but the grip was gone past being safe in an emergency situation.

dball

thanks for all the replies, as i said they are snow/winter tyres and are as good as new to look at.
Ill wait for some rain in the next few days and see if they are a concern.

been very dry for the past 2 weeks on most roads so its difficult to gauge an accurate reading from them

thanks all.

Both of my last cars came with tyres over 6 years old and both had to be replaced within a month of getting the car.

First car was sitting around for maybe 2 months (shipped from japan) so the tyres has cracks that ran right to the core, crazy.

My new car I just changed the front tyres last week. One of them had a bubble on the side wall so it was at risk of blowing and if a front tyre blows on a motorway you're in trouble.

that being said it doesn't mean you'll have problems just regularly check for cracks and bubbles especially on the front tyres and as above mentioned you might notice lost tyre grip. Obviously check thread depth too.... good luck!

CiniO

dball wrote: »

What are the implications of having these tyres that are 6 yrs +
Looking at them they are like nearly new.

Do i run the risk of a blow out?

Should I replace them?

No, you don't run a risk of blow out.
However winter tyres which are over 6 years old, will be quite useless in the snow.
They might be OK though on dry and wet tarmac, however remember that at current temperatures, they most likely provide worse grip than summer tyres, so be careful on the bend in case your rear skids.