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Old tires

Mastiff

Mastiff

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Pretty standard discussion topic, but why not bring it up here... my K5 has nice expensive 35" Toyos on it, including a matching spare. I haven't priced them recently, but it would not be cheap to replace them. Since the truck is seldom driven at this point, the tread is like new. The one inside the truck might still have its whiskers (it is in the rotation). Anyway, they are also over 10 years old at this point. What is your philosophy on replacing good, but old, tires?

I've been down this route once on the K5 already. In that case the tires were visibly cracked so I sold them off for a song. I also had old tires on a Jeep. In that case it was my daily driver, but I still went 8 years or something because my commute isn't that bad and we didn't use it for trips. In that case when I actually did take a freeway trip I ended up with a scary blowout. I tend to blame that on age, but who can really say. But, it did make me a little more cautious about old tires. I'll never take the K5 on the freeway anymore, but having a tire failure up on the trail is no fun either.

My wife would justifiably give me the stink eye spending $2000 on tires for a truck I drive once a month. I'm also paying sky high collector car insurance premiums, but we don't need to talk about that...
 
Is there any dry rot cracking or checking on the tires?
Are you able to park it inside or does it s outside in the sun?

There’s a lot of factors that affect how fast tires age but if it’s not constantly exposed to the sun and there’s no dry rot I’d keep them and reevaluate them yearly.

Also, if you are thinking of selling them whenever you replace them people seem to be very cognizant of date codes nowadays so the older they get they less people want to pay regardless of tread depth.
 
It's inside all the time, so sun is no issue. I haven't noticed any cracking or dry rot, but I'll take a close look when I get out there later.

I try to drive it at least once in a while since I have this notion that it's good to flex the rubber to keep the juices flowing, so to speak. Not sure if that's legit though.
 
Mastiff said:
It's inside all the time, so sun is no issue. I haven't noticed any cracking or dry rot, but I'll take a close look when I get out there later.

I try to drive it at least once in a while since I have this notion that it's good to flex the rubber to keep the juices flowing, so to speak. Not sure if that's legit though.
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Not in the sun and not driven on the freeway? I’d run them until they start showing signs
 
There is always a guy who has a lifted truck and can't afford tires. You might consider selling the ones you have to someone who will drive them right away and use that money towards a new set. Some people check date codes but there are plenty of guys who don't know or care. I have seen half worn tires sell for real good money. If they have good tread and no major cracking someone is going to buy them.
 
I've got 15 yr old BFGs on my K5. I don't drive it much. It's out in the sun all year. They are starting to crack between the tread. I had one get a small sidewall leak a few years ago trail riding looking for bunnies in the winter. I'm worried one is going to separate so that's part of why I don't drive it much. I just lost an old trailer tire this year due to separation most likely from age.
 
I am up at Walmart right now having new tires put on a Jeep. They still have half tread but the sidewalls are cracked out. Goodyear's from a Rubicon swapped onto my wife's Grand Cherokee. Surprised me to see a flat in the driveway, then I thought about the fact they were probably 20 years old. We had kids so she wanted a van and that became the daily driver. The poor jeep sat and the tires just gave up. New coopers almost installed, been hanging out on Walmart for 2 hours unfortunately.
 
My 4runner got brand new tires in 06 and then has sat parked outside ever since. Hurts to know I've gotta drop the coin to replace tires that have only 500 miles on them but they are cracked all over the place and every time you touch one you get covered in black stuff.

When did 31's get to be $600?
 
Tires are really, really complex IMO.

During manufacture they are impregnated with all sorts of anti-wear/anti-aging components that simply evaporate over time. Driving actually helps to retain/distrbute these compounds apparently.

Older tires harden up and do not resist punctures nearly as well as softer tires.

And lastly, dry rot is a real thing. If your eyes are good, get in real close and look at the base of the tread blocks. I always see cracks here long before I see anything on the sidewall.

My BFG's will go about 7 years before they are clearly starting to crack at the base of the tread blocks. These tires almost never see direct sunlight, but the truck does sit outside all the time. Anecdotally, it seems like if the tires sit in something like grass or dirt that may accelerate the hardening process, as my trailer tires were exponentially worse on the portion that was in contact with wet ground for a prolonged period.

I've started seeing Ceracote type products being made specifically to address tire aging. Kind of hard to tell fact from advertising hype, but if those products actually work, for vehicles that sit a lot and with tires costing what they do now (33" BFG AT's at $275/ea), those could be helpful.
 
HankScorpio said:
I held out for Black Friday deals. Cooper 245/75/16 for $110ea.
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I just bought some of those Cooper All Terrains from Wal-Mart for my wife's yukon. $800 for a set of 20" all terrains was a damn good deal(not on sale). My buddy told me about them. Made for Wal-Mart only. I took them to someone else and paid $97 to get them mounted though.
 
Truckman4life said:
I just bought some of those Cooper All Terrains from Wal-Mart for my wife's yukon. $800 for a set of 20" all terrains was a damn good deal(not on sale). My buddy told me about them. Made for Wal-Mart only. I took them to someone else and paid $97 to get them mounted though.
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Cant beat the prices up here but they are struggling, I wonder how these people found their way to work this morning. 8 am appointment, it didn't come inside until 9am. 3 guys working on it and it's been an hour. It's still on the lift without tires. No other vehicles in the bays.
 
HankScorpio said:
Cant beat the prices up here but they are struggling, I wonder how these people found their way to work this morning. 8 am appointment, it didn't come inside until 9am. 3 guys working on it and it's been an hour. It's still on the lift without tires. No other vehicles in the bays.
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Yeah I can't deal with that. We've got the same, I think they hire off the "People of Wal-Mart" Facebook page.
 
1hr 45min to change the tires, plus the extra hour to get the Jeep inside. 3 guys working on it, roughly 6 man hours labor somehow , black Friday sale on the tires. Don't think they made any profit on me today. Tires are nice though.
IMG_20231127_103952326.jpg
 
It’s sad about the level of incompetence in a lot of these tire shops. I’m all for giving a new guy some slack but ya gotta start with some basic competence…
About a month ago I went in for a tire purchase , an alignment and to have my spare tire swapped out onto one of my front wheels and the old tire put on the spare wheel.

Basically ending up with two fresh front tires ( one new purchased and one taken from my never used spare ) and one of the old ones put back on the spare wheel - and a fresh alignment as well.
The kid ( and his helper ) doing the tire swapping had to come inside four times to understand what needed to be done from the guy that wrote it up and actually asked which wheel was the spare ( the truck has four factory aluminum wheels and the spare is a black steel wheel that was in the bed of the truck ) - ya can’t make this level of incompetence up…Me and the other two guys standing there were just floored with amazement.

45 minutes later the kid brings me my truck and I asked ( I watched through the bay window the whole time ) if the alignment was done and he actually started to study the paperwork to see if it said an alignment had been done - this is the only person there that had touched the truck!
I politely asked the kid to talk with the guy who wrote the sales order up and get it to the alignment rack.

Happy to say the alignment rack guy was good and sharp and a real pro but that other kid needs to marry a damn rich chick to support him for life because he ain’t gonna do well on his own at that rate…

Being new at a job is one thing but a little product knowledge should be required or taught before they are turned loose on the job!
 
Living in Arizona I had a sidewall get punctured on a 5 year old tire with plenty of tread left on the street and I replaced all 4, it isn't worth it in my opinion.
 
I'm running on four bald tiger paw tires from the early 90s. I don't run them on the freeway.
 
wazzabie said:
I'm running on four bald tiger paw tires from the early 90s. I don't run them on the freeway.
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DAMN it man ! Bald rubber since the early 90’s , that’s over thirty-years old , those belong in a museum - you are truly run’n on borrowed time.
Drop those things off at the Smithsonian and pick ya up a fancier set at the used tire shop.

A blowout is a bad deal on any road.

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I look at it like insurance to keep my ride upright and me safe (among others). I'd make some sort of covers, similar to RV owners use.
 
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