Bought a set of used snow tires on Craigslist. The ad stated the tires “were used one season, and have been sitting in my garage for years”. Tires looked like they were in “like new” condition, and I assumed “for years” meant 5-6 years, but when I took the car to the shop to have the tires put on, the repairman told me they were nearly 20 years old and legally he could not put them on my car. He said tires have a shelf life of 10 years, and if I put them on my car I’d risk a potential blow-out, tread separation, etc. Said it would be a serious safety issue to use them. Is this true? I had no idea that tires “expire” - who knew? What exactly breaks down in the tires?
20 years is OLD. Even if they look OK, rubber gets hard over time, and blowouts from aged internals are a distinct possibility. Your shop’s right, I won’t use tires past 10 years.
The “repairman” at the shop you went to was sharp and aware to check the dates on the tires, and he gave you excellent advice.
Tires are such a critical safety item…you should thank him for his having checked and follow his advice.
To answer your end question, the rubber breaks down on exposure to environmental elements such as sunlight, air, etc.
Ever gone to use a really old rubber band that you find in the back of your desk drawer, but when you stretch it even slightly it cracks and falls apart? That’s what happens to a lesser extent to your tires - to a lesser extent because tires are made out of much better rubber that is much more resistant to environmental damage. But eventually even something as well-made as a tire will break down.
Your 20 year old tires may or may not be in bad shape - but the statistical likelihood is that they are, and it’s unsafe to proceed under any other assumption.
Gotta remember that rubberband example - excellent!
I do not think there is any “law” forbidding the use of 20 year old tires. Tires are VERY, VERY durable. What you are feeling is the blowback caused by lawyers who have won lawsuits involving big bucks caused by tire failures…Suddenly, any tire over 10 years old becomes a hazard…See if you can use the internet to decode the manufacture date yourself and make your own decision.
What you are “feeling” (reading) is simple common sense. Elastomerics deteriorate with time. The rubber band is an excellent example.
Tires are the only things holding your ton+ of steel to the road at 70 mph. Do you really want to take a risk one of your tires suddenly failing to save a few hundred bucks? Is your life really that invaluable?
If we were talking 8 years, or 10 years, perhaps there’d be an argument…but 29 year old tires should only be mounted on tugboats.
Blowback…
Tyres today are a lot better than when I started driving, but they don't last forever, they wear and they also age. You can't tell if a tire is good by looking at it or test it.
I live in a cold area, less UV rays and other damage sources, but I would not want to have 20 year old tires on my car.If they were old tires but new, never mounted, and never exposed to the elements while being stored inside out of the sunlight I’d have no qualms about using them.
That one season of use would be enough to discourage me considering the age.
That’s OK…OK. I agree to this extent. It all depends upon the use you plan to give then. The service man has to assume you will drive them down the interstate through the desert in the middle of July at 110 mph. If the driver feels they will be used for around town commutes only…that’s their choice. But you had better get your own mounting equipment to put them on…and hope come inspection time they still look as good. I don"t continue using bicycle tires that age for trips far from home !
dagosa,
It almost sounds like you are saying it is OK to have risky tyres in the city, but not on the highway. Surely it is no better getting injured in the city than on the highway.
I am sure dagosa did not mean what I have inferred, but few cars are not used on the highway from time to time.Tire date codes 20 years ago had only 3 digits and one can’t easily distinguish a tire made in 1989 from a tire made in 1999 (an experienced person may be able to tell based on appearance model and style).
If your tires have a three digit date code they are too old for normal service but I am curious, what are your date codes?
Jos. What I mean is, older tires are more suseptable to failure do to heat build up. I can understand OK’s point only with respect to a car with short trips in mind. It’s still about the intended use. We have seasonal use cars in our touristy area that never see high speed travel. I did much worse and took more chances with tires as a poor college student…remember the day ?
I have used tires to 12 years old on two different vehicles, a car and a motorhome; had no problem due to tire age; only one unrepairable puncture too close to the sidewall. Mine were used mostly in a northern climate with cooler temps and less intense sunshine. I would not, however, use 20 year old tires except on something that goes very slow such as a farm wagon. There is not enough experience around with 20 year old tires on vehicles that travel at high speeds. Don’t use 20 year old tires is the safe answer but I don’t believe that it is one from extensive experience.
Jos. What I mean is….
I fear my original message sounded like I was questioning your advice. I agree with that advice, I just hoped that someone who just skimmed your message or failed to see a possible problem might see what I believe we both were trying to say.For those you don’t know about the tire DOT code:
http://www.barrystiretech.com/dotcoding.html
I didn’t mention in that article that you CAN distinguish tires built in the 1990’s as they had an arrowhead shaped symbol near the date code. (Actually it was a triangle with the peak pointing to the left like this: <] )
So the date code is pretty easy to read once you learn how. - and the Miami Injury Lawyers (Caddyman’s link) are doing what they do best - posting mis-information that helps them win cases.
But allow me to comment on the proposed legislation.
If one looks at tire returns, one would notice that most of the tire failures come from 5 states. AZ, TX, CA, NV, and FL - pretty much in that order. The most northern states (MN, ND, WI, etc.) have returns that are almost non-existent. Obviously this is being driven by heat! So how does one write a law that would cover this wide range? Clearly it would have to be a state by state type of thing, but if you don’t have vehicle inspection, how does one enforce the law?
Further, there is no clear and bright line that can be derived from the pattern of returns. There isn’t a date where the tire suddenly goes bad - it’s more of a risk kind of thing. That is, the older the tire, the more likely the failure.
So while tire manufacturers have pointed to 10 years as a time limit - and they have been accused of doing this to sell more tires - it is clear that the 5 states mentioned above need something shorter than 10 years.
And just like our OP, most folks don’t know that old tires should be removed from service - and the only way to get the information out there is through the news media - and they won’t be interested in it unless there is a fatality or a scandal. It’s kind of a sad state of affairs, but it is what it is.
Oh, and the discussion about city vs country driving? If a tire fails at 35 mph, it’s less likely to result in a bad accident than if the failure occurs at 70 mph. Plus, the tire is less likely to fail at 35 mph.