Thread: When to replace tires?

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My rears are brand new but the fronts date back to 1999. Car build was finished in 2001. Tires look brand new.
Here's the rub. They are Michelin 145SR15
Anyone still make that size?
Should I replace them now or wait?

No sidewall or tread cracks? No separation bubbles? No handling issues? Probably still good.
Coker supposedly bought the molds and rights to make them. I find their site a pain to navigate so you'll need to do your own search.

Nothing. They look perfect. Probably 15,000 miles on them. Had tires removed from Halibrand wheels yesterday to get them show polished. Inside of tires look great too. Just curious if there was a rule of thumb for replacing good tires.

I'll look over Coker's site tonight. Thanks!

One thing to consider is if the tires were mounted and sitting with the weight of the car on them for that long. I bought my '84 Crown Vic from the proverbial little old lady. The car had sat for four years before I found it, she had just put brand new Michelins on it, drove it home and parked it for the four years. Even the little rubber nubs were on the tires yet. Entire car only had 50,000 miles on it.

However, when I got the car running after it's long rest it drove like the tires were made of bricks! It hopped all over the place and even shook stuff off of the dashboard. Evidently the tires had taken a set and had flat spots on the bottom. I kept driving it, hoping they would round out, but they never did. 3 months later I had new ones put on and the problem went away. The tire shop told me once they take a set they are done.

Just so you might consider that.

Don

i dont replace tires till i can see the air in them

Does it matter if it's orignial factory air or aftermarket C store air?

The was a show on TV about tires or how they are made. They said tires are good for 5 years, regardless of wear. Compound in tires breaks down.

I park my truck on a slight grade. I noticed, after about 5 years, rolling resistance. New, they would roll easy. After a few years, they wouldn't roll unless I put the trans in drive. Replaced tires and made a world of difference. Easier to turn and better ride.

Generally 5-6 years is the recommendation. Goodyear with their travel trailer tires for sure recommends 5 years. Mine blew the sides out of 2 of the OEM Generals at 5 years with the camper sitting in its' winter parking area. The Australian made replacement Goodyears are looking fine after 2 years and a fair number of miles. As a note on Goodyear Wranglers for p/u trucks - while they seem to wear like iron, they heat harden after 2-3 years of operation and become very treacherous to the point of having very poor wet weather traction - from personal experience on 3 different trucks (plus Tire Rack reviews say much the same).

I'm sure you guys have seen/heard accurately, meaning the 5 year suggestion, but I'm always suspicious of time only guidelines on something like this. Does that mean 5 years from date of manufacture? If so, does that mean if you buy a tire that's not a hot mover and sits in a tire stores warehouse for a couple years you only get 3 years of calendar life? Or does exposure to sun, rolling friction heat cycles have more to do with life limits? If the latter does that mean an infrequently used car, such as a hot rod, that remains indoors away from UV issues much of it's life, would then have a longer calendar life? Is 5 years an average so that someone in Arizona has less tire survival life than a car up here in Seattle where it has less than half as much exposure to sunlight? I don't care much for limits based on time rather than environmental/use conditions...............sounds too much like a sales motivator than a quality/product life concern. I'm not much for conspiracy theories, but did this suggestion result from tire life going from something like 10-15k miles 40 years ago, to now we expect 50-60k miles regularly?

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

One thing to consider is if the tires were mounted and sitting with the weight of the car on them for that long.

Not really. The 1st several years of the car's life- it was a trailer queen- winning in 2001 at the Oakland Roadster Show & the one in Portland. The 1st 3-4 years were in & out of a trailer only. Then it was driven to shows for awhile but most of the 15,000 miles have been racked up in the last several years. I've put 2,000 miles on it myself since June.


Sounds like 5-7 years is the deal.- - even though it seems to be perpetuated by tire manufacturers. Imagine that!

im not sure about age being that big a deal, one of my good friends who recently purchased the original hemi cuda driven 1st by the mongoose then by fred goeske has the original slicks from back in the 60's on the rear wheels he tried everyting to dismount them was a no go, but they still hold air!