Tyre Age

[Coaster]

I've got 9 year old tyre, spare being 12yo and never used.
Plenty but conflicting info. On Internet, is 10yo. An advisable limit. They look great visually, no cracks bulges etc but not sure if hidden issues

 

[Burnerman]

Only personally speaking, I'd use the tyre as a get me home spare but not generally....the rubber will have hardened and I don't think it would like to come off the rim without damage - old rubber is brittle. Balancing could be awkward too.
John

 

[Coaster]

Only personally speaking, I'd use the tyre as a get me home spare but not generally....the rubber will have hardened and I don't think it would like to come off the rim without damage - old rubber is brittle. Balancing could be awkward too.
John

Ahhh righto. Will see about getting another to be sure

 

[norseman]

What ages a tyre most is the UV from the sun & your spare being confined to the boot all it's life will be in better condition that the road tyres. I'd have no qualms about using it, even if I drove with extra care esp.in the wet.

 

[Mottie]

+1

 

[Avocet]

I think Fuzz Townshend has been calling for a 10 year limit to be applied in law, recently? Amusingly, my car is 29 this year. Last year, I had the spare wheel out (it's never been fitted!) and was marvelling at the "original equipment" Pirelli on it. Just for curiosity, I put it on the car and went for a drive. It felt remarkably "normal" but had noticeably less grip than the others (although, the others weren't the same make and model so it wasn't a very scientific comparison)! It certainly squealed like mad when getting near the limit of adhesion!

Something stingy within me really abhors the idea of binning a tyre with full tread on it (even the little moulding knobbles were still there!) so I've started a policy of including my spare in the rotation now, meaning that it will take its share of wear in future. (Not the 28 year old one, the new one that's now on it)!

 

[Ron Gamma]

The powers that be were looking to introduce a 5 year limit on age for the MoT test. As I understand it this was in part a response to an incident where a chap had NOS Dunlop SPs on his MGB wire wheels fitted to a show car (the normal road wheels had newer tyres I believe but the chrome wires were for show&shine days) - anyway, on the way to a show a tyre blew out and the poor chap lost his life.
I'd say 5 years is the limit for a tyre that is regularly out in sunlight - but if cracking on side walls is there get it changed beforehand. If dry stored inside or it is the spare in a boot - 10 years.

I reckon that in the end it will come down to the insurance companies loading premiums unless we send them certified photos of the tyre age when taking out a policy - or even adopting motorsport controlled tyre techniques with a bar code serial number that they can validate with the manufacturer. Hopefully they won't see this suggestion or that's our premiums sunk. If they do however, I want a royalty IP on the suggestion

 

[Mottie]

I think you’l find that it’s only the tyre manufacturers that 'recommend' an age limit on tyres. Well, they would, wouldn’t they?

 

[mointainwalker]

I reckon that in the end it will come down to the insurance companies loading premiums unless we send them certified photos of the tyre age when taking out a policy - or even adopting motorsport controlled tyre techniques with a bar code serial number that they can validate with the manufacturer.

I think you are way out on a limb there. No chance imo.

 

[norseman]

I had a set of Michelin tyres on a SUV (on the car when purchased) that despite the handling benefits of permanent 4WD seemed to loose grip on roundabouts in the wet. Examination of the date codes revealed that the rubber was 20 years old, despite having a really deep tread & no sidewall cracking
A change to new tyres bought about a vast improvement in handling, gave a better ride & a reduction in un-sprung weight to boot (no pun intended )