Time for new tires?

B.O. Plenty wrote:
What difference will another 6 mos to a year make? Buy new ones now and enjoy the ride.
B.O.

X2, and old tires (like old batteries) always fail at the most inconvenient times!

Desert Captain wrote:
YES!

Last October I had a disastrous blowout on my Class C of a 5.5 year old Michelin. I’d had them all inspected by Discount Tire the day before. They looked perfect, had 4/32’s of tread and were aired up to the ideal psi.

The damage totaled $4,131 and it could have been a lot worse as I was able to safely get over and off of the interstate. ANY tire over 5 years old is potentially dangerous and I will never own one again.

:C

What caused the blowout while driving?
Which Michelin tire model were you running? Who has model did you replace them with?

BenK wrote:
Grit...appreciate your humor...ya got me good with that one !!!

Good times! Adds a little levity to my otherwise serious day. All in fun Mr BenK.

I'm the OP. Thanks for the input. To fill in some of the blanks;

In the past, my annual mileage was considerably higher and I wore the tires out before 6+ years...or traded before the tires were this old

I plan to trade this truck in 4 years or so as I prepare to retire and enjoy life! That's part of my thoughts of getting new tires and ride 'em for those 4 years (probably at 5,000 miles/year!) rather than wait a couple of years and trade my truck with nice, new tires!

My anecdote about old tires....I was running 18 year old Maxxis tires on my utility trailer that were on my previous TT. Pulled my golf cart to the repair shop (30 miles) and about 28.5 miles of the way home....that's when she blew!! Not a pleasant experience.

Grit...appreciate your humor...ya got me good with that one !!!

^Theyre not usually the first thing to hit a tree.....lol

My opinion of tire date codes...really no difference than date codes on all of the packaged food products at your grocery store

Tires still have organics in its material list

“Organic” decomposes over time...meaning it rots over time. Package food has much controversy over “preservatives” added by the manufactures to extend the date codes...tires likewise and can be deadly if eaten...my guess

IMO...tire OEMs have varying blends of anti-rot chemicals and the why some have differing opinions of their tires longevity...or not

Also, IMHO, the why some that looked ok, but fell apart.

Tires see EVERYTHING before the rest of the vehicle...meaning that they are first to hit that rock, pothole, curb, etc...and within that tire are fabric cords/weave (some are metal) the main thing holding the organic material together...break or compromise those cords and a weak point...AKA stress raiser for later...

I drive VERY hard, so my tires get used up before their date code time limit (set by industry). Though I don’t drive the Sub as much, so this a reminder to myself to check those tires more often...

Edit...main reason for the use of 303 on all of my tires, including bicycle tires. Inside and out side before they are mounted and often during the years of use

.:S

Cummins12V98 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Run em as long as the tread is good.

Reading this post and then seeing your signature makes me shake my head!

OH please explain.

All that money you've got tied up in your truck/5th wheel and you`d risk a blowout because they still look good!

If they are QUALITY tires like my “H” rated GY’s I will run them at least 8 years.

Truck will be as long as they look good.

Thanks for the reply!

Yikes !!! 8 years on Goodyear trailer tires ,and your weight . Let us know how that works out. :h

Marty you’re screwed now, figuratively of course. Those dump truck tires probably fell apart while you slept last night after your statement above.
Good point about the “other” causes of blowouts.
The tire date stamp police on rvnet automatically go to the age of the tires , ever since someone glued them in on how to tell how old a tire is. (You’ve seen the threads on here from folks who select tires like donuts at the bakery and refuse the day old ones).

Just like the recent thread in the C forum about the popped dually tire that did a bunch of damage. No one even knows why the tire blew, but it’s assumed due to age.
In my measly 30 years of driving legally, the handful of flats I’ve had, not counting the GY marathon experience which has accounted for 3x the flats on only 3 trailers than ALL other vehicles combined....., I can account for road hazards or nails/screws for all but one flat. And that one was a blowout on an older tire on the back of a pickup. Of unknown history