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Monty-Rob's avatar
Monty-Rob
Explorer
May 03, 2013

When to replace tires on 2008 F-450 dually? Age? Tread wear?

The tires on my Ford F-450 have hit the 5 year old mark with 46,500 miles on them. The tread still looks ok. My question is aimed more towards the age factor. What are your recommendations. We are workamping for the summer so will not be pulling the fifth wheel till September
  • 6 years old is a conservative limit. I would start looking for a good price next spring. If you have steel sidewalls, get replacements with steel sidewalls. Changing to polyester sidewall tires - you will regret it the first time down a hill, when the trailer is pushing the truck into the corners. The steel sidewall is much stiffer, and I learned the expensive way to get the right tire the second time.

    I just made a trip with two front tires that have a date code of 3401. Right rear look the worst with a date code of 1105, that is 8 years old, I know it is way to late to change them, but I had no money, and did make it safely.

    The other two tires have a date code around 2207, if I recall right. My spare, I am afrade to look. I think it might be 04 or 06 - but still I will need 7 new tires before another trip. I know these have been on borrowed time, and if gas prices where not so high, I might have wanted to go camping, but lately the RV has stayed parked. Next month it will be parked again for another 6-8 months!

    Fred.
  • I replace mine when they wear out, or get to 7 years old per DOT code.

    No tire trouble except a few repairable punctures in over 200,000 miles. Works for us. Not sure if it makes a difference, but we never use Chinese tires.