Tire Age Question For My Neighbor

[timmac]

My neighbor keeping up with me bought a 2008 Fleetwood Southwind, it only has 11,000 miles and has been kept stored in a climate controlled storage and drove to RV park and back, has factory tires and date codes are week 10 2007, they have no dry rot what so ever, even some still have paper scan code not even wore off yet, he wants to know should he change now or wait till dry rot shows or ?.

Tires are the 22.5 size Michelin brand.

As for me I say change at 6 years but his does still look brand new..

[mpierce]

Follow Michelins advice.

Not sure why so many figure they are so much brighter than the engineers that designed the tires. The tire makers are CONSERVATIVE in their recommendations.

Have the tires checked by a Truck Tire Shop. If they say OK, I would run them to the 10 years old. If you are leery at all, replace the two front tires.

[olfarmer]

PaulJ2 wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
I would not change them myself. I'd probably have them inspected. I did that with my original Michelins and was told they were fine. I ran them for 8 years and then replaced them. Looking back, what I should have done is just replaced the front ones and ran the rear tires for a while longer.

The real safety issue is a blow out on the front. A blow out on the rear isn't going to cause you to crash. It may tear up some fiberglass, but that's cover by insurance.

Agree with the above. I would replace the front tires for safety and go.

I also agree, If you are concerned about it replace the fronts, a rear blow out won't wreck you. BTW Michelin says have them checked after 5 years and replace at 10. I don't know where this 5 -6 year stuff came from.

[PaulJ2]

msmith1199 wrote:
I would not change them myself. I'd probably have them inspected. I did that with my original Michelins and was told they were fine. I ran them for 8 years and then replaced them. Looking back, what I should have done is just replaced the front ones and ran the rear tires for a while longer.

The real safety issue is a blow out on the front. A blow out on the rear isn't going to cause you to crash. It may tear up some fiberglass, but that's cover by insurance.

Agree with the above. I would replace the front tires for safety and go.

[rvis2005]

Please advise him to replace his tires. When tires reach 5 years old they are more likely to fail. Why take the chance?

Aside from road hazard, almost every tire failure on any blog is on tires beyond 5 yrs old. Tommy

[msmith1199]

et2 wrote:
It sounds like your neighbor is interested and appreciates the good condition of the MH he's considering. Why jeopardize the whole thing on some (IMHO) very questionable tires. Why take the chance. Replace them and forget about it. If he's already trying to push the envelope on maintenance issues, maybe having a MH isn't the right thing for them.

Mine will be replaced after six years no matter what - sooner if needed.

Why take the chance? I can think of about 4000 good reasons ($$$) to take the chance.

[msmith1199]

I would not change them myself. I'd probably have them inspected. I did that with my original Michelins and was told they were fine. I ran them for 8 years and then replaced them. Looking back, what I should have done is just replaced the front ones and ran the rear tires for a while longer.

The real safety issue is a blow out on the front. A blow out on the rear isn't going to cause you to crash. It may tear up some fiberglass, but that's cover by insurance.

[John_Joey]

In todays world, I would think the best answer to give him is to take them to a qualified dealer, for a qualified inspection.

Or you can give him an answer based on the internet, and then listen to him tell you about the French model commercial he saw.

But really, do you want to be liable/responsible for his actions. :h :S

[PortWentworthSa]

To me tires and brakes are the 2 most important safety components of an RV, or any vehicle. Maybe I'm OCD about tires. When at a stop light I actually look at the tires on a vehicle next to me and often tell my wife, "Look at that idiot..He's got kids in that car and the tires are bald."

I look at it this way...Spend the money and replace QUESTIONABLE tires. It makes any rode trip more relaxing if you don't have that "old tire" in the back of your mind the whole time.

Another way to look at it is this: If you spend the money now to replace those QUESTIONALBE tires you might live long enough to enjoy them. If you don't replace them, this may be your last trip in the RV when you have a catostrophic crash that takes you, the DW and anyone else on the highway with you out. Then your family that is left behind can spend the money saved on replacing those QUESTIONALBE tires on a few funerals.
Just sayin........

[et2]

It sounds like your neighbor is interested and appreciates the good condition of the MH he's considering. Why jeopardize the whole thing on some (IMHO) very questionable tires. Why take the chance. Replace them and forget about it. If he's already trying to push the envelope on maintenance issues, maybe having a MH isn't the right thing for them.

Mine will be replaced after six years no matter what - sooner if needed.

[powderman426]

Even a brand new tire can fail. I would follow the manufacturers recommendations and have them professionally checked. They may well be good for another couple of years. JMO.

[olfarmer]

Stored like it has been, I say he could easily make it to 10 years.

[smlranger]

My rule is 7 years unless I see sidewall cracking or other visible signs of deterioration beforehand.

Agree that it is his call.

[Snomas]

My rule is 6 yrs max. I've seen what damage a blow out can cause. One went up into the passenger seat area. The choice is his.

[mike_brez]

Mr.Mark wrote:
I've mentioned this in another thread that explained how aging works. Tires are like a bowl of spaghetti with a good Italian tomato sauce. If the tires sit, all the sauce sinks to the bottom and is not mixed with the tire (the spaghetti).

Using the tires on a regular basis heats up the Italian feast and keeps the sauce mixed in with the tread making for an excellent Italian dinner. As the dinner sits with no heat, you get sticky dry noodles.

Order a new set of dinners!

MM.

Mmmmmm I'm getting hungry talking about tires. Mine are two years old but this almost makes me want to go buy a few dinners.

[Old-Biscuit]

Tell him if it were you....new tires (as you stated 6 yrs. is your criteria)

And then tell him, your MH/your family/your wallet......for tires AND/OR for tires and MH damage

He's a big boy and all you can do is advise him........but he will need to make decision and accept the responsibility/consequences