Tire age?

[Dayle1]

My Michelin LTX M/S tires still have about 1/4 inch tread depth, but they are 6 years old with a small amount of cracking on the sidewalls. Truck is always garaged except when on the road. When towing, the rear tires are near max. load. Discount Tire would gladly sell me some new ones. Anyone towing with LTXs older than 6 years?

[maxwell11]

I had two sets of Michelins crack on me,
one set on my 2500 chevy pickup
one set on my Toyota van

I do like the way Michelin's ride and drive,
current set of Michelin's on my Dodge 2500 diesel are near the wear point, but ride and drive good and no cracking, so I will stick with then until they hit the wear marks.

I bought replacement Cooper's for the wife's van, they seem to be fine, as she is not complaining.

would I buy Michelin's again for my truck, yes, but will have to check out the price.

two of the local tire dealers recommend "Firestone transforce HT 10ply"
they run them on our local ambulances with good results

who knows what I will buy when ready.

but I would get those cracked tires off my truck, who knows how hot the tread is on a 100 degree day at 65 mph with a big camper sitting over the axle.
can you handle a blowout at 65 mph.

I would not want to be riding with you!!!!!!!!

[100ton]

No question, get new tires. I speak from experience.

I have always been very attentive (paranoid) when it comes to the condition of my 5th wheel tires, pressure, tread, age, wear, and etc.

Well, about ten days ago I was returning to my home in Huntington Beach, California from Park City, Utah. It was a great day and all was fine, fine until just East of St. George, Utah I was rudely "awakened" by an earth shattering explosion, yep, blow out. Lucky for me I don't normally drive too fast when towing, I was going about sixty. Also, in my favor was the fact that the blow out occurred at a location that allowed me to just barely get to an off ramp. About two seconds later and I would have been stuck on I-15. A few minuets later and I would have been stranded in "the canyon" where pull outs are few and far between.

I know what you're thinking "where am I going with this?" Here's my point, I was so concerned with my trailer tires that I neglected to monitor my truck tires. Yep, the blow out was on the R/R Truck tire. After I safely pulled to the side and had a minuet to reflect on the situation, it dawned on me, holy cow, those tires are OLD, only 35,000 miles on them, but way too old. The F250 is a 2005 so the tires were probably eight or nine years old.

I do have a TPMS and I was monitoring all along. I never got a pressure or a temperature alert (it was very hot that day). Just POW!

Of course, I took a good long look at my truck tires as I stood in the heat that morning, yes, tiny cracking was evident. So, now I have FIVE new truck tires and I have also ordered a NEW tire (trailer spare was never used, but eight or nine years old) for the spare on my 2005 5th wheel. The other trailer tires are about a year old. I didn't want to take a chance with the spare on either vehicle.

So, the moral is..... it is much easier to take care of tires at home then on the side of the freeway.

Oh, did I mention, get new tires? :S

See you out there,

Robert

[BenK]

This topic comes up often and enough from varying folks that to me
confirmation that I'm not the only one out there that went through
about a dozen sets of LTX's (MS & AT) that initially were fine
but around the late 90's Michelin changed their formulation to have
them crack...






below quote from: Unsafe at any speed....

BenK wrote:
Thought to post the Timberline crack








michelin Tire splitting

BenK wrote:
Posted: 03/03/13 11:04pm

Used to be a fan of Michelin's, but no more...here is a link to why
below

Currently have Bridgestone Dueler Revo LT265/75R16E's on Alcoa alloy 16x10's
and are about 5 years old and don't drive my Sub but on weekends
to keep things lubed and tires worked. About 12K miles on them
and they look very close to new.

Best tires and the below quote
from that thread

Nit, but bought a new bike work stand ($350) and it has a digital
scale...my old alu frame bike is NOT as light as thought...it is
17.3 lbs...even with that $350 seat and carbon fiber fork...that old
'precision' fish scale was a bit off... :E

Moved that seat to the new Madone 6.5 and IT IS 15.7 lbs, based on
that nifty new scale... :B

BenK wrote:
Used to tell everyone who asked to consider Michelin LTX series...fine till Michelin
changed their rubber formulation. Quote below shows pics of many sets of Michelin
LTX (MS & AT) and my bicycle tires...they all cracked whereas they did not before
that reformulation

Currently have a set of Bridgestone Dueler Revo's that are about 5 years old. Same
Suburban. Same house, same driveway (not garaged), same city, same ambient, etc and
they are 'fine' with no signs of cracking whatsoever

Coopers are on the mini van and looking good. The Michelin's started to crack and
do not know how long they were on there, as bought the Odyssey used



http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/post/forum/41/thread/26414210/quote/26420168.cfm

BenK wrote:
Also depends on how long you plan to keep your TV

I plan to keep mine till the wheels fall off, then fix it or decide not to

I rotate tires on all 4 of my vehicles and even dismount to remount the tires on
my single speed bicycles to even out the wear

If you change vehicles every 2-3-4-5 years, then moot point. Do whatever

If you do keep them longer to need a new set of tires, then decide on what you
wish to do with the spare.

Dad didn't believe in rotating the spare and when he gave me the Silverado listed
in my sig, it had a spare tire that was over 12 years old. It looked 'fine', but
it had indications of rot all over it. The on the road tires had been replaced
a few times to boot.

Here is a thread and pictures of my experience on tires. From spares to on
the road sets. Also why I no longer recommend my old favorite...Michelin.

Since I no longer own the boat, I do not tow as much these days. Both my trucks
had tire rot and the thread linked below shows what happens to tires that do NOT
get enough usage.


This image is of a Michelin LTX-MS LT265/75R16E's which list $250/each



The clicky to that old thread which might help folks decide on their usage of
their spare tires

1/3 of tire strength gone after 3 years

BenK wrote:
All things age and part of that is degradation of it's strength

Like all metal will degrade over time. Steel will actually increase in hardness
and become brittle.

Organic based materials will degrade faster than coated metal, unless it has been some
how altered or enhanced. There are reasons for paint, plating, coatings, waxing,
etc, etc...

Do not delude thinking that seat belts last forever. There is a lot more safety
margin dialed in that it may seem to last forever...but how do you truly know
unless you either crash test it or have it tested in a lab...OBTW...
a childs seat belts are how wide/thick compared to the OEM seat belts
that hold it to the vehicle seat? Anyone ever look closely at any
child seat to see if there are juice spills, milk/poo-pee/spit/etc that
has an acidic component to it? Yes poo n pee, as diapers do leak, or
at least my kids did...

My bicycle helmet is only good for a few years. My car and bicycle tires are
also only good for so long. The tire on my wheel barrows and hand carts are
way old, has cracks on them and know they need replacement...but their service
is at how many MPH ? Life and death duty placed on them? Nope, so they are okay
for my usage, but have purchased several new ones recently as I'm tired of having
to pump them up each time I use them...they lose PSI quickly

Okay, can see some self serving opportunistic marketing, but why
test it with a potential condition that might/will harm your child
or yourself? How much would be saved by not updating it vs the
potential of harm to your child?

Of the three classes of tires in this discussion, which is the cheapest? Which
costs more? Why do you think they have such a cost difference?

Check out this thread on tires...
http://forums.woodalls.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25105483/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

And a quote on my opinions and experience on that topic...

BenK wrote:
Update on another set that replaced the Silverado's Michelin shown
below...Think ALL of the tire OEM's have changed their formulation
on 'P' and 'LT' tires

Timberline 33/12.5R15LT load range C on the same alloy wheels as
the Michelin's. They have now cracked on the tread area. Here are
some pic's. Only drive the Silverado weekends and errands. Don't
tow anything other than an occasional utility trailer. Haul tons
of stuff...gravel, dirt, fertilizer, wood pellets, wood, etc They
are aired up to 30 PSI. Max sidewall PSI is 35
















Ancillary...my road bicycle tires...Michelin 700C/23 $79/ea. Less than
a year old and about 500 miles (have 4.5 bicycles, so the mileage
is spread out over them all). Air them up to 110 PSI. Sidewall
says 119PSI max. Do run up to 50MPH-60MPH going downhill, but
after checking and finding this...am going to check the more often

Got doored last week and after the EMT's, Ambulance, and cops
were through with me (not hurt bad, just a bruise about 8" dia
on the chest)...destroyed the road bike (got it down to just a hair
above 15lbs)....min $700 estimate from the bike shop...going to fix
as my daily and buy a new road bike...jinxed it...last month finished
some mod's, weighed it in at 15.7lbs and said out loud...this is almost perfect

BenK wrote:
I'm very loyal to what I've checked out, tested (empirical) and low on my list...what
buddies/friends/etc recommend (really factored by how much they know, or what
I think they know)

Was a huge Michelin fan, till about 6-10 years ago when my sets started to crack
on the sidewalls

Took them in and the Michelin rep accused me of using ArmorAll. Told him no way
as the previous rep told me not to and would void the warranty. Named him and
described the discussion at Costco. He retracted and said they were out of warranty (time)

Used to recommend Michelin truck tires to anyone asking. NO more. This
is "MY" experience and know some who still have no problems, but again
this is MY experience and recommendation on Michelin 'TRUCK' tires. I
still recommend their 'car' tires for 'cars'...not trucks.

Here are some pictures of several sets of LTX-AT (LT265R16C) and LTX-MS (LT265R16E...$250 ea list)
4 sets of 5 tires for my 1980 Silverado and 1996 Suburban















Woke up one morning to find this on my Suburban









Aired them back up several times and they leaked down in less than 10 minutes
from the sidewall cracks.


Here are some more of different sets...yes, "WAS" very loyal on Michelin till
this experience








And this LT265/75R16E's (first set, second set above pics). Too many sipes for
my type of driving...HARD braking testing buddies proto brake pads on one +80
mile session. The tread blocks folded over to feather the sipe edges.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Michelin recommends a demounted inspection at five years, and I think at more frequent intervals after that. It's felt that condition is best assessed from the inside out. Hopefully they'd give you an honest answer as to whether or not yours need replacement.

[downtheroad]

Pay me now or pay me tomorrow....

[Home_Skillet]

donn0128 wrote:
New tires or body work? HUMMMMM. That is a hard decision.

Let me make it even harder.
New tires or stuck on the side of a rural road, in the rain?
Oh yeah, and the wife ain't happy.

BTW. Some Michelins have a 6 year warranty against cracking.
I had my LTXs prorated a few years ago.

[donn0128]

New tires or body work? HUMMMMM. That is a hard decision.

[Terryallan]

The cracking part is enough to require replacement. I wouldn't drive across the street with dry rot, cracked tires