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Old Tyres

825 views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  olliewarwick  
#1 ·
My car was wandering and I've been having a terrible time trying to find out why, then my garage looked at the sidewall of my front tyres.

The front tyres were made in 2003 !!! Not bad for a 2005 TF.

They still had plenty of tread left, but that's the problem for cars which only gets used in good weather, mine only has only 28,000 miles on the clock.

What do you normally reckon for maximum tyre age on our "difficult" cars??
 
#2 ·
as a rule on safety side 6 years is advised due to rubber degradation but to be fair it depends on quite a bit more in real life, depending on how the car has been stored (dark garage) will prolong the life of the rubber. direct sunlight is the killer for tyres, any cracks in the tyre can allow moisture into the steel belts (if it has that construction) which leads to corrosion where you cant see and causes a weak spot in any tyre. I have seen many tyres with good sidewalls but cracks at the base of the tread. if you are concerned about the tyre age and its safety replace it, life is worth more than a price of a tyre.
 
#3 ·
Our cars are not really difficult, just not used enough generally. Tyres if left for years will degrade, cars if not moved for months will suffer: any tyres, any car will suffer.

Brake and clutch fluid deteriorates with age irrespective of use and is worth changing every couple of years, oil will degrade and should be changed every 6000 miles, coolant left standing and not heated fully and circulated so low mileage is not necessarily a recommendation in itself.
 
#4 ·
I bent one of my alloys on a huge pot-hole last year, but managed to pick up a set of 4 with good tyres for a song.

When I put them on the car it felt awful and followed every little ridge in the road, I looked at them and there was no date just a 2 letter code..... upon investigation I found the tyres were 17 years old so from experience I can really say that tyres do go off !
 
#5 ·
As above, 5-6 years is about it for tyres, if you want them to perform as they should.

As for the tyre age on your 05 TF; I'm in and out of Honda quite a lot delivering parts including tyres and wheels. I've noticed that the tyres bulk bought direct from Michelin are quite often 18 months to 2 years old, according to the coded dates marked on the sidewall. Whether they are pre-dated or not I don't know, but it could be the reason.


Val.
 
#6 ·
I change mine at 7 years maximum on the non-daily drivers. Never had a problem with not enogh tread left, but sidewall cracking is usually evident.
Daily driver gets new tyres when they wear out, which is a lot less than 7 years.
 
#7 ·
I read somewhere on one of these forums that 8 years was the "recommended life" for tyres. My tyre fitter man, here in Italy, says four years .... but he would, wouldn't he!! So, I would think that six years seems like a good maximum number for UK use tyres.

Alan.
 
#8 ·
Hardly in the same league but our low mileage classic camper handled like an old bungalow. The tyres were completely legal as far as tread depth was concerned but had almost imperceptable cracking and on investigation turned out to be over 10 years old. It now handles like a more modern bungalow!

However our '02 TF is almost certainly on its original tyres at 18,000 miles and they show no sign of cracking and the handling is fine. Both vehicles were/are on OE tyres and kept indoors when not in use - although the camper has been exposed to more Continental UV.

Perhaps the MoT (or our usually finnicky French CT) ought to be more concerned about condition due to age as well as tread depth as the aging effect does seem to vary.
 
#9 ·
Tyres changed

Finally got my new tyres on the front today, the original ones were Goodyears with massses of tread left , with absolutely no signs of deterioration, but the car went all over the place!!
Found out that they were made in 2003!!
Changed them today for new tyres, and first run out what a difference!!
95mph and staright as a die - wonderful!

So the advice is check your tyres not only for tread and cracking, but especially for age!!!
 
#10 ·
This is an interesting, and very topical subject. You may have seen the news around a year ago with a coach crash at the Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey. This was caused by a "brand new" tyre that had been put on the coach only a few weeks earlier. In fact the tyre had been sat on the shelf, presumably not in direct sunlight and with no vehicle weight on it to misshape, for a number of years before being put on the coach. Sadly, this resulted in the driver loosing his life due to an old tyre.

Off the back of the above incident the industry are looking to have expiry dates on tyres to prevent this situation occurring again.

Ollie