Tire replacement advice

[SherryT]

Travelling 12,000 kilometres this summer. Would you buy new tires?

[wrapperman]

I emailed Michelin Tire with photos like yours, in fact yours were better than mine, and they told me they were still good. That was a year and a half ago.
How old are your tires? What are the dates stamped on them?

[SherryT]

The stamp date is 31st week of 2011

[JayArras]

Replace them! Tires, regardless of treadwear expire after about 6 years. Do a search on the forum. Lots of discussion about this.

[SailorSam20500]

If you are considering keeping them based on appearance, get a PROFESSIONAL to look at them.

[wrapperman]

7 to 10 years is normal. Though it all depends on how they are cared for.
If you don't know how they were cared for then 7 years is an okay replacement age.

[D W]

2011? Time for those babies to be retired. Look at this way, they're only going to get worse. Why chance a catastrophic failure out on the highway?

[kenandterry]

Your question to the members on this forum was...
Would you buy new tires?

Answer is yes yes yes.

If not....do you feel lucky?

[ysidive]

Pay Now or Pay 5 times as much if you have a problem with 8 year old tires!

[Vikes79]

Lol this forum is awesome.

Money grows on trees for everything.

Tire life is not limited to 6 years. Many factors to consider.

The better question is what does the tread look like.

You have minimal sidewall checking. If you have cracks in the tread....time to replace. Make sure to check entire diameter.

If the wear bars are showing or Lincoln’s head on a penny, time to replace.

Also, are your plans a bunch of short trips or a hand full of longer runs?

Are they steer wheels or axel?

If they are well taken care of ( you know the history) balanced and rotated often, and show no signs of tread cracking, then i’d run them, especially if my trips were all within 1-2 hours of home base.

[SherryT]

Thanks everyone. Our trip is across Canada and we will be about 6,000 kilometres from home. Time to book an appointment at our tire shop.

[D W]

Smart. Tires are an expense, but dirt-cheap when compared to a human life.

[Crusadernoob]

Some pretty rough videos on YouTube after a steer tire blow out on a class a, I'd replace them.

[Fluffywhitedogs]

Not a chance in hell I’d travel 12,000k in 8 year old tires, just nope...

[Airdale]

Cracks in the sidewalls will allow water intrusion. It's time for new tires.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Airdale

Cracks in the sidewalls will allow water intrusion. It's time for new tires.

Not if it's only surface cracking (weather checking) like in the picture.

Water doesn't intrude in tire body structure until the cracking gets deep enough to expose cord material. The area this cracking is occurring has some fairly thick rubber and it's a long way to the cord material here. Take a magnifying glass and a small pointed tool, like a small screwdriver, and spread some of those "cracks". You'll find that they are merely surface cracks. That's why Michelin said they're fine.

As for a "finite life" on tires, I have yet to read this from independent "Expert" sources. Lots of "Tire Salesman", "online forum discussion", etc but no actual, hard fact research.

As pointed out earlier, there are many variables that affect tire life. Heat, load, speed, maintenance (pressure, alignment, keeping them clean, etc), all play a role so unless everyone is treating their tires the same, age plays no realistic role in when they should be replaced.

Now if you have "Disposable Income" go ahead and replace them based on manufacture date. Me? I'll stick with more realistic factors like tread depth and overall tire condition.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Airdale

Cracks in the sidewalls will allow water intrusion. It's time for new tires.

Not if it's only surface cracking (weather checking) like in the picture.

Water doesn't intrude in tire body structure until the cracking gets deep enough to expose cord material. The area this cracking is occurring has some fairly thick rubber and it's a long way to the cord material here. Take a magnifying glass and a small pointed tool, like a small screwdriver, and spread some of those "cracks". You'll find that they are merely surface cracks. That's why Michelin said they're fine.

As for a "finite life" on tires, I have yet to read this from independent "Expert" sources. Lots of "Tire Salesman talk", "online forum discussion", etc but no actual, hard fact research. This topic first surfaced a couple years before I retired from a tire company back at the start of 2004. Much research was done but no official time limits came out of it.

As pointed out earlier, there are many variables that affect tire life. Heat, load, speed, maintenance (pressure, alignment, keeping them clean, etc), all play a role so unless everyone is treating their tires the same, age plays no realistic role in when they should be replaced.

Now if you have "Disposable Income" go ahead and replace them based on manufacture date. Me? I'll stick with more realistic factors like tread depth and overall tire condition.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Not if it's only surface cracking (weather checking) like in the picture.

Water doesn't intrude in tire body structure until the cracking gets deep enough to expose cord material. The area this cracking is occurring has some fairly thick rubber and it's a long way to the cord material here. Take a magnifying glass and a small pointed tool, like a small screwdriver, and spread some of those "cracks". You'll find that they are merely surface cracks. That's why Michelin said they're fine.

As for a "finite life" on tires, I have yet to read this from independent "Expert" sources. Lots of "Tire Salesman talk", "online forum discussion", etc but no actual, hard fact research. This topic first surfaced a couple years before I retired from a tire company back at the start of 2004. Much research was done but no official time limits came out of it.

As pointed out earlier, there are many variables that affect tire life. Heat, load, speed, maintenance (pressure, alignment, keeping them clean, etc), all play a role so unless everyone is treating their tires the same, age plays no realistic role in when they should be replaced.

Now if you have "Disposable Income" go ahead and replace them based on manufacture date. Me? I'll stick with more realistic factors like tread depth and overall tire condition.

There are no finite recommendations for tire life. Age cracking is a warning. How many do you need?

Michelin's warranty does not cover ozone or weather checking.

Page #4: https://www.michelintruck.com/assets...e_Warranty.pdf

Page #8: https://michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bconte...s_Brochure.pdf

[whoDoMan]

Went on a 5000 mile 2 month trip last year with 5 year old Michelin’s. Tires had 20k on them when we left and we ended up replacing them near the end of our trip. Luckily we where in a big down when the front tires began to crown. Long story shore.... the the road is meant to enjoy replace those 8+ year old tires now cause it ain’t no fun on the road to deal with.

[SherryT]

Just brought the motorhome home with its beautiful new tires. [emoji3][emoji3]