Do you replace tires due to age?

[youbet]

I suppose this means I should replace the spare on my 1999 F150. It's the original spare that came new with the truck and has been hanging there for 26 yrs! (Yes, I drop it from time to time to check pressure and look it over.) It has zero miles on it and if ever needed I'd drive straight to the nearest tire dealer, but ............

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I have a flat so I will be visiting my local store this week and guessing they will tell me the others are "too old". Of course I can't guess what tread is left on them. . . but do you consider "age" a valid reason if tread is sufficient. . . Just curious.

Yes. Just like an airplane requires replacement at a certain time period. My tires and batteries get replaced at 80%of their expected life expectency. I drove 400 miles on I-90 today in 100 degree heat in my 14 year old truck. My tires are under a year old. It felt good.

I may try to get the last bit of life out of a lot of things I buy, tires and batteries are not included.

 

[Walt34]

I may try to get the last bit of life out of a lot of things I buy, tires and batteries are not included.

That about sums up my feelings on it too. Another is that I read on one tire manufacturer's web site (forget which one) is that 90% of tire failures occur in the last 10% of the tire's life. Which makes sense.

 

[Koolau]

Yes. Just like an airplane requires replacement at a certain time period. My tires and batteries get replaced at 80%of their expected life expectency. I drove 400 miles on I-90 today in 100 degree heat in my 14 year old truck. My tires are under a year old. It felt good.

I may try to get the last bit of life out of a lot of things I buy, tires and batteries are not included.

I've always "pushed" the timing on batteries and even tires and carried good road-side assistance insurance. I also carry battery back-up devices which will usually start a vehicle even though the battery is almost dead.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I've always "pushed" the timing on batteries and even tires and carried good road-side assistance insurance. I also carry battery back-up devices which will usually start a vehicle even though the battery is Ialmost dead.

In MN it gets 30 below and I travel where there is nobody to help me jump start a vehicle. I've changed tires in good and bad weather, I don't like either. I'll change things once they have given me 80 - 90 percent of what I purchased.

That said, my main vehicle is a 2012 Silverado with 155,000 miles on it. It has 1 year old tires and a new battery.

 

[Koolau]

In MN it gets 30 below and I travel where there is nobody to help me jump start a vehicle. I've changed tires in good and bad weather, I don't like either. I'll change things once they have given me 80 - 90 percent of what I purchased.

That said, my main vehicle is a 2012 Silverado with 155,000 miles on it. It has 1 year old tires and a new battery.

Have you tried one of the "jumper" batteries that you carry in the glove box? Several years back I saw one advertised and just didn't believe it. But when Costco carried them, I figured they must w*rk. I bought one and, sure enough, it did w*rk when I needed it.

When they will NOT w*rk is when there is a dead short in your battery. That's rare but not unheard of - as it happened to me!

 

[freedomatlast]

where does the number 6 years come from if I may ask? I have heard 10 years, but don't have a citation on that.

It's nothing more than marketing strategy from the tire manufacturers and when repeated often enough, people start to believe it.

 

[ncbill]

Have you tried one of the "jumper" batteries that you carry in the glove box? Several years back I saw one advertised and just didn't believe it. But when Costco carried them, I figured they must w*rk. I bought one and, sure enough, it did w*rk when I needed it.

When they will NOT w*rk is when there is a dead short in your battery. That's rare but not unheard of - as it happened to me!

I buy the Noco-branded lithium jump packs & leave one in every vehicle.

Never a problem starting with the above, though my 'dead' batteries were weak with age, not a cell short.

Once I find a model I'm happy with I'll do the same for a tire inflator...testing a few now.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I have changed tires on an interstate highway. Close to suicide. All because I had one more year on my tire warranty. It didn't make it, and I didn't get any help out there on the Interstate. It was my fault, I should have known better.

I have also needed a jump start in the middle of nowhere, further than I can walk and out of cell service because I thought I could get one more year out of my 5 year old battery.

Failed both times. Never again. My fault.

There are things I will push to the end, such as tooth paste and ketchup bottles, but not batteries or tires on a vehicle I drive in public traffic. No way.

 

[Koolau]

I have changed tires on an interstate highway. Close to suicide. All because I had one more year on my tire warranty. It didn't make it, and I didn't get any help out there on the Interstate. It was my fault, I should have known better.

I have also needed a jump start in the middle of nowhere, further than I can walk and out of cell service because I thought I could get one more year out of my 5 year old battery.

Failed both times. Never again. My fault.

There are things I will push to the end, such as tooth paste and ketchup bottles, but not batteries or tires on a vehicle I drive in public traffic. No way.

I guess the trick is deciding when you would otherwise be "pushing it." Is that 3 years for a battery (I had 2 of them go bad in 2 years when the previous one went 5 years - both replaced on warranty). Tires? 5 years? 6 years? 10 years? How do you decide?

I'm not implying any criticism. Just suggesting that you need to set your limits up front. In my case, I'm never further than 30 miles from home and virtually never out of cell contact for road-side assistance. YMMV.

 

[Out of Steam]

I have changed tires on an interstate highway. Close to suicide. All because I had one more year on my tire warranty. It didn't make it, and I didn't get any help out there on the Interstate. It was my fault, I should have known better.

During my last tire change on an interstate, along the Washington Beltway in the middle of Tyson's Corner, I had a state highway aid truck pull up behind me. While I passed on physical help with the tire change, I was very happy to have a big yellow truck with flashing lights behind my car.

While the tire was certainly in the last half of its life, I wasn't pushing it too far.

EDIT: There was one previous interstate tire change, over 25 years ago, but I was able to get far enough off the road that safety wasn't a concern.

 

[jazz4cash]

Just drove 300 miles round trip from a car show in my hobby car. Tires are 12 yrsold tires w/ 10,000 miles. Tread is excellent but I can really feel the tires scrubbing in turns even at low speed. There was a downpour during my trip. It felt like I was driving in slime. The rubber gets hard with excessive age, it just does not grip. I knew I was pushing my luck but I was still surprised how much they degraded from last year.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

During my last tire change on an interstate, along the Washington Beltway in the middle of Tyson's Corner, I had a state highway aid truck pull up behind me. While I passed on physical help with the tire change, I was very happy to have a big yellow truck with flashing lights behind my car.

While the tire was certainly in the last half of its life, I wasn't pushing it too far.

EDIT: There was one previous interstate tire change, over 25 years ago, but I was able to get far enough off the road that safety wasn't a concern.

Glad you made it. Road side tire changes scare the hell out of me.

 

[Walt34]

Road side tire changes scare the hell out of me.

They should. I forget what the percentage is, but an astonishingly high number of them end up in accidents. I remember seeing one happen on the Beltway (I-495) going in the opposite direction that immediately burst into flame and was a fatality. Yes, the struck car was a Pinto, but still...

Tow truck drivers (the ones with any sense anyway) refuse to change tires on the side of the road and tow the vehicle to a parking lot somewhere to do the actual tire change. It's not done to run up the charges as so many people think, it's because changing a tire on the side of the road, interstate or no, is a very dangerous thing to do.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Yup. I was a firefighter for 20 plus years. About half our calls were on busy state highways. Darn near got ran over at least 25 times at accident calls. Many were by police officers racing to get to the scene, only to go past it 65 miles per hour.

No way I'm messing around on the side of any paved road. I carry road side towing service coverage and won't leave my vehicle.

 

[FIYes]

Reading this thread has made me feel better about my decision to replace my six year old tires last December. I was hesitant because I still had good tread. However, I had a road trip involving travel through an area where I had no cellular connection. Rather than repair the one leaky tire I replaced all four.