Goodyear Wrangler tires too old to use??

[kebo]

My 2000 4x4 Ford F150 truck came stock with the teardrop shaped alloy rims, which I never really have liked very much. I always liked the 5 spoke rims that came with the FX4 package much better. Well, earlier this year I found a set of the 5 spoke alloy rims with Goodyear Wrangler tires already mounted on them to put on my truck. The tires on my truck are now getting down close to the tread wear indicator and I decided it was time to swap them out, since the ones I bought earlier this year still have good tread on them.

Well, drove to the tire shop I use all the time and before they swapped them out, the guy checked the date code on these tires which was 34/02. That meant they were made the 34th week of 2002. He said they don't recommend using them if they are more than 6 years old because the belts could separate. At the same time, the lug nuts I had gotten for them wouldn't fit so I couldn't have them installed regardless of the age of these tires.

So, I didn't get the rims & tires swapped out today since I need to get the correct lug nuts first. Once I get the lug nuts, I still have a mind to run these tires, I just hate to see good tread go to waste, especially considering the alternative is forking over $600 for a new set of tires. Honestly, I would feel comfortable running these tires. Heck, the tires on my 16' trailer are probably older than these because they have weatherchecking on them. These tires I want to put on my truck must have been stored inside, since they don't have any weather checking on them.

What would you do? Run them for awhile? Or go get a new set??

 

[Dmace]

The replacement dating of automotive tires is 6-10 years after the production date. If the tires are in good shape with no dry rotting or cracking on the sidewalls then I would run them. The tread will wear down faster since the rubber is older but I wouldn't worry about belts breaking till at least the 9th or 10th year.

 

[Canada_CT230]

I have Wranglers on my 99 Dakota. When I had to replace the factory set of tires (5 years old) I took the not used spare tire and put it on the road along with 3 new tires. I hung up a worn tire for the spare.

Fast forward another 6 years the tires were wore out again. Total age on that oldie tire...11 years. The tire did let go, but not the belt. Sidewall let go but only while I was carrying 2000 lbs of water in the tank in the bed. I would run them.

 

[k0ua]

Well you pays your money, and you takes your choice, My story follows.
I had a 2000 Silverado, with Firestone's on it. it had about 38000 miles on it, and replaced the tires early 2010. They still had tons of tread on them. but a very close inspection with a bright light and a glass revealed lots of cracks in the sidewalls. the truck was garaged all of its life, and spent very little time outdoors.. I have read lots of expert opinions on the subject. they all say no more than 6 years if you want safety. Remember your life and others are riding on your tires. So I replaced the tires. Almost $600. the truck was wrecked in an accident with my wife driving (not her fault, a lady run a red light), when the new tires had less than 500 miles on them. The wrecked truck was traded off with some really nice tires on it. (darn) But I made the choice to be safer rather than more frugal. If the wife was driving 70 miles an hour down the road and had a blowout, because of bad tires I would never have been able to forgive myself. my 2 cents
James
K0UA

 

[Diamondpilot]

My luck with tires is not good so I would replace them. I would not want to trust them while running down the road and sure would not want to be changing a tire due to a blow out.

Here is my one old tire story. I bought a set of new takeoffs from a trailer. got all 4 and the spare which still had the sticker on it. They were 225/75/15 Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. The guy said they had less then 1,000 miles on them and they looked brand new. I gave $150 for all 5 and had 3 fail in less than 6 months. The spare blew up in my driveway on the trailer on a hot summer day. Sounded like a 12 gauge. Just lucky no one was standing next to it. Ended up buying 5 new ones, in a different brand, so I just wasted $150 plus another $50 in mounting and balancing fees plus the frustration of flat tires.

Chris

 

[Ford850]

The newer tire formulas are nothing like the old hard rubber from years ago, that would slowly crack and still hild up. They are made for maximum traction and ride comfort. Those sidewalls take a lot of stress over the life of the tire regardless of where they are stored. I would not spend the time or money mounting 8 year old used tires. It would not be worth even the slim chance of a blowout at highway speeds to me.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have researched tire life extensively, and it is common for seldom used tires to "age out" long before the tread wears out.

Tires are compounded with anti-oxidants in them and it is vital to run the tire periodically to get it up to a temperature where the anti-oxidant will redistribute itself throughout the tire casing. Otherwise the sidewalls will oxidize and become brittle. This can lead to blowout or tread separation.

I had this happen on a trailer tire which was only 7 years old, and had at least 90% of its tread remaining. I immediately changed all 4 tires on the trailer.

I know the cost sucks, especially when the tire looks good, but your life is worth a lot more than a set of tires. My personal time frame is 6 years. I will not run a highway tire more than 6 years old.

Tractor tires are a different story. They are build differently and will last a lot longer.

 

[scoutcub]

This is a great thread for discussion.
How are you using the truck...city/highway driving? Does the family travel with you in the truck? Around the farm?
If you're on the highway doing 70 with your kids in the back, that's a bit different than if you're in the city/town with speeds under 50.....blowouts happen all the time, and don't always end in disaster.

If it were me....local, low speed grocery getter....use em.

Highway, high speed, family onboard (any of the 3), don't take the chance.

 

[kebo]

I guess I should have mentioned how I use my truck. First off, it will only be myself driving & riding in it. Well, ok my two dachshunds will be riding shotgun. Secondly, I use it almost entirely to drive back & forth to my folks house which is about 70miles one way, mostly on secondary roads where top speed will not exceed 60mph. If I need to haul the tractor to the hunt club, that's only a 7 mile run one way, at no more than 50mph. I have another vehicle that gets better gas mileage to do 95% of my driving in, which has tires less than a year old on it.

So that's why I would feel comfortable running these older tires on my truck. However, if I do decide to run them for a while, I would certainly replace them at the first hint of tire failure. Yeah, I know sometimes they don't give you any hints right before catastrophic failures. Like someone already said, you pay your money and take your chances. To be realistic, even new tires can blowout without warning, although it probably happens far less with new ones than it does with 6-10 year old tires.

 

[FlaDon]

It also depends on where you live. Up north I wouldn't worry about it as much as in the sunny south. In S Fla I wouldn't even think of putting them on. The differences in UV light on tires is a factor that has to be concidered. In Canada, they use plastics in the field that are designed to breakdown in 90 days in the sun. In S Fla you would do good to get 2 weeks out of it. Same affect on plastic happens to rubber. 10 year old Carlisle trailer tires can blow just sitting still. Checking in the tire's sidewall from 5 years and up is a common cause for failure here.