Tires look brand new, but are 11 years old. Keep or discard?

[Shawn T. W.]

I think you meant 50th week ......

Yeah, oops ... Wrong twice in one day!

Corrected, sorry - long day!

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah, oops ... Wrong twice in one day!

Corrected, sorry - long day!

No worries
Always great to have a fellow CDL holder & trucker around.

 

[sandman2234]

I am of the opinion that passenger vehicles, light trucks and trailers (yes Hay Dude that includes your 5500) should change out their tires after they pass the six year mark, although I would stretch that to seven if you aren't pushing their limits.
I made a trip out to Arkansas and only made it a couple hundred miles when a hub started getting warm. When the shop took the hub off, the brake lining fell apart. So bearings and now a brake job! While waiting on the brake job to get done, I looked over the 14 ply tires (16 inch) and that is when I noticed the DOT date code was past my comfort zone. The shop didn't have 4 matching tires so I went down the street to find four matching ones. The nearby trailer shop had plenty and he was showing me a set when I spied some that were rated at 16 ply. They were 17.5 tires already mounted with a familiar 8 lug hole pattern. I bought those and they put them on when they finished the brakes. Now my tires have more capacity than my trailer!
I really hate tire issues on the road. I went down to Trenton to pick up a FEL for my little Ford and blew one tire, which I singled out, then I blew the other one on same side 7 miles from home. So I had to pull the front one off the other side and mount it on the rear. The tires on that trailer still had the labels on them from where they were installed and had not been driven. They sat for what I guessed at to be more than 7 years, but can't be sure because the date codes don't match any I have seen. I stopped by the tire store that sold them, and they only had records for five years, but the owner remembered sending someone up there to install them. They had to stop by the Post Office to pick up a check for payment since nobody was at the farm when they installed them.
I knew better than to run those tires but figured I might get lucky since I was only hauling a few hundred pounds. The trailer had just been moved all the way to TN weighing 4400 pounds gross, so I hoped a 200 mile round trip wouldn't be an issue. I was wrong. Before it leaves here again, it will have 4 new tires but I am contemplating an axle or two change as the trailer has no brakes on either axle. I might go with 7k axles so I can run 16" tires with 8 lugs. That might be a little bit too much for that trailer, lol.
David from jax

 

[ultrarunner]

Are some regions more prone to blowouts than others?

I’ve never had a blowout and don’t know anyone personally that has in the last 50 years… other than stories from OldTimers driving their Rocket88 across the desert in the 50’s with bias ply tires.

My luck is I pick up a nail or screw and notice a soft tire before it’s flat.

I’m always spotting soft tires at the work parking lot and send folks to the tire shop across the street when I do.

It’s not particularly hot or cold here but I do make 12 hour runs from Bay Area to Washington…

When running through Arizona and New Mexico did notice tire carcasses along the road and most looked like recapped semi tires that lost the tread.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Yes, the SW has lots of tire failures ... I experience mostly trailer tires, which usually are recaps, and usually in the summer ... We run a system on our trailers that maintain 110 psi, and will keep up with a leak from nail/screw puncture, with a light on the front corner of trailer indicating a leak ...

While someone, probably a Mexican driver ... Ran this through the mud .. it's a "new" tire and trailer built in February of this year ... Since we drop our trailers at customers or they cross the border, we install the system to monitor and maintain the air pressure ... We always wash our trucks and trailers before coming to California where I got this trailer from in Saturday.

Blacktop roads ... 100+ degrees air temperature ... Tires get hot just from driving ... Under inflated is also problem if they are not monitored ...

 

[plowhog]

Are some regions more prone to blowouts than others?

My experience with 3 blowouts seems to be heat related.

Outside air at time of 3 different blowout events was 108F, 102F, and 98F. Two RV's and one dump trailer. Happened over a 20 year period but I don't drive RV's in afternoon heat anymore.

Not sure what the age of the tires was, but probably old also.

 

[Dunno]

Someone said it earlier - new tires on the front, old on the rear as you have the redundancy of load carrying from five other tires. If one goes, replace them all then. Michelins on front of my 3500 Ram dually, one blew, $11k damage to truck. Was not old or worn to tread bars, ‘it just blew.’ When current tires are done I won’t buy Michelins again. YMMV.
A big thing on trailer tires is balancing. What? Tire shops don’t normally balance trailer tires, so they go down the road unbalance and hop and pound against pavement, which is very bad for life of tire. Insist/pay for balancing on smaller trailer tires (not 18 wheel, not sure what you guys do). Had terrible experience with chink tires, don’t buy!

 

[sunandsand]

Got a 1968 BMW motorcycle in my hangar. Weighs a whopping 416 pounds. Been there for 15 years, and I keep an eye on tire pressures (on everything, not just the bike). Keep about 28 psi in it, check and add a little air as needed - usually 60 to 90 days. I even have a checklist for all the rolling stock so I don't miss anything. (Bikes, mower, tractor, cars (including spare tires), airplane, utility trailer, JD Gator, even a wheelbarrow - OK, I'm a bit retentive . . . )

One fine day, I notice the bike is sitting at an odd angle . . . the entire sidewall of the rear tire had failed, an arc about 8" long.

Interesting thing is that the tire is (or was) a top quality Avon 3.50S by 18, which I bought new and installed myself (had a motorcycle shop in a past life). Fewer than 1,000 miles on it since new, kept out of the weather, no sunshine, etc. and it basically fell apart.

I can take a hint - when that bike goes back on the road, it is going to have BRAND NEW tires and tubes front and rear, period, I don't care how good the existing tires look. I've had flats and blowouts on a motorcycle, front and rear, and it ain't no fun.

Best Regards,
Mike/Florida

 

[Joe Batt]

...They look brand new, have under 1,000 miles on them, but are 11 years old....

Less than 100 miles/year? I would not buy new tires for a vehicle that I drive less than 100 miles/year. Instead of driving for 100 minutes/year at 60 mph, drive 200 minutes/year at 30 mph and don't worry about it. It's saving you less than 2 hours/year to have new tires that can safely run at highway speeds.

 

[Fxfymn413]

The tires on my 52 Mack fire truck are at least 20 years old, but I rarely drive it on the road since it is trailered to most shows.

I never run any trailer tires that are over 6 years old. To me it is cheaper to pay $1K to replace the 9 tires (yes, I always replace the spare as well) on my GN hauler than it is to have a tire shop come replace a set of duals on the road. I have been buying Carlisle trailer tires on Amazon and having them mounted and balanced at Discount Tire for $20.00 per tire. I buy Carlisle since they are speed rated L and many other trailer tires are speed rated J or K.

While checking the purchase I made this past May I noticed the price of the tires has shot up from $116.00 to $150.00. Tariffs ?

I use a TPMS on all of my trailers since blow outs are often caused by unnoticed low pressure.