They are vulcanized rubber. If they turn green, hit them with a 600 then buff. Wipe them with some obsidian oil, and they’ll be good for another 2000 miles.
How Do Tires Age?
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Your tires shouldn't be work out at 32,000 miles and six years. Wut that said, if I lived in Chicago and ever drive in unsafe areas, I wouldn't try to save a couple of bucks on tires. Dry for occurs when the car sits without being driven for an extended period of time.
My Dutch brother-in-law is an engineer at heart, and he had the following advice on aging tires, that is of interest:
Tires last about 5 or 6 years, worn or or not. This has to do with rubber disintegrating over time and becoming less safe. So even if you have enough profile it's probably time to swap all of them. My friend Kees (Case), who researches these things and is a handy mechanic himself, always advised me. I think in Holland it may even be mandatory, just like winter tires are mandatory there.
End quote. He just did a home engineering job on their garage that had taken to leaning to one side, jacked it back upright and installed structural timbers to keep it in place. A carpenter who worked with him on some back porch steps called him "the engineer."
Tires last about 5 or 6 years, worn or or not. This has to do with rubber disintegrating over time and becoming less safe. So even if you have enough profile it's probably time to swap all of them. My friend Kees (Case), who researches these things and is a handy mechanic himself, always advised me. I think in Holland it may even be mandatory, just like winter tires are mandatory there.
End quote. He just did a home engineering job on their garage that had taken to leaning to one side, jacked it back upright and installed structural timbers to keep it in place. A carpenter who worked with him on some back porch steps called him "the engineer."
New tires it is, then. Keep your eyes peeled for a sale. Tires are ‘spensive ?
Tires are your car's interface with the road.
Okay, joking about the obvious aside, the cost of four tires would likely be less than the cost of potential post-accident deductibles and/or post-accident medical bill copays. Plus, driving even an old car with new tires just feels good. Keep in mind that Discount Tire will negotiate pricing with you, they're not adverse to haggling, and their service is typically very good (they'll rotate and, if necessary, rebalance tires you purchase from them at no cost in the future). So, if it's not outside your means right now, go for it and treat your vehicle to a new set.
Okay, joking about the obvious aside, the cost of four tires would likely be less than the cost of potential post-accident deductibles and/or post-accident medical bill copays. Plus, driving even an old car with new tires just feels good. Keep in mind that Discount Tire will negotiate pricing with you, they're not adverse to haggling, and their service is typically very good (they'll rotate and, if necessary, rebalance tires you purchase from them at no cost in the future). So, if it's not outside your means right now, go for it and treat your vehicle to a new set.
Six years with the original tires and you want to wait another year? You’re playing the long odds. Better just bite the bullet and get new ones.
Batteries and tires people skip on. 5 years, replace them, not worth the chance, I ran Cooper tires on my trucks, Michlen on my wife’s car, UV kills them. You may have good tread left, but the sidewall strength is gone. Replace them.
Nowadays I’m always buying A/T or M/T tires. I haven’t bought a true passenger tire in over a decade, so I don’t know what’s a good tire anymore, but I did run a set of Cooper Discoverers on my old 2WD truck that I had once upon a time years ago that were good, and lasted forever. I think Cooper got bought out by Goodyear recently. I never cared for the few passenger tires I’ve had from Goodyear, but their Wrangler Duratrac A/Ts are all I’ll run on my Jeep.
I did the deed and bought four new Michelin tires, discounted and with one tire at only $17 -- still pricey but about as good as I could do here. What I didn't expect was the ride. I always thought the comparative feel of different tires was in the mind of the driver, but the difference is immediately noticeable. Supposedly the Bridgestones that were original, and these were supposed to be comparable. Their grip on the road, their quietness, and their added cushioning of the ride are tangible and unmistakable. I'm glad I was able to spend the extra. These should do well for another seven years, with hoped-for on-the-road luck.
Nothing imaginary there. Tires are your connection to the road. They can make a huge difference in ride quality and handling characteristics.
About Five years ago I found a 1986 Mercedes 560SL convertible for sale with only about 60,000 miles on it. Apparently most of the driving had been done during the first five years with very little after. The treads on the tires were great, but the tires overall were worn out. Checking the numbers on the tires, they were from 1991. Although they only had about 10,000 miles on them, they were worthless and I had to replace them.
Many moons ago I bought a Honda motorcycle that had cheap Chinese Chen Sing tyres on it. They were hard as nails, never wore down but were the devil on a wet road.
Might just have been made of nylon for all the grip they offered.
They were very quickly replaced with Metzler tyres.
Regards,
Jay.
Might just have been made of nylon for all the grip they offered.
They were very quickly replaced with Metzler tyres.
Regards,
Jay.
Reminds me of the awesome Bajaj scooters we had - Bajaj used to make Vespa in India and then kept on making the same style mono body scooters under their own name. They came with Nylgrip tires. You can guess what they were made of. Perfect hard-wearing tires for India but definitely not for moving at any speed on US roads. They were quickly replaced as well.
At least you bought the best passenger tires you could. I have never bought anything less than Michelin tires for my cars. The ride is amazing isn't it?
Another thing many don't do, often because they don't know, is keeping up with the tire pressure. Also knowing how to find the correct pressure. My former father-in-law (MIL divorced) always inflated the tires to the number on the side of the tires. (If you're wondering, don't do that, look for the proper pressures on the sticker in your car.)
I’ll be finding out how long they last. After traveling 800-1000 miles per week for the last 8 months, my tires now have 32k miles. I haven’t driven the Suby since last Friday when I retired.
Could be worse, my car chews through $250/each tires in 15-20,000 miles...unless I'm having fun and then it's less, much less.
I've got a 2015 Toyota RAV4 with the original tires. I've only got 34K miles on them but I am pretty sure they will tell me that next time I'm in (Jan 2022) it is time to change tires. I will probably listen to them. Just like us tires wear out.
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