[TheOtherLeft]

Hiya all,

I have a 10yr old tyre. It was originally a spare so has very very little use and was then stored in a shed out of the weather for several years. It appears not to have any cracks in the rubber.

Do you think it's still safe to use? I've heard stories of farmers storing spares in the shed for several years and then using them. But then I've heard that tyres shouldn't be sold if more then 5 yrs old due to ageing of the rubber and going hard or delaminating when used.

Thanks,
Ben

[Fatzook]

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

[sideways]

TheOtherLeft wrote:

Hiya all,

I have a 10yr old tyre. It was originally a spare so has very very little use and was then stored in a shed out of the weather for several years. It appears not to have any cracks in the rubber.

Do you think it's still safe to use? I've heard stories of farmers storing spares in the shed for several years and then using them. But then I've heard that tyres shouldn't be sold if more then 5 yrs old due to ageing of the rubber and going hard or delaminating when used.

Thanks,
Ben

I can tell that on the farm we have an early leaf sprung GQ ute (used mainly for transporting milk from the dairy to the calves), it used to have tyres that were only a few years old, now they've fitted ones that were supposedly bought in the 80's, have about 20% tread and are ridiculously cracked. This was done to improve off road performance (of which it previously had none).

The moral of the story, don't take advice from farmers on what is safe.

It completely depends on your use too, the above mentioned Patrol never leaves the farm and will probably never get over 60km/h in its life, thus it is relatively "safe" to use such scary tyres.

For what I do, I would use a tyre if it wasn't cracked but the 7 year rule is the one to stick to if you do decent road miles at speed.

[Joe]

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years
Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

[abclarke]

Really, for the price of some cheap tyres, would it be worth the risk?

[MacDaddy]

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years
Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

How can you tell the age of the tyre, i am pretty sure its on the tyre somewhere, is the date in a code, as i havnt found anything that looks like a date, or maybe i am looking at the wrong thing...

[Joe]

MacDaddy wrote:

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years
Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

How can you tell the age of the tyre, i am pretty sure its on the tyre somewhere, is the date in a code, as i havnt found anything that looks like a date, or maybe i am looking at the wrong thing...

Look for the D.O.T on the sidewall



Where that one says LMLR5107 the 5107 on the end is the date, that tyre was made on the 51th week of 2007

[TheOtherLeft]

double post

[TheOtherLeft]

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years

I didn't realise there was an Aus Std on tyre life. CHeers.

Joe wrote:

Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

So how come you still carry it as a spare if you're not willing to use it?

[fordem]

I wouldn't - and that's based on personal experience.

Back when times were hard & money was tight (well tighter that it is now) I did exactly that - I had one blow out the sidewall at 60 odd mph in gravel - fortunately that car was super stable even with a flat - I also used one as a spare, and had a puncture several hours drive from anywhere, put the spare on, and it delaminated and went egg shaped on me about 15 minutes after - that was a long, slow drive home.

More recently I have bought a set of four new "old stock" tires - no more than five years old (it was the only way to get the size I was looking for) - about 18,000 miles later, the first one went egg shaped on me, followed by a second shortly after, at which point I got rid of them.

[MacDaddy]

Joe wrote:

MacDaddy wrote:

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years
Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

How can you tell the age of the tyre, i am pretty sure its on the tyre somewhere, is the date in a code, as i havnt found anything that looks like a date, or maybe i am looking at the wrong thing...

Look for the D.O.T on the sidewall



Where that one says LMLR5107 the 5107 on the end is the date, that tyre was made on the 51th week of 2007

Cool, thanks Joe !

[TZAR]

MacDaddy wrote:

Joe wrote:

MacDaddy wrote:

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

7 years. Then they go in the bin.

I'm sure there are ways to store them correctly ( chalk etc ) but nobody does that.

UV and time damages the rubber. Probably not a good idea to rely on a 10 year old tyre.

The Australian standed is 8 years
Not worth using it even if it looks ok there is still a good chance it can blow out and cause some damage
The spare on my GV has never been on the road and it was made in 2002 so even though it's been under a tyre cover and looks brand new with no signs of cracks or ageing it will never be driven on

How can you tell the age of the tyre, i am pretty sure its on the tyre somewhere, is the date in a code, as i havnt found anything that looks like a date, or maybe i am looking at the wrong thing...

Look for the D.O.T on the sidewall



Where that one says LMLR5107 the 5107 on the end is the date, that tyre was made on the 51th week of 2007

Cool, thanks Joe !

And if it only has 3 digits in the code then it was made in the 1990's and if it has a star at the beginning then its old from the early 2000's and if to tell if it is from the 1980's normally you need to know what tyres were made and when.


I have a 285/75R16 BFG that was my mates on landcruiser as a spare and that is from 1995 and now its on the front of my pootrol. Why cause I am a severe tight arse. Yes its dangerous, and especially being a BFG thats that old.

[Joe]

TheOtherLeft wrote:

So how come you still carry it as a spare if you're not willing to use it?

I haven't had the car for that long and i'm planning to get 5 new tyres soon anyway