tyre age

[TheAngryDog]

At what age of tyre do you think is too old? Would you buy brand new tyres that had been stored in a warehouse for 3 years?

[kambites]

From what I've read, one of the primary causes of the ageing process that kills tyre rubber is sunlight so tyres which have been sitting in a warehouse for three years are likely to be significantly better than tyres which have been sitting on a car for three years.

[OldBuoy]

Some manufacturers will give you an idea of how old for safe use of their tyres (up to 10yrs) I work to a rule of thumb for 6 yrs. So for me if I purchased 3 yr old tyres I would want to doing enough mileage to wear them out in another 3yrs.

[TheAngryDog]

Tyres last me around a year on current mileage, though that will be halving soon due to use of a second car, so will last 2 years at a guess.

[s p a c e m a n]

Was after the bronze age, they wanted something to protect their bling bling wheels.

[kambites]

TheAngryDog said:

Tyres last me around a year on current mileage, though that will be halving soon due to use of a second car, so will last 2 years at a guess.

They'll be fine then, as long as they haven't been stored squashed or exposed to any horrible chemicals or anything silly like that.

[TooMany2cvs]

TheAngryDog said:

Would you buy brand new tyres that had been stored in a warehouse for 3 years?

Only if they were cheap.

[Dbest92]

When I got my mgb first, the rear tyres were 26 years old! Had been stored for 10 years an used sparingly before that Satisfied the MOT man and they 'looked ok' . Did change them relatively sharpish, the difference was noticeable! Think the rubber goes hard with age.

FWIW the spare doesn't even have any kind of date code, it's that old and even looks ok! So on the right conditions it seems tyres can last a while, whether you'd want them to is a different matter

[TheAngryDog]

Cheers chaps.

My rears have lasted around 17k miles, which tbh on an M5 is waaaay too long

[ging84]

TheAngryDog said:

Cheers chaps.

My rears have lasted around 17k miles, which tbh on an M5 is waaaay too long

Either they are made of stone or something is under your accelerator pedal

[ChemicalChaos]

TooMany2cvs said:

TheAngryDog said:

Would you buy brand new tyres that had been stored in a warehouse for 3 years?

Only if they were cheap.

It isnt just UV-catalysed splitting you have to worry about. As it ages, the rubber hardens - and that happens however the tyres are stored.

Try driving a car round sweeping corners on damp tarmac on 10 year old tyres, and then in the same conditions on new rubber. I've done it twice now (both my cars came with ancient but still mint-looking tyres). You will feel a monumental difference in grip!