Always check tyre dates.

A bloke I know of, bought a new car two years ago. Recently, on a trip between Sydney and Melbourne, one tyre failed. It had only travelled 40,000kms. When he tried to claim on it, he was told the guarantee had expired as it was TEN YEARS OLD. He checked the other tyres and found that they also were ten years old. Guess they were sitting on a shelf for a long, long time. Says a lot for stock rotation.

I've checked the tyres on all my vehicles, how about you lot ????????????

Rick.

:devious: :devious:

Tires degrade over time whether shelved or in use. It also appears that tires with little or no use are more prone to tread separation. This has come up in recent times through manufacturers, distributors and the NHTSA. I couldn't help but think it was another marketing ploy when I heard this.

When I purchased my 240Z two years ago I checked the car out well, including the tires (Pirelli). All looked good for my 500 mile trek home. After an enjoyable high speed run through the Smokey Mountains of NC I was cruising at 70 mph on a straightaway when the right rear tire delaminated. It was a scary situation made worse because the carcass got caught on the spinner and beat the crap out of the wheelwell. Had it happened in the mountain run I probably wouldn't be here to talk about it! All four tires were replaced before continuing my journey home. Even then I had a sickening feeling in my gut the remaining 350 miles.

The present recommendation is to replace tires at the 6 year mark. Not a favorable prospect considering the cost of good tires but what is your car AND your life worth???

This will seem like a dumb question to some but I am all ears at the above posts as some of our cars would likely not do sufficient kilometres to wear out a set of tyres within a six year time limit.

Just exactly how does somebody go about checking the age of their tyres?

EDIT: Found my answer in another current thread. Excellent information posted at http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20520