[79firebird_99TA]

What is the general rule when it comes to longevity of tires?
The Firebird has been in the shop for the last 3 years and I'm looking to put it back in action this weekend. The tires are Cooper Cobras. I don't see any bulging or dry rotting. They're probably 10 years ago.

Thoughts? Run em?!!

[steve25]

Sometimes tires will not show any dry rotting on the side walls, but they will be cracked in the tread area.

[Skip Fix]

I know the Discount Tire Storess here will not even swap wheels on tires 8 years old.

[65madgoat]

Our Discount Tire stores will not touch tires now over 6 years old. And most tire shops only work on tires less than 10 years old.

If stored properly -off- the car, you should be fine. If they have been sitting on the car the past 3 years, they could have (temporary) flat spots. If chemicals or sun came in contact with them, I'd consider new tires.

[Mr Twister]

I would not take a chance on 10 year old tires for anything other than a trip to the tire store.

[george kujanski]

I had a set of Dunlop GT Qualifier on my GTO, bought in '83..... in about 2015 I go into the garage and the tread peeled off and was lying on the floor. During this time, I never drove the car much at all, thankfully. Liked those tires a lot.

Moral of the story... 10 years is probably the most, especially for "normal" driving..... don't push it for any high speed stuff.

My motorcycle is getting a new set this coming season also....more than 10 years on it.

george

[65madgoat]

Compare cost of repairing a 1/4 panel that gets ruined from a blowout and cost of new tires.

And if old tires on a motorcycle, your life versus a $250 tire..... never do I ride with tires more than 3-4 years old.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Well, i've been lucky:

old tires on GTO were from 2005 and still on the car (new owner though), even sporting a bulge on 1 for about 15 years.

Lincoln TC #3; plugged a leak 3 years ago: now low tread and replaced the pair with new.
Lincoln TC #2: caught a construction nail this week: low tread and replaced the pair with new.

Kept the 4 old skins because no signs of cracking; gonna look for nice TC rims and mount em as "spares", then get new pairs when they toast. Thus begins ability for rotation of pairs.

[sdbob]

I had BFG Radial TAS on my street driven TA forever. I was worried so last summer before I drove it to shows , I put new BFGs on. I asked shop to look at old tires ,didnt 'see' anything,they were flexible to get off. I looked closely at them inside and out no cracks. Sooo I dont know. I did chirp them couple a times going to tire shop. SSoo! I kept them. Now what? I think new tires are cheap insurance,wel maybe.

[67drake]

I put new skins all the way around my ‘71 and ‘63 last year. On my ‘71 GTO, the treads were still OK, and no dry rot, but after checking the DOT numbers, one pair was from the late 90’s, and the other just a couple years newer. I’m going to be racking the miles up on my vehicles now, so didn’t want to chance it with 20+ year old tires.

[jhein]

If your tires are lasting more than few years you need to be doing way more burnouts.

[rlfonad]

When I garage my two GTO's, I park them on old floor mats. That way they are not sitting directly on cement. Seems to help. Kind-of makes sense, which is scary!

[DavesGTO]

7 years max for me, don’t care what they look like.


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[gtokid1968]

Bought the car in 2004 tires were like brand new. BFG Raidial T/A's 15'' on Ralley 2's
Last sping I removed them to rotate and looked them over VERY closely no dry rot no cracks anywhere! Never felt a flat spot EVER!
Car is stored inside year round, never below 50 deg in winter never above 77 in the summer, while in garage.
Just sitting on the concrete doesnt move from time parked in fall to start up in sping.
Never driven on interstate, but I beat on the car pretty hard when I drive it!
I guess I should replce them but they seem fine!
Every sping I say I should replace them with ralley 1's and redlines, untill I price them and then say well maybe next year.

[Formulajones]

It has a lot to do with the climate you live in. When I lived in Ohio it wasn't uncommon to run tires for several years without issue, and I rarely ever saw blowouts on the side of the road. I really never worried about it. In fact nearly 30 years of driving out there and I never had a blowout.

Moved to Arizona, different deal. Had a few blowouts here already. Out here if you have tires that last more than 5-6 years you're lucky, and blowouts on the side of the road are a regular occurrence in the summer time here. Usually see 2-3 per week on the side of the highway.

I think with the 100+ temps, constant UV rays, and black top that's 150+ degrees it's just much harder on the tires. They just blow out without warning.
Had a front tire blowout on my truck at 70 mph that did $3200 damage and those prices were 10 years ago.

These days, for me it's just not worth the risk, especially on an expensive classic car. After 5-6 years they get replaced. In fact I have a couple cars now that I'm looking at putting new tires on just because of age.

Up to you guys if you want to roll the dice. I know Arizonan's will tell ya to replace the tires LOL

[Ram Air IV Jack]

Originally Posted by 79firebird_99TA

What is the general rule when it comes to longevity of tires?
The Firebird has been in the shop for the last 3 years and I'm looking to put it back in action this weekend. The tires are Cooper Cobras. I don't see any bulging or dry rotting. They're probably 10 years ago.

Thoughts? Run em?!!

There is no "general rule" here as I'm sure you can see from the responses you're getting. Unless your tires are cracked, sidewalls, treads, just run them. I work in a tire center and have asked our seasoned staff this question. They pretty much tell me what I just said. I have 30+ year Firestone Wide Ovals on my GTO and they look great all around. Some of my club members tell me to replace them but no sir!! The car is hardly driven and kept in an insulated garage. Now my regular driven cars are a different story, and tires get replaced when the tread is worn.

Asking a question like this is like asking everyone what the best oil to use. Answers will be many and all over the place!! If you want to change tires that show little or no wear fine, that is your decision. But really all you're doing is enriching the tire companies!!

[mgarblik]

If you ask the "Tire Experts", that would be the pimple faced 17 year old with 2 weeks experience at a local tire store, they will tell you to replace your tires every 3 years. Why not? That's a $1000.00 sale with mounting, balancing, tax and disposal fees! Then , they can sell your 3 year old take-offs for another $300.00. Sounds like a cool business plan to me. Consumer Reports, who are generally very conservative with their recommendations wants tires replaced every 10 years, no matter what visual condition they are in. Replace sooner if any cracks in the tread root, or sidewalls. I feel comfortable with that recommendation and have been following it. Certain brands seem to crack much sooner than others. Michelin seem to be among the most expensive and crack the earliest. But they DO stand behind their product. Had a full set of 18" premium Michelin tires crack badly after only 3 years and 18K miles. All 4 cracked to the cord in the tread, and cracked on all the sidewalls as well. Michelin replaced 3 free and I had to buy 1 tire. Very fair, IMO.

[OCMDGTO]

Timely question since I just got new front tires for my car. The old ones were 7yrs old with tons of tread left but they were showing longitudinal cracks between the treads. 25 yr old me would have run them but 58 yr old me likes peace of mind not worrying about a blowout at the track or on the highway. The tires that came on my 20 Silverado (brand new) had to be replaced last year due to the same cracking that resulted in unfixable slow leaks. They don't make them like they used to.

[The Champ]

You can't tell from the outside of the tires that the cords or belts are separating until after they do.

I had 4 Uniroyal Redline radials that only had 18,000 miles (average of 2,000 miles per year) on them. Car was always stored inside. Sidewalls and tread looked perfect. In 2004, coming back from a car show on the Interstate, started to feel a vibration coming from the rear. Slowed down, and it got worse, pulled over to see if anything was loose or obvious. Everything appeared normal. I was only about 1.5 miles from an exit, so drove on the shoulder at a slow speed - vibration got even worse.

Pulled off and parked in a hotel parking lot. Started looking underneath. Left rear shock was HOT, right shock not so much. Then my wife asked me what 'that' was. Crawled out from underneath to get to her vantage point and steel cords were sticking out through the sidewall. Jacked car up, replaced it with my never been on the car spare. Took a better look at the tire I pulled off and by that time there was a fist size bump in the tread surface.

Thought that I had a rare tire failure and with a fresh spare in place thought everything was fine. About 500 miles of driving later, I felt a vibration again. Looked real hard at the other 3 tires, but couldn't see any issues. Had a spare set of mounted tires - put them on - no vibration.

Rolled one of the suspect tires and noticed it twerk once every revolution at the same spot. Tried rolling the other 2 - same thing. All three had a very slight bulge in the tread.

Since then, I haven't exceeded 7 years on a set of tires.

You can do whatever you want, but please don't drive anywhere near me with old tires. I don't want to be the victim of your mistake.

[george kujanski]

ramAir IV: I would replace those 30 year old wide ovals. My 30+ Dunlops were still in nice shape visually, not a lot of miles on them, stored in a garage . tread peeled off one day, standing still.

George