Quote:
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?!!
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Tires last fifteen minutes, or fifteen years. Depends on how they're used.
The tire industry has some *insane* recommendations, clearly designed by product-liability lawyers
not engineers.
- Best tires on the rear, not the front (including wrong-wheel-drive cars where the rear tires do nothing but keep the back bumper from dragging on the pavement.
- Tires need to be replaced after five (or ten) years regardless of condition.
- Tire repairs need to be hyperexpensive, and must include the tire being removed from the wheel
The front wheels do all of the steering, most of the braking, and all of the forward propulsion on wrong-wheel drive cars. Best tires to the front, and beware of--but not paranoid of--oversteer on low-traction surfaces. I've run tires that are far older than ten years; my friend is running tires on his 2-ton work truck that are decades old. I've used the D-I-Y Safety-Seal "worms" to seal punctures, and they work just fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Seal-L...dp/B0080IJYVK?
Big surprise: The tire industry provides "recommendations" that are self-serving, high-profit, and prey on motorist ignorance; while being "defensible" in court especially if the jury is uneducated in motor-vehicle dynamics. I have an unproven suspicion that modern rubber compounds--in particular from the bottom-feeder import brands--are
deliberately designed to degrade so the consumer has to perpetually buy more new tires. This applies to tires, to windshield-wiper blades, and rubber products in general.