Tire life in years not miles.

[john.mancini]

15 years ago I put 4 new Conti tires on my 69 280SL. I drive my Pagoda only about 300 miles a year. Every year I inspect the tires, and they still look and feel brand new. Can radial tires that have been kept at ideal conditions last this long and still be safe?

[Garry]

In a simple answer, No.

Unless you have kept the car in a dark room for the whole time and even then they will have passed their shelf life at around ten years under the ideal conditions.  Seven years is the norm.

[tel76]

Garry,
Where do you get your information from?
The tyre companies will tell you anything to get the business.

[Garry]

For a start, search around on the forum here and you will find lots on tyres but I also had some dealings in aircraft tyres on handling and storage and preservation whilst in the Royal Australian Air Force and discussion turned to Motor cars and the use of tyres and storage and the importance of always checking the date of manufacture on a tyre when buying as sometimes you will get tyres that have been on the shelf for two or more years and the consensus is 7 - 8 years from manufacture is the safe life of a tire either on a car on an aircraft where they are returned for re treading and they are rigorously tested before re treading and only have so many recovers and so many years which ever comes first.

I think if you do a search on Google on life of tyres you will also get some information.
Here is a sample
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and tire manufacturers are currently studying the many variables. Exposure to the elements (sun and atmospheric), regularity of use (frequent or only occasional) and the quality of care (maintaining proper inflation pressure, wheel alignment, etc.) will all influence the answer. So while tire life depends on the service conditions and the environment in which they operate, the difficult task remains how to identify all of the variables that influence a tire's calendar age and attempt to quantify their influence.

The current industry association recommendations regarding inspecting and replacing tires due to age originate outside the United States.

The British Rubber Manufacturers Association (BRMA) recommended practice, issued June, 2001, states, "BRMA members strongly recommend that unused tyres should not be put into service if they are over six years old and that all tyres should be replaced ten years from the date of their manufacture."

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=138

Here is another good read on the subject
http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html

[stickandrudderman]

I quite often drive old cars with outdated tyres and when braking in the wet it is immediately obvious that the tyre are old and hard (age hardening is why they need to be replaced).
It is even noticeable in the dry if driving a 500SL because they become quite spin-happy.

[JamesL]

My Porsche had tyres of unknown age on it and I very easily lost grip on all four corners on roundabouts. in the dry
New tyres made it much better (only lost the back end )

They are your grip in corners and when braking. For the cost - even cheapies - it's cheap insurance for your car/life

[mnahon]

I had a pair of 15-year-old Uniroyals on mine that I changed recently. In the rain, it was like driving on ice. The wheels would lock up with even mild braking. I think that old tires can fail in a number of ways; it's not just tire industry propaganda. As a few have said before, it's not worth the risk.

[Cees Klumper]

Here we do go again. I use 10 years as my rule. My Pagoda and '73 Chevrolet are garaged (in the dark) and the tires are pretty well maintained and regularly used. But they will never wear out due to mileage, only age. 10 years for me. I've seen way too many trailers and caravans on the side of the road with a blow-out / flat tire, I speculate because they get much less wear than their pulling cars so "look new" yet are way past their service life. Dangerous! When I got my car in the first few months I was driving on the highway when I heard a loud noise and the car started to vibrate. Stopped on the shoulder and found a large patch of tread had spun off of the 'still in fine condition plenty of profile depth left Michelin whitewall' front tire.

[Jordan]

Just had an appraiser over at the house this afternoon looking at a '60 Beetle my wife is going to drive.  The car was restored about 12 years ago and has maybe 500 km on the tires.  They still look new.  When he saw them he told me to make sure I put new tires on.  He said anything older than about 7 years should be replaced.  He was telling me it was not just the sun but air itself reacts with the rubber. Don't know how true it is but thought I would pass it along as the topic came up again.

[jpinet]

I had the opportunity to work closely on leadership and management issues with the heads of R&D at Michelin both in the USA and in France. As lunch-time conversation got around my driving vintage cars and the difficulty of sometimes finding tires for these cars, they all said to me that even in Michelin's own warehouses, tires go old. The volatile compounds in the rubber evaporate and tires loose their characteristics. I should not drive on tires older than 7 years is what they told me. Now, I know many people drive on tires older than that. It does not mean it' safe.... You will find online how to read dates on tires.

[john.mancini]

Most tire companies recommend that tires be retired, regardless of mileage, between 6 - 10 years from the date of manufacture. I am at the 10 year point with my 5,000 mile Continentals on my 69 280SL. They still look and feel absolutely brand new. I know it's time to replace them, but has anyone out there really pushed the limit on tires?  How long? Curious.
John

[Johnaz]

The ride quality is drastically damaged with older tires, they become hard and the ride and handling suffer. Put on new tires and one can immediately tell the difference in the ride, no longer harsh. Plus they are not safe once hardened up after about 7 years as most have advised.

[vande17941]

Tires are cheap....dump em and buy new ones.  If you are going to skimp, oil your brakes too. Then you can decrease your safety margin even more!

[batman]

I checked my tyres (sorry Tires!) and noted the stamped manufacture date of 08/04, meaning they are more than 11 years old.

I found the original receipt (kept by previous owner) from the Tire Shop (26 October 2004) that fitted them that also indicated mileage of 127,633. My car now 131,200; meaning although they are 11 years old they have only travelled 3,600 miles since fitted.

After reading all the comments below I decided to change them and at the same time change to whitewalls.

After much research there seem to be only 2 or 3 brands available. I went with Sumitomo 195/75 a mid priced tyre (from a very small selection!)

After fitting today I went for a drive - wow - the difference in the ride quality is amazing, no screeching when cornering with some power and an overall much smoother ride, no jarring that seemed to occur with the old set.

I discussed tire life with the owner of the tire shop, with more than 30 years in the business. He was absolutely adamant that tires have a 6 -7 year life and that all sorts of degeneration starts after 6 years.

He also said that, assuming mileage is not a factor, for older cars like ours he would even consider changing after 5 years because as the suspension systems on ours are not as sophisticated as modern cars, the tires may be a relatively more important component of the road adhesion and control processes than more modern cars.

Also - I like the change to whitewall.


 

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Mark,

Your new tires look fantastic! Well done!

Dieter

[sandcrab59]

Hi mark:
Yes the whitewalls are correct. Even though some people might disagree.
When I picked up my 72 220D in Stuttgart in 1972, it came with slim whitewalls.
Also if you look at some of the picture from that time , especially M/B they had the slim whitewalls on the cars.
Tom M

[wwheeler]

There are many things that degrade tire rubber - sun, ozone (yes even in the dark), heat (internal) and grease/oil/cheap shine products. The less they are exposed the better. But even still they will degrade and nothing will stop that. Properties will tend to degrade very rapidly as you approach the end of the tire's useful life more so than at the beginning. Most tire companies I know will NOT service a tire that is more than 10 years old. 

[rmmchl]

ordered my 5 Uniroyal tiger paws today. I got one for the spare in case something happens to one of them and the company stops making them in a few years. Buds Benz uses these on their vehicles. The Hankook tires have a slimmer profile and don't look as good. The size I ordered is 185 70 r 14

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

I also ordered a set of five Unioyal 185/70 14R today (after being in communication with Mike) and once I found out that the Hankook my dealer ordered (195/75 R14 are too big). As Mike mentioned soon we will be out of luck finding 14 inch white wall tires for our car.

Yesterday my dealer called to let me know the Hankook tires arrived (snapped a photo of my car at the shop). As he compared the Hankook 195/75 R14 against my now Michelin 185/70 R14 it was clear to us that the Hankook tire was way too big.

My Michelin tires were made in 2000 (as I found out yesterday) they look like new, however, time has come to recycle them. One of the fellows at the tire shop said to me if the tread is good they last 20 years ... Goes to show you how many different opinions are out there on tire life. I guess mine have last this long since a) they have seen less then 10,000 miles and b) the previous owner and his wife (at two different locations) had this car stored in a heated and air conditioned garage. The last owner (her husband) even has his cottage garage air conditioned and heated since his 50s and 60s American car collection (18 all together) get parked there from time to time during the summer months. Must be nice to have that kind of money and take a different old timer car to the cottage each weekend

Anyway, glad to have found some tires ... Thanks Mike!

[rmmchl]

I will personally show the installer where to place the jacks. These guys don't know our cars. They have been known to use the car lifts and put the lift supports right on the floor pans, which could possibly rip a foot hole in them . I have them use a floor jack and put the jack under each subframe rail. I even have a small dent in one of those, from where someone over the years lifted the car wrong, putting a crease in one of those. I think I will take a one foot by one foot piece of plywood or hardwood to put between the jack and the lift point. For the rear I guess they can put a jack under the rear end housing.  I have learned by mistakes people have made, not being anal. Joe Alexander mentioned to me, he has seen many sub frames rails with dents. Easy to do on our cars.  Do you guys agree? Where is the best jack point for the rear???

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Mike, You will of course do no harm in keeping a close eye on how they lift your car, however, I would think that the tire shop would be knowladgeble  in finding the right support points for the lift. I took some pictures when I was last at the Benz Barn and the two attached photos show the lift and the rear support. The bottom photo is not too clear since I took photos of my control arm bushings, however if you look closely at the bottom of the second photo the lift point for the rear is just at the main point of the control arm.

Hope this helps.

[rmmchl]

http://www.amazon.com/Uniroyal-04910-Tiger-P185-70R14/dp/B0081ZBHX0                   -my uniroyal dealer had to order them and shipping I had to pay was $12.00 per tire. Balance , mounting , and shipping came to only $83.00 per tire  total.. Amazon.com  says this size does not fit our cars. They would be incorrect. I included that webpage to show what the tires like. I did not purchase mine from Amazon.

[Benz Dr.]

Some years ago, a guy brought a 190SL to me from Detroit. It had a set of bias ply tires on it that had all gone flat from 15 years of storage and they had probably been on the car for 25 years. Once I had the engine running properly, I called him to ask about new tires. He had driven the car to my place with those old tires but I didn't want to even think about driving it on the road becuse when I did drive it around my yard it shook so badly I could barely hold on to the steering wheel.

I guess he wanted me to test drive it that way because he wouldn't spring for new rubber. I keep a set of rims with tires around here for such occasions and I put them on instead. Of course it was like night and day, and even though they're well past normal service life, they're still 100 times safer than what he was using.

He picked the car up, drove it back to Detroit with those skanky old tires on it and aparently he made it home. I made him sign a waiver absolving me of any liability if he had an accident. He never came back and I'm not sorry about that either.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Dan, I was shocked when I learned this week that my tires (you saw them first hand several times) are actually 15 years old. As you know they do look like brand new, still age can be blind and hide the danger. I will certainly feel safer driving to PUB in September on new rubber.

I'm thinking back to 2013 driving to Williamsburg and back home on those tires at speeds of 70 and sometimes even faster on express ways I should have looked into new rubber before that trip. Live and learn I guess, at the time the good looks of my tires fooled me is all I can say in retrospect

[hkollan]

Would you folks explain why you chose to buy smaller tires than what these cars came with?  According to the Tech Manual and Coker Tires (makers or the repro phoenix), these cars came with 185-75-14  and both of you stated that you ordered a smaller size - 185-70-14.  Would appreciate if you can explain your reasoning for choosing the smaller tires. .

Hi Kampala,

I was wondering the same thing myself.
I can only think of these reasons for buying smaller than original tire size tires for a pagoda.
You want to increase the revs on highway driving. Increase fuelconsumption. Slightly better acceleration possibly.
You like the look of smaller tires. And they might be cheaper.
The original full profile 185 14 tires I believe are very close to the currently available 185/80-14 in size.
Which is what I prefer myself.

Hans