red70stingray

I have a chance to buy a set of 4 BF Goodrich radial T/A 's for my car.
They are new, never mounted but are 5 years old... (bought for a project that never was... Is a tire that old still safe? They seems soft and plyable with zero checking...
Whats really bothering me as well is.... if i buy new from the store, how do i know there not as old or older???

razman

i'm no expert....but i have to say IMO these tires wouldn't scare me at all....never mounted, brand new, and really not THAT old. i would think that once a tire is mounted, pressured up, and exposed to road conditions, that is when the "ageing" begins. i assume that you are getting a pretty good deal on them, and i would go for it!

Ben Lurkin

Yeah, they should be fine. All tires, however, dry rot due to oxidation from ozone; even if they are not used. Generally ten years is the accepted life of a tire.

Here's a good link for deciphering the manufacture date of a tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

SmokedTires

Any dry rot on the sidewalls and I would send them to the trash

talltxin

I too would think at 5 years old thats not too bad considering they have never been on the road.

vettebuyer6369

There were 5 TAs on ebay last week, reduced from $400 to $300. 4 were mounted but were almost new, one unmounted & new. 5 years old. I considered it but passed.

joewill

ageing begins as soon as they are manufactured, any tires 5 years old would have to be offered to me at a significant discount to ones fresh off the press..

hunt4cleanair

European manufacturers write into their product brochures and auto manufacturers go along with it that tires have a life expectancy of six years. The tire date code is used to determine tire age. If you look at the date code of those T/As, they are probably older than stated due to time spent on the shelf before purchase.

If you plan to drive the car, the investment is worth a new set of treads. Kelsey makes some nice original looking repro tires for the Good Year Radial GT, Eagle GT series. I've attached links to two articles; first is on Corvette Tire Safety and the other on the Kelsey tires.

Corvette Tire Safety

Kelsey P255s

milo30

Generally speaking the tires should be replaced no more than 7 years from when they were made. There should be a date code that you can look up on the tire to see when it was made. 5 years and not mounted, no rot, you should be ok but don't leave them on the car the next few years after buying them. A blown tire could ruin your day in fiberglass damage.

The problem is that when the tires get old you can't always see the weakness in the rubber with your eyes. I'd make sure that they weren't bought 5 years ago but were a year or more old when they were purchased. If you planned on taking it to the track at all for fun, I'd start to be a little concerned about them.

beige79

Five years is the limit for me. It is just not worth saving a few dollars on rubber and risking a blowout on a plastic car. A blowout at highway speeds can produce a lot of damage on a metal or a fiberglass car. I would say spend a little more and get new tires with plenty of service life left. My 2¢ anyway...

alswagg

Too old, the tires have a date code on the side wall's. I suspect these are older than 5 years also. For the cost go with new from a reputable dealer who moves alot of tires, such as Tire Rack. In our area, Tire Rack will mount and allow for a test drive on their test track. If you don't like they will allow you to test another set of different brand or such. Limited availablity of tires available for C3's Good year, Firestone and BFG, Maybe Cooper also. Al

garage-ghost

I wouldn't buy them. Get new your life rides on them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdgkCezxP0c

79 vette head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-JDP...eature=related

centralcalvette

6 years is the industry standard. I procrastinated getting tires for my motorhome, they are expensive. the last two old tires were on the back and inside,one blew out and caused "some" damage. It put us back several hours on a quick weekend trip. Imagine a blow out on a vet. Fiberglass shranel and the remains of your quarterpanel all over the freeway, if you survive. Even if the tires are free, they won't pay your deductable. Heck, your insuracne company may blame you and deny your claim ! Worst part, if it is still dravable, will you be able to find a replacment on the road?

10caipirinhas

5 years from the date of manufacture is my limit, mounted or unmounted........and, I always take a car with new tires out for a non-stop 200 KM drive to properly heat cycle the tires as well, before starting daily use.

24695bob

I buy a set of 4 every spring for ONE of my Corvettes ( I currently own 6 Corvettes) so this discussion just tells me NOT TO BUY another Corvette ...LOL

Seriously my 64 72 76 and 79s tires are inexpensive but my 88 and 98 sure are not... so my rotation is 64-72-98-(ouch)-76-79-88 (ouch)..

I DO thank you working stiffs because you all donate your hard earned money so that I get a Monthly Social Security check which is used to fund ALL my hobbies...

Bob G.

Patrick73

Two weeks ago I put on 4 new BFG 255/60's for $422.00 The tires I had looked great; had only about 10,000 miles on them---but they were 8 to 9 years old. I should have replaced them sooner, but procrastinated. I think that 5 to 6 years is a good estimate of maximum available tire life for a mounted/driven tire regardless of actual mileage--especially if a person is doing any sustained highway driving at 65 to 70 mph--why take a chance.

Spot Rot

I've talked with engineers at the major tire manufacturers, and (surprisingly) they agree on:

1. Tires age relatively little before they are mounted if kept out of sunlight in a good storage environment.
2. Tires begin aging more quickly after being mounted, loaded and heat cycled.
3. After mounting and use, a tire's safe life span is decreased substantially if they are not driven frequently (e.g. a at least a few times a month). This is because the flexing and heating keeps the adhesives active and dispersed evenly amoung the piles and layers.
4. Largely due to "3," used low-mileage tires that look great can be unsafe and blow - ask any experienced RV'er.

Much good advice already here, e.g. check the mfg date.
Pass on used tires if you'll be doing any spirited or high speed driving. If it mostly stays in the garage and only goes out to lunch or a show now and then, not so much to worry about.

My tires are now 6 years old with little sun exposure but the tread rubber has become much harder - very poor grip now. I'm planning to have some fun and burn off the tread autocrossing, then I'll have to get new skins!

srs244

there was a great investigative report a couple of years ago that exposed among others, sears as selling as "new" tires off their rack with date codes many years older. regardless of obvious dry rot appearance there is a point at which a tire is too old to be safely used even if it has been stored in a temperature controlled environment and never been mounted. check the date code and decide for yourself about safety. my guess is that they are at least 7 years old if not older. if it were me, i wouldn't use them.

Paul Borowski

....I wouldn't buy them, but would accept them gladly for FREE. Send me a pm and I'll give you my address where to send them.

...I wouldn't have a single problem using those. I think that "six year" rule is about as silly as the "3000mi oil change rule". Both of them only benefits the manufacturer. It's all HYPE and OVER REACTION.

...in all my hundreds of thousands of miles of driving, over 60 some cars & trucks I've owned, I had ONE tire come apart on me and it was 27 YEARS OLD!!!

...5 year old unused tires, to me are perfect ESPECIALLY if stored properly and out of the sunlight. Send the set to me.