I was over at discount tire today and they are recommending replacing your tires after 6 years. They say after that the likelihood of tire failure due to fatigued sidewalls and tread separation increases faster.

My Michelin pilot super sports that I bought in 2010 are dated 2009 so I'm already in year 8. I noticed the ride seems like the rubber is a little harder and the ride not so soft the last year or so.

What's your experience with tire aging?

Thanks

 

I had old tires on my car as old as yours. I didn't feel they were a safety hazard as I inspected them and they didn't appear to have any cracks. However after putting on new wheels and tires I noticed a huge improvement in ride quality even going up to a larger wheel with a thinner tire

 

When I bought mine last April , it had 24000 with the original runflats. They actually were fun , slid a lot but controllable and smoked em off the line ! Replaced with Goodrich and very happy with ride . I would think with low miles you have some time but non run flats are all around better in my opinion. I carry fix a flat and a little prayer

 

I too have heard the recommendation for replacing tires at about the six year point.

Here is what the Tire Rack recommends on their site:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=267

 

I'm getting the new Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires on Tue for my 02Z mainly because my rears are the original Goodyear Super Car tires from 2002 which means they are at least 15 years old. Even though they only have 10k miles on them and do not have any cracking, I don't trust them and they do seem a bit hard and very easy to break loose. Most tire stores will not sell tires that are 5 years old or older due to safety reasons.

Steve

 

When I bought my Z last October, it had some really old firestone wide ovals, dated 2006. They had almost full tread left but I could almost effortlessly spin the tires through 3 gears and like was said above, they were fun but when I went 19's all the way around and new Hankooks with less sidewall, the change in ride and traction was night and day. In comparison it was like i had rocks for tires. New skins are a must when much past 5 or 6 years for safety foremost not to mention the other benefits.

 

I had some Goodyears on my daily driver with a high wear rating. Bottom line is I got a ton of wear from them but after 4 years they were like a rock. It was quite noticeable when pulling out and braking in wet conditions. Horrible grip with plenty of tread depth left.

On my 04 Z, after 4 years, the OEM Goodyears had no grip left in the dry. Throttle down and spin spin spin.

There's a point regardless of tread depth when the grip in both wet and dry is gone. Does that mean the tire will delaminate after 6 years? Possibly, and on a Corvette the damage at highway speeds would be expensive. But based on how an owner drives their Corvette and their willingness to take the risk will determine if new rubber is on the car after a number of years.

 

---------
These people are the experts ... be smart, follow their advice.

 

My 7 year old tires, even though they had a lot of tread left, caused me to go into a snap oversteer situation in the rain, causing front end damage and requiring replacing a rim. The amount of money I spent on repairs (not including labor most of which I did myself) was equivalent to the cost of the new Continental Extremecontacts that I bought to replace the tires, and it isn't fixed to perfection. I would say don't risk losing control of your car in an unexpected situation, the cost of the tires is much less than any potential repairs you might have to do.

 

What about tires from 1974 (not oem to the car...is a '69)Only 43yrs old on my c3

I can't say I've driven too much on them, but aside from the poor ride; they are like grease on ice in the wet. I ran out of lock just turning into the neighborhood when it tried to loop lol.

 

The real problem comes in as many of the larger tire chains won't touch your tires once they hit a certain age. Don't ask how I know!

You can't put a cost on safety!

 

Kind of funny, though that all of this concern about tire age is a rather recent development. Years ago, you bought tires, put them on the car, and drove it until they were worn out, then you replaced them.

I'm not trying to be "hard headed" about this, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who puts only 11-1200 miles a year on their Corvette. Mine is an '01, purchased in July of 2001, currently with 25,000 miles on it.

When the car was 2 years old, with about 2500 miles on it, I must have run over something on the road, which put a deep cut in the tire, where the tread and sidewall met. It held air, but wasn't safe to drive on. I should have replaced both rear tires, but given the cost of a Goodyear run-flat, I only replaced the LR tire, the damaged one. a few thousand miles later, the OE tires were wearing at a faster rate than the replacement tire, and the limited slip unit wasn't happy.

I wanted a new set of wheels, anyway, to personalize the car, so I stepped up, and 4 new Michelins, and 4 new BBS wheels went on the car. About 10 years go by, the tires still have a lot of tread left, but I noticed a couple of very small, hairline cracks developing in the tires.

Once again, 4 new Michelins. That was a couple of thousand miles ago. 25,000 miles on the car, and I'm on my 3rd set of tires. I have yet to wear out a tire, on this car.....