Len McRiddle

Saw this over at the Solstice forum, and thought I would share it here.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIn...897&affil=wfaa

halfpanel08

10,800 miles.. not very impressed by the stock tires.. they are roundin off pretty bad. i rotated them already and keep air pressure at recommended #

hyperv6

Bunch of lawyer hype for the most part.

The dates were never hidden. Age may be a factor in some cases but it is rare. The MFG have offered info to tell when it was made and where it was made on the DOT# for years. No hidden secerets.

The leading cause of tire failure is inccorect pressure. This produces heat and causes more failure than anything. Heat is the prime killer of tires.

This is more about Lawyers creating hype to take companies to court. Most times the company settles out of court just because it is cheaper than fighting them in court.

There are a lot of factors the break down a tire, Heat, Sun light and Ozone form say an electric motor can cause a tire to break down. Most tires can have a long life if they are stored properly.

The only tires that do have a short shelf life are some racing tires as they use compound sometimes that can dy rot in a short time. Drag slicks are the most prone.

Even the rain tires Goodyear uses in NASCAR Nationwise series are 6-8 years old. They ran with nary a worry or issue under extreem conditions.

Most tire failures anymore are due to poor care on the owners part.

The first thing to note if a tires is drying out is it gets hard and show signs of dry rot. Usally the trad and sidewall will be hard enough to tell by touching it. Wet traction also will be effected.

So be aware of your tires conditions and care and it will limit 99% of any danager you face. Please don't fall for this sensationalizam of a bunch of lawyers and networks looking for money and ratings.

Please note many tires styles and brands seldom are around in onew configuration for more than a few years. They come out with updated tread and names regularly

Old Lar

The HHR's tires on my 06 were made week 4905. I have 39K miles on them and I still have lots of tread left. On my other cars, the code is on the inside and maybe on the old side. Two of my tires on my 88 car had broken belts during a road trip on both back tires at different times. One tire was made wk 2207, the other wk 4502.

wxman

Hyper, would you buy a brand new 6 year old tire? I wouldn't have even thought to check the age. I think that is the intent of the report, to inform consumers.

Whether or not tire age was a factor in a crash we can leave for experts to decide. But, old rubber = more brittle certainly seems plausible to me.

Len McRiddle

Exactly

hyperv6

I have bought tires that old several times before and have some much older than that on one of my cars now. I had no issue or great fear of them because I know the truth.

Having a good working knowledge of the rubber industry and how tires really work, are made and what harms them helps. I don't have to work off of any "Plausible Ideas".

This is just another chicken little story for ratings.

Tires for the most are a lot better than they are giving them credit for. Yes there are some bad ones out there, But very few compared to what it used to be like. Back in the 50's and 60's you carried a spare because you needed it. Today many cars reach 100,000 miles and never have the spare out of the trunk. Also back then you only got 15,000 miles out of a tire.

I have seen some major things puncture tires and not only did they not go flat but the owner drove in on them to have it repaired. You would be amazed at what a tire will take before it fails.


Bottom line this is not as big of a deal as they are making it. Tire pressure being too low is much more an issue with crashes and tire damage than age.


My word of caution here before anyone gets rid of some tires because they think it is like spoiled milk get the whole story and do not depend on some raging news guy and a few lawyers as there is two sides to this story.

Here is a factoid: Most people don't understand or know that they have been doing away with white letters and sidewalls due to the fact they are weak spots in tires. White rubber is not a structual rubber and makes for a spot for the tire to fail under high temps.

Note all your speed rated tires are not white lettered unless it is a decal like the NASCAR tires. If it has lettering it is now a heat applied sticker or just black. The low non speed rated tires S rated and down if I recall are all that are left using white rubber. It is not just styling but safety in todays faster cars.

amarok78

I like how they showed a tire tread from a tractor trailer on the side of the road and said "signs of this problem are littered all over America's highways".

I know for a fact that the majority of truck treads littering our roads have come off due to poor RE-treading techniques than the actual age of the tire.

It is a very common practice for commercial OTR companies to run truck tires down, retread them, and run them down again. Sometimes the retreading process is not done ideally and the result is the new tread peeling off the old tire at highway speed.

I agree that the information on reading date codes is useful, but not necessarily for the reasons they state in the segment.

solman98

Personally I don't like to keep tires more than 4-5 years. I've had two blow outs in the past (tire pressure good, checked monthly). Both tires were in that 4-5 year range. These were OEM tires on the vehicles when bought, so actual age, unknown to me. All were replaced at that time, reguardless of the mileage. If one was weak enough to blow, didn't trust the rest.

But I wouldn't sweat this too much. I agree that tire pressure checks and normal maintenance is the key. Just like hoses and belts, they can go bad.

hyperv6

One point they fail to mention is proper storage.

Cool dark storage out of sun light and away from electric motors is key to long shelf life of tires. Most MFG follow this in the distribution of tires.

As for the local sellers that is out of their hands. a Tire in a tire rack baking in the Califorinia sun for 5 years will suffer but it the exception more than the rule.

We have alot more things to worry about than the possiblity of a blow out these days.

Cell phones cause more crashes than anything other than drinking and drugs.