Tire Facts, or BS

Here’s a little bit of information Roger was actually driving and they both belonged to a racing club  

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I just recently bought a used pickup and it has Toyo's on it that are 5 yrs. old but plenty of tread left. I figured they were about aged out at 5 yrs. but I went to the Toyo website and their recommended age out was 10 yrs. I've always heard the 5 to 6 yrs as mentioned on this thread?

Edit to add a thought....could technology advances improve the rubber compounds to last longer than in the past? Seems plausible.

 
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THD said:
I just recently bought a used pickup and it has Toyo's on it that are 5 yrs. old but plenty of tread left. I figured they were about aged out at 5 yrs. but I went to the Toyo website and their recommended age out was 10 yrs. I've always heard the 5 to 6 yrs as mentioned on this thread?

Edit to add a thought....could technology advances improve the rubber compounds to last longer than in the past? Seems plausible.
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I buy tires wholesale and the local warehouses can keep tires on the shelf for 3 years. After that they will discount them but they can potentially spend more time in their stock after that if they don't sell.

 
THD said:
I just recently bought a used pickup and it has Toyo's on it that are 5 yrs. old but plenty of tread left. I figured they were about aged out at 5 yrs. but I went to the Toyo website and their recommended age out was 10 yrs. I've always heard the 5 to 6 yrs as mentioned on this thread?

Edit to add a thought....could technology advances improve the rubber compounds to last longer than in the past? Seems plausible.
Click to expand...
I think most tires today are made with more synthetic rubber vs natural rubber so I would guess that the life expectancy would be longer 

 
I'm a motorcycle mechanic so I deal with a lot of old and worn tires that people won't change because they are "just fine" and have "plenty of tread". From my experience, the older a tire is, the harder it gets and the less it grips the road, and it also doesn't grip the rim nearly as well, although that doesnt usually affect much. The question was about thread depth and traction, though, and in my opinion traction probably won't change enough to really notice if the age is the same. I could however see it changing some as the tire has less rubber to flex and give as you go over uneven, even slightly, pavement. You would be close to the cords so it would have less flex above them, which is good on a track but not so good on an actual road. You want it to flex around the imperfections, like independent suspension. My car needs tires, I can see the cords on 2, so I'd run them for a couple more months in your position, my bikes dont usually get that low on tread, though.

 
I think you are asking the wrong question.  Is two months of "wasting away" going to affect the life of some tires that will likely not age out anyway based on how much you drive, or is the chance higher that some rain or just a wet road puts you in the ditch on your bald ass tires?

 
My two cents: Tread void is for debris or water to enter and get out of the way of the rubber contacting the road surface. Race cars use slicks because they are on a prepped clean track. The racers switch to treaded tires in the rain to allow the water on the road surface to go somewhere instead of in between the rubber and the road. In your instance, the tread depth or lack thereof won't affect stopping distance on a dry and clean road. If there is sand or other debris on that road, it will acts like ball bearings on your tires, resisting stopping or turning forces. 

  Tire age will effect stopping and handling performance but there are so many other forces at work that age is just one factor to consider. There is no absolute statement there. A 20 year old tire may travel across the US just fine at highway speeds. A brand new tire may blow out in 20 miles. I change out my ST (Trailer) tires every 4 years. These tires don't seem to last very long but again, I towed my first travel trailer home from Texas to SoCal on 10 year old tires with no issues out of ignorance. I change out my vehicle tires after 7 years if not worn out by then. These numbers are purely subjective and I may have been able to stretch out those times by years. I live in the hot and dry inland desert though and the sun does a number on the rubber. For peace of mind, I err on the side of caution. 

  Motorcycle tires are a little different. The contact patch of the tires is much less than a vehicle and the bike depends on the friction between the rubber and road surface to grip in turns and when stopping. When the age of the tires causes the rubber to harden, that grip diminishes. I fortunately wore the tires out before aging them out. I think I would replace them at 4 years though. 

 
Kat-A-Tonic said:
I think you are asking the wrong question.  Is two months of "wasting away" going to affect the life of some tires that will likely not age out anyway based on how much you drive, or is the chance higher that some rain or just a wet road puts you in the ditch on your bald ass tires?
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You're kinda missing his point.  It's not 2 months wasting away.  It might be nearly a year before his 'new" tire hit the road again.

Me, Run the old ones.  Get new rubber in the spring.

Oh...and how about you knuckleheads reduce your fractions...4/32?  Ruler across the hands..

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
You're kinda missing his point.  It's not 2 months wasting away.  It might be nearly a year before his 'new" tire hit the road again.

Me, Run the old ones.  Get new rubber in the spring.

Oh...and how about you knuckleheads reduce your fractions...4/32?  Ruler across the hands..
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The point is what is a year going to do to the total life of the tire compared to what you may run into now with regard to weather. 

And tread depth is measured in 32nds so 4 makes sense in this instance. 

 
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