OT - ABC news is making a statement that tires over 6 years old should be banned....

Greetings all....

a ' friend ' sent me this one.... it's a 20/20 special developed by ABC about how 'tire stores' are selling aged tires as 'brand new'. 'Aged' according to ABC news and the ' activists' are tires over 6 years old. Like most other 20/20 'pseudo' documentaries... there is a complete lack of information from qualified experts... in this case tire engineers.

So, an obvious question based upon their (agenda), is, if tires have a shelf life of 6 years... then I would logically expect that during an annual safety inspection...any tire older than 2002 would have to be rejected by the inspection station as being 'unsafe' due to age.

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I guess I'm looking for 'knowledgeable' opinions about whether tires actually do have a shelf life, or storage life (when stored correctly) and whether tires on cars should be replaced after a certain 'time' rather than 'mileage'.

How much of this story...in your opinion, is typical 20/20 alarmist B.S. and how much of it is factual.

Peter

Reply to
Peter
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I can say from experience that even if a car isn't driven much, the tires do deteriorate over time. My Grandparent's Chevy Lumina had to have the tires replaced at around 50,000 (or so) KM's (this was the second set on the car, as far as I know). They started to dry out and crack, due to non use.

Reply to
80 Knight

When I asked a guy at a local foreign car salvage yard how come he had so many low mileage Japanese engines, he told me that all rubber must be replaced on cars in Japan after 7 years. Not just the tires, all gaskets, bushing, etc. So, they are salvaged out instead. Is it true?

Reply to
Anyolmouse

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All rubber eventually dries out and cracks. Usually it's the thread or cord in the tire that keeps it together. Once that thread or cord starts to rot the tire will bust under load. But now that most people abuse their tires by taking corners too fast or speeding, there's bound to be more tire failures. I've run tires twelve years in the city and had to change them because something let go inside and they started to wobble. Daily use of a car will allow for longer life. The best thing to do is not put regular air in them. Nitrogen is best because it doesn't include oxygen. Oxygen is what makes rubber deteriorate. They found this out in the mining industry where those giant machines had several bad tire blow outs due to using regular air. There are some skeptics on Nitrogen fill ups, but you can now get it at many dealerships.

Reply to
erness.wild

Sounds like a great sales gimmock for tire manufactures. I would not keep tires on my car that are dry rotted or dangerous (Like the Firestone tires that kept blowing out on the suv's) But to buy new tires every six years, I think there may be something wrong in the manufactruing of the tires, Did they come from CHINA?

Reply to
Chevy Man

the problem is: you can't see if the tire is coming apart inside. Often you'll think the wheel needs balancing. But tires can and do come apart inside the rubber and then disintegrate on the highway. I've never had it happen to me. Considering the billions of tires in use, all the discussion is about an incredible small amount of failures. You can't get 100% perfection in anything.

Reply to
erness.wild

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I can say I learned the hard way that tires will deteriorate over time. Bought a 1998 Pontiac Trans Am a year ago with only 12003 miles showing on the odometer. The tires looked good on both the front and back, although it was obvious the front tires were new. They had more tread, although the rears still had at least 50 per cent thread left. The main difference was that the front tires were a lot softer, than the rears. It was pretty obvious the back tires were dry-rotting, and I found out the hard way. A couple of months ago, with the rear tires now having maybe 16000 miles on them, the sidewall on the passenger side just exploded. Luckily, I didn't wreck, and there was damage done to my car. But the blowout happened about 20 miles from home, and I had to walk about a mile to get a signal on my cellphone to get help.

Reply to
coachrose13

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