Experience with tires older than five years

[Bikeboy57]

Ok guys, I can get all the opinions I want by searching the forums, but do any of you have any experience with tires older than five years.

Here's the deal, I bought the coach used and was able to meet the previous owner. The coach was used regulary and stored in a climate controlled building when not in use. The tires have 40k on them, Michelin XZA2's, over 3/8 inch tread remaining, and ABSOLUTELY no visible signs of cracking. I weighed the coach, and if I am to believe the previous owner and what he said he ran them at, they have been consistently run about 10 psig over the recommended Michelin weight. The tires don't even have a curb mark on them.

They are many who would passionately recommend changing them on age, but I can find no evidence to replace them. If I follow the published Michelin guidelines about tire age, they are OK'ing tires up to ten years in age that meet inspection criteria.

So, have you run tires older than five years, and what was your experience?

Don't worry I'm not going to sue you if I have a problem

[Bikeboy57]

Ok guys, I can get all the opinions I want by searching the forums, but do any of you have any experience with tires older than five years.

Here's the deal, I bought the coach used and was able to meet the previous owner. The coach was used regulary and stored in a climate controlled building when not in use. The tires have 40k on them, Michelin XZA2's, over 3/8 inch tread remaining, and ABSOLUTELY no visible signs of cracking. I weighed the coach, and if I am to believe the previous owner and what he said he ran them at, they have been consistently run about 10 psig over the recommended Michelin weight. The tires don't even have a curb mark on them.

They are many who would passionately recommend changing them on age, but I can find no evidence to replace them. If I follow the published Michelin guidelines about tire age, they are OK'ing tires up to ten years in age that meet inspection criteria.

So, have you run tires older than five years, and what was your experience?

Don't worry I'm not going to sue you if I have a problem

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Fort Worth </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Richard,

The only experience I have pushing the 5 year envelope was on my 85 Plymouth Voyager which had the Vecter (GoodYear?) tires even though they looked great suddenly turn to gum after I moved from Northern Massachusetts to Tampa Bay, Florida. Their age along with the change in climate is what jumps out as the cause. Thankfully that vehicle only sees limited use in town and is not used for long highway trips.

You have, I presume, a wife and two children along with the family pets and all those hiking boots to consider. Err on the side of caution and replace the tires.

[RV Wizard]

I blew a right front tire at just over five years old. No evidence of rot. It did pick up a vibration, I stopped checked tire temperatures and saw no problem. Started back out and when I got to about 60-65; it blew. I replaced all 6 before the next trip.

[Larry3570]

I'm in that quandry right now. I bought a '94 KSDP with about 45,000 mi. Has 2 YO GY G149's on front, original (14 YO) GY 159's on rear. They look great. I've been driving around (by myself) on them - longest trip about 1.5 hours, mostly at 65 or so. But now the 1st family trip is getting near.....

Also I wonder about the self serving nature of the tire manufacturer's suggestions. I owned a IH 1700 24' box truck for about 8 years...bought it used from Ryder...never changed any tires...we drove it tens of thousands of miles all over the eastern US, but other times it sat outside for months...never had a tire problem; since I hadn't read all the RV age warnings I thought nothing of it.

[hondo122]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Larry3570:
I'm in that quandry right now. I bought a '94 KSDP with about 45,000 mi. Has 2 YO GY G149's on front, original (14 YO) GY 159's on rear. They look great. I've been driving around (by myself) on them - longest trip about 1.5 hours, mostly at 65 or so. But now the 1st family trip is getting near.....

Also I wonder about the self serving nature of the tire manufacturer's suggestions. I owned a IH 1700 24' box truck for about 8 years...bought it used from Ryder...never changed any tires...we drove it tens of thousands of miles all over the eastern US, but other times it sat outside for months...never had a tire problem; since I hadn't read all the RV age warnings I thought nothing of it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Larry, is that Piper PA-32-300 an aircraft? Do you maintain it according to those self serving recomendations from the aircraft manufacturers?

[Jerry Wessel KA8MBK]

I have 70,000 miles on my 7 year old tires. I have a friend that has a trucking company and he says ' a rolling tire is a happy tire" Mine are used regularly and kept up well. I run 105 psi in each.

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry Wessel KA8MBK:
I have 70,000 miles on my 7 year old tires. I have a friend that has a trucking company and he says ' a rolling tire is a happy tire" Mine are used regularly and kept up well. I run 105 psi in each. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Jerry,

Your friend is willing to play the odds that he will not have a problem and is willing to take the risk to increase his profit base. Most people will not be willing to play this game of odds with the welfare and safety of their families and rightly so.

I also have a friend in the trucking business who maintains fleets. He rotates 4 to 4 1/2 half year old tires from trucks that don't do high mileage service to those that do as part of his tire rotation schedule, so they will all get used up by the 5 year mark. The tires all get worn out before they become unsafe and it costs nothing extra except for a bit of coordination to orchestrate the rotations.

He and his clients are all happy because they have fewer tire problems and are not tossing tires with very little tread wear on them.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Replacement at 5 years is extreme and seems to be an idea that got started around here. Seven years is the standard recommendation among RV exerts.

Will your tires last longer? Maybe. Michelin says up to 10 years, but experience with RVs shows you are pushing your luck at 7 and beyond. Most of us don't want to ruin our day sitting at the roadside, waiting for tire service. Or risk damage to the pretty fiberglass from a flapping hunk of tread (which is a common form of failure in an aged tire). That's not usually an issue with a truck or commercial trailer, which seldom has pretty & fragile bodywork close to the wheel.

Your coach has enjoyed usage characteristics that contribute to longer life. Only you can decide about the risk/benefit trade-off. But I would not be concerned at 5 years in any case.

[KD4AO Bob]

On my class B Chinook with Firestone tires I had a left front blow at 5 years, mileage was about 12000. I did notice a vibration shortly before the blowout and slowed to 35 mph, still was scary though. I replaced it but within the next year at a service, I was shown 2 rear tires with bulges on the tread. I replaced all 6 at that time.

[Larry3570]

Hi Hondo122,

Yup, that's a 6/7 seat 300 HP plane. And I do make sure it's maintained in compliance with Piper's requirements. In fact with aircraft we are required to have at least an annual (sometimes every 100 hr) inspection by an FAA licenced mechanic (A&P/IA) who won't sign off if there are discrepencies from the manufacturer's and government's regs.

But there are some differences from the RV world. For instance, the Airplane's Manual must be approved by the FAA for each particular model, so there are not many of the inacuracies and omissions we see in the RV documentation.

Also, have a look at this excerpt from a Michelin Aircraft training manual:

"TIRE OR TUBE AGE LIMIT
Michelin aircraft tires or tubes have no age limit and may
be placed in service, regardless of their age, provided all
inspection criteria for service/storage/mounting and individual customer-imposed restrictions are met."

Makes one wonder.......

[rebelsbeach]

Pure opinion here, but with MY family and ME riding on 5 year old tires with 40K miles and owned by someone else,I'd be making an appointment somewhere to have them changed..

[hondo122]

Larry, no disrespect meant, it's just that my 30k lb. MH can do a lot of damage and we all need something to base our maintenance schedules on. Based on what I've read and "my" version of common sense I'll go along with these recommendations. I'm not some fat cat with money to burn but I'll spend money if it makes me FEEL safer. JMO

[Digital Boy]

Richard,

Just carefully inspect the tires before/after every trip. Make sure the tire pressure isat the recommendation for the axle weight. You should have the coach weighed at all 4 corners.

When I bought my DP in '03 it had tires manufactured 10/97. I watched them carefully. When I saw a crack developing in the right rear sidewall, I replaced all of them.