Much ado is made about tire age. Last weekend I learned, the EASY way oddly enough, that tires do indeed turn to junk just doing nothing...
This is our Party Cruiser:
It's a 1995, and so are the 6 Goodyear Marathon's on the trailer. At 20 years old, the tires look like new. They should, as they have less than 2500 miles on them. Here's a pic, and other than they're filthy, they have great tread, and while not entirely visible in this cellphone pic, the sidewalls aren't all cracked up...
This boat has been parked for 8 years (long story) and only moves when I need to do something to it. A few weeks ago I bought a new lower unit for the outboard motor, and aired up the tires before moving the thing around the harbor to do repairs. We moved it about 100 yards to a parking spot, then about 30 yards to where we pulled the outboard powerhead, then 30 yards back again. That's all the miles these tires have gone in 5 years...
So last week we go on vacation (in our Allegro, pulling our Chaparral) and we left from the harbor. Before pulling out, I did a quick check of all our stuff, and everything was in order.
So we get back Sunday evening around 6:30. I park the Chaparral, did a quick check before heading home, and...
Here's the rest of the above picture...
--and a closeup
Wow--ever had a complete tire-failure blowout while PARKED? Sheesh!!
I would've had NO qualms about pulling the boat down the highway on those tires! Never seen a tire do anything like that just sitting still! I only put 45 psi in 'em...
I'll take it as very lucky I didn't learn this lesson while on the road!
DON'T TRUST OLD TIRES!
and now I have to save up for SEVEN new tires, as I assume I better not trust the never-used spare tire...