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You guys are playing roulette with your life and your prized Mopar's running tires over 4 years old I had a set on a B-Body that were 10 years old with all their tread, On the way to a Mopar show in Phoenix the driver side front BFG threw a chunk of tread off the tire about the size of a softball and about destroyed the front fender. NEVER AGAIN will I run old tires on anything.Don't gamble with your life on old tires




There is a pretty big difference between 4 year old tires and tires that failed at 10 years old.

I suspect the tire manufacturer has as much influence on how long a tire lives as any other factors. Probably how the tire was used (or abused) comes in 2nd concerning tire failure, then probably followed by tire care. We have all seen newer then 3 year old tires fail.

Several tire manufacturers have had known quality issues for a few years (Firestone comes to mind) and high speed, curb rubbing, low inflation, sun baking, parked with weight on the same spot without moving for years, and burn outs tend to shorten tire life. The issue with used tires is you usually don't know the tires history.

I would trust older tires that have passed visual inspection that I know have been regularly used and well cared for before I would trust new tires that can't be balanced, take a lot of weight to balance, or are out of round.

The Michelin tires on my coupe were 9 years old when I put them on, 4 years ago. I knew where they came from, all 4 took less the an ounce (total) to balance, and they looked great. They are getting up there in miles and the thread is wearing down, I will give them a very good visual inspection again this year, and I will probably be replacing them after this summer. I have more trust in them then I do the 4 year old tires on my wife's car. Those will probably be replaced this summer.

I believe the 5 year tire replacement deal is a result of a few companies covering up poor quality built tires 5-8 years ago, and they are using the tire age as an excuse. The advantage to them is now the original quality can be cut back, and they get to sell more tires without repercussions from the poor quality. Years ago, you fully expected to have good tires until you wore the thread off of them, now the are suppose to be junk in 5 years. I suppose the next step is that the tires will go bald in 50,000 miles or 6 years, we will all be happy?

The tire deal is kind of like major household appliances. Years ago, major appliances were expected to last 20-25 years. Then the cut the quality across the board, and the life expectancy dropped to 4-5 years. These days, if major appliances last 8-10 years we think they are great. Our expectations have been lowered. Gene