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Older Tires

3K views 22 replies 21 participants last post by  gphillips 
#1 · (Edited)
I have a 2008 Chevy 3500 with 45,000 miles and original OEM tires, SRW, 245r16 Load Range E. Are these still safe to use with occasional 3k lbs load (well under GVWR) in bed for 250 mile trips? Or should I buy new tires for rear? Tires have plenty of thread and pass State inspection.
 
#5 ·
#8 ·
I'll go against the grain here. Tires can crack from ozone and have internal issues from overheating due to underinflation.

I'd take a reliable/proven/outward looks OK 2008 tire over one of one of the crappy compounds now that are designed for mileage not years of duration and are made in Indonesia or Vietnam.

Your "mileage" may vary.
 
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#9 · (Edited)
14 years old….I personally would change them out if you are keeping the truck
 
#10 ·
I would change all 4 tires, not just the rears. Since the truck is 14 years old, chances are that the tires are 14 to 17 years old.
Font Symmetry Pattern Cemetery Darkness
 
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#11 ·
I would take into consideration highway speeds. A lot of difference if you’re running 70mph to 55 mph on the roads u plan on traveling. With 1 ton truck u have more ply’s, than on a 1/2 ton or even 3/4 ton truck.
If u don’t have weather checking or cracking on any of the tires, I’d run them myself. On our farm grain trucks we’ve run them older than that. But they didn’t see more than 50mph or trips more than 25 miles each way. they were fully loaded with grain 1 way. They also were a tubed tires. But no cracks or weather checking.
 
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#13 ·
I’ve always kind of been a “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” person. With tires I don’t follow that rule. I just ordered new trailer tires yesterday. The old ones are about 12 years old but still have a lot of tread. They look bad though, a lot of sidewall cracking.
 
#14 ·
I'd still be running the original tires on my 1995 trailer (15 inch trailer tires) if some idiot wouldn't have forgot neglected to check the air and blown out a perfectly good tire with zero rubber degradation.
 
#15 ·
Being those tires are 14+ years old and your planning of travelling at highway speeds, I would change all of them. Blowing a tire at 65 mph will answer your question.
 
#16 ·
In RV world, rule of thumb is 5 years regardless and dump 'em. I've got to get new ones next year as current ones are dated '17, BUT they still look like new. Always covered during summer when it sits besides garage.

Probly irreverent, but decided to go the dually route a year after we bought current RV as we were over stock tire weight capacity on a 1 ton SRW. Yes it towed fine, but still overweight for tires by 700+ pounds. Some said just but bigger tires on the truck, but that I think involved a lot. So DRW we went. Tows great, bit of a pain at times to do errands and STINKS in the snow. Bottom line, feel much safer w/ the DRW towing than the SRW with same RV. 14 year old tires? Time to say "See Ya" to them and get new sneakers. My $.02
 
#17 ·
the only tires i change on a time based schudle is on my motorcycle. Only having two tires I figure it's important.
 
#18 ·
For sure. manager of tire shop near interstate always told me once over 7 years they are called May-pops. I just replaced our trailer tires earlier this year and they were 2011 models. Tread was fine but last thing I want is to deal with a blow out once
It heats up on a long interstate trip. If u rarely leave town it’s probably fine but me personally wouldn’t travel with tires that old
 
#20 ·
If they have plenty of tread (the penny test or the inspectors here use a gauge) you should be fine. I would still check the wear on the tires. Had a D-50 that had toe in problems and the wear is noticeable. When we bought a new vehicle a few years back, the dealership was lazy in their tire rotation practices as most are now days, we ended up buying a new set well before we should have but went to our local tire dealership. Our book says to rotate them the way Dad taught us with the x pattern, every dealership I know does the clock pattern unless you specifically tell them to follow the book. (I will mark a tire, on the Ram 2500 off road, usually a front so I can tell where they’ve put it) I guess they can’t afford a marking pen to know which tire to put where. Dad also taught us to never just buy one or two tires, always a full set. He was also against retreads as they often fail, especially in the desert. I don’t know if retreads are even a th8ng anymore. He moonlighted at a full service gas station (remember those?) back before I was even a twinkle in his eyes. Both brothers became grease monkeys. We all rotated our own tires back when I was a kid, except for Mom and the oldest, a sister.
 
#21 ·
@halbert09- the tires on your Chevy are rotten. Two things degrade rubber- UV light from the sun, and ozone which is a component of the air all around us. Even if those tires had never left a warehouse, the ozone has made them susceptible to a sudden blowout. Is your life, or even worse- my life, worth the price of 4 tires? And if you survive the blowout, the civil suit will ruin you. As retired from law enforcement, I would ticket you for operating an unsafe vehicle and your insurance most probable would not cover you either.
 
#22 ·
Did you go around checking the RMA date codes on people's tires?

Without seeing them and their condition you have no basis to make that type of blanket statement.

Older tire compounds have nothing in common with today's China/Vietnam bombs that blow up after 4 years.

BTW my state checks tire condition and tread depth as a requirement of an annual safety inspection.

No one wants unsafe tires. Without seeing them you simply cannot make a determination as to their condition. And date alone is only one metric for that condition.
 
#23 ·
I never have an issue with my truck and car tires since they are used pretty regular. My trailer tires are another story. We spray them with armor-all and cover them up. Generally, I would look at the sidewall's and in the tire treads to see if they have any cracking. If they do, they get changed out. We will get about 6-8 years out of the tires before installing new ones. The treads on the old ones always look great, just cracking. I would not trust them to road use if they are cracking. But that's my own opinion and experience in seeing friends that have had blow outs and left on the side of the road.
 
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