Question: Tire life question

[LaMagred'02]

I still have the original run flats on my 2002 coupe. The car just turned 21000 miles. I have been reading that the tires may need to be changed as they could be worn out already. Any thoughts here?

Thanks.

 

[zagger]

Always thought that you supposed to change the tire when thread was worn down or the sidewalls become dry roted from no use. Can you see the ware bars between the groves, these are the quick indicators of weather the tire should be changed.

 

[LaMagred'02]

Always thought that you supposed to change the tire when thread was worn down or the sidewalls become dry roted from no use. Can you see the ware bars between the groves, these are the quick indicators of weather the tire should be changed.

What you are saying is true.

My question just relates to how long the tires have been on the car.

 

[LittleRedFlatBack]

My question just relates to how long the tires have been on the car.

I read an article some time back about tires used on a travel trailer. It said the rubber composition would become "less pliable" after a few years. They weren't talking about rolling bricks here, but were more concerned about the heat created from rolling down the road breaking down the "less pliable" tire causing tread separation and possibly a blow-out. I guess this would apply to all tires. I hope this helps.

 

[Jistari]

Tires get harder with age. So while I doubt there is a safety issue with any tire made as recently as 2001, they may not perform as well as they did when they were new. Other than the obvious factor of tread depth (which you havent mentioned, so we'll assue its good, as 21k miles should be), are the tires still performing as expected?

Im gonna go out on a limb here . . . new tires may perform better

Michelin AS zp's all the way around were about $1k (total) when I did them. Still runflats and Im very satisfied with them.

 

[LaMagred'02]

I read an article some time back about tires used on a travel trailer. It said the rubber composition would become "less pliable" after a few years. They weren't talking about rolling bricks here, but were more concerned about the heat created from rolling down the road breaking down the "less pliable" tire causing tread separation and possibly a blow-out. I guess this would apply to all tires. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the info.

So would you say tires need to be changed after 6 years regardless of mileage?

 

[Jistari]

Oddly enough, I just found this

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

So yeah, I'd think about replacing them. Very good chance nothing will happen, but as I state in every "runflat vs. non runflat" post, in a car capeable of 175 mph Ill do all I can to ensure a tire never letys go on me.
Just my opinion.

 

[LaMagred'02]

Oddly enough, I just found this

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

So yeah, I'd think about replacing them. Very good chance nothing will happen, but as I state in every "runflat vs. non runflat" post, in a car capeable of 175 mph Ill do all I can to ensure a tire never letys go on me.
Just my opinion.

I would prob be more concerned if I drove in triple digits more than I do.

 

[6 Shooter]

Just got started on my 4th set of rears @ 80K, I have a 2-1 ratio! ​

I've been thru a few sets of Firestone RFT's and now I'm on my 1st set of Michelin ZP's...​

​

Later . . . . . .
6 Shooter​

 

[Eric]

I replace tires every five years or when wear warrants, whichever comes first, usually the latter. I don't wait until the wear indicators show; I go a little sooner than that. Wasteful on my part? Some might say yes but I see them as the biggest safety and handling feature on your car. They are all that separates my wife from the guardrail and I'll never take a chance on that. Of course the Vette gets good tires, but I also put the best all-season tires I can find on all of our cars.

JMHO

 

[zagger]

I've just replaced the tires on my boat trailer after 10 years! I also have some old cars with tires that are over 40 years old and still look and drive good. From personal experience I'll go on a limb and say the age of the tire will have small bearing on it's condition . If you live in AZ or SoCal and the tires see a lot of sun, UV kills rubber, you'll notice what I call dry rot. The rubber becomes dry and develops cracks, this is no good especially on a car as fast as a Corvette. The upside is that when tires (rubber) gets drier it wears much, much faster. Thus wearing down the thread. If you drive the car in a spirited matter it is a great advantage to have fresh rubber as it will give you most traction. Most drive their Corvettes in a normal fashion and to change the tires because of age and not wear is simply throwing your money away. But then I also know some guys at the Vette Club that insist on replacing oil at 2.K like they did on their old Dodges. Bottom line is replace your tires when situation, condition warrants it, not the age.

 

[LaMagred'02]

Bottom line is replace your tires when situation, condition warrants it, not the age.

Makes great sense

 

[Remo]

An Alternative

I still have the original run flats on my 2002 coupe. The car just turned 21000 miles. I have been reading that the tires may need to be changed as they could be worn out already. Any thoughts here?
Thanks.

I got 29k miles on the original Goodyear Runflats. Then I replaced them with BF Goodrich g-Force KDW-2's. They're make less noise, they stick much better and they cost less than the runflats. Now I realize that they're "not" runflats but that a subject that can be debated endlessly and there are plenty of threads on this forum that cover that issue. But I now have about 5k on the KDW's and haven't missed the rock hard runflats for one minute.
Remo:cool

 

[Jistari]

Just as a PSA, whatever your view is on changing tires due to age, you should at least look at the report in the link I posted, your tires may not necessarily be 6 yrs old just because you bought them 6 yrs ago.

Good luck.

 

[LaMagred'02]

Just as a PSA, whatever your view is on changing tires due to age, you should at least look at the report in the link I posted, your tires may not necessarily be 6 yrs old just because you bought them 6 yrs ago.

Good luck.

will do...thanks

 

[LittleRedFlatBack]

you should at least look at the report in the link I posted, your tires may not necessarily be 6 yrs old just because you bought them 6 yrs ago.

Good luck.

Good point! I noticed that one of mine was a couple of years older than the other three.