How often should you replace your tyres.........

Post by **camperclan** » 15 Apr 2008, 18:51

even if they appear ok and not worn?............Nick.

Post by **kevtherev** » 15 Apr 2008, 19:42

there's a DOT code on the sidewall Nick it should be a four digit one that tells you when it was manufactured.

6 years is the rule of thumb

A three digit code means it was made before 2000, so it would be too old.

Rubber degrades and become brittle because of UV light irrespective whether it's been used

the code would read.. 1505 thats th 15th week 2005

Post by **Mocki** » 15 Apr 2008, 19:44

if you cant wear a set of tyres out in less than 6 years, you need to be getting out more!

change them if they need changiing, dont spend money for the sake of it......

i cant keep a set on for more than two years, they keep wearing out

Post by **Syncro G** » 16 Apr 2008, 12:51

Decent branded tyres seem to go on forever, got a set of Goodyears on my dads landy fitted in 2000, they are in beutifull condition and still loads of tread as its done under 10k in that time - why would I want to throw them away? Thats a waste! The colway remolds on my landy are half the age and look much worse (in terms of rubber degrade, the tread is worn more too as they are mud tyres that do alot of miles) - poorer quality rubber I recon - they'll go in the bin when they get down to under about 4-5mm as they won't be so grippy (in mud, if it was a road tyre I'd run it to about 3mm as thats when road tyres loose their wet tarmac performance).

Dads Caravelle had Mitcalins that also lived longer than "recomended" despite clocking up huge milage figures in that time (rears would do 80k, I think what was the spare when it left the factory was running as a road wheel at 11 years age - apart from a slow puncture (got repaired) from a thorn on a country lane it never have problems even then). Even when down to their last few mm the rubber looked alright with no cracking - I truely belive Michalin tyres are the mutts - I've got some recent BF Goodrich ones on my van, guess what brand owns BFG? Maybe its not a coincidence they too are highly regarded around the world aswell.

Best way to prevent tyre issues like blowouts is check the presures regularly and don't overload them - follow that and check for cuts and bad cracking and it'll be fine.

Post by **kevtherev** » 16 Apr 2008, 19:27

Syncro G.. I probably made those landy tyres..Well, me or a friend I worked with , as that's what I used to build, Landrover tyres.
they were hand built and took about twenty minutes to make..a car tyre took 36 seconds

Having built tyres for 20 years I can honestly say that branded European tyres have a higher standard of construction and stringent tolerances for forces on the tyre ie.. run out, lateral, radial, bulge and hollow.

Natural vulcanised rubber lasts for a year in it's natural state before it crumbles to dust.
so most modern tyres have very little natural rubber in them and they are mostly a synthetic mixture.
grippier tyres have more natural rubber and actualy cure with the heat of use

eventually though the bond between the breaker and the tread compound starts to deteriorate as does the bond in the ply splice...this would be indicated by a bulge or a hollow in the sidewall as the cords of rayon have parted...and all that's holding in the wind is a thin strip of perishing sidewall.
so small cracks and pressure are fine ...but the killers are bulges and hollows

when that tyre comes off I'd love to see the sticker inside.

Post by **peasant** » 16 Apr 2008, 19:46

kevtherev wrote:
Rubber degrades and become brittle because of UV light irrespective whether it's been used

And therein lies the danger.

The tyre may look fine, there may be loads of thread left, but it has hardened. You won't notice it much on a dry road ..but you will when it gets wet and slippery ..it'll be like ice skating.

I had to use an ancient spare tyre once (never used, optically perfect, just old) over a weekend until the tyre shops opened again.

It was a very wet weekend and one of the scariest in my life, had two spins in heavy traffic before I put two and two together and just parked the car and got a lift home.

Post by **Syncro G** » 17 Apr 2008, 18:40

kevtherev wrote:when that tyre comes off I'd love to see the sticker inside.

There won't be one there! I remove them before fitting as they can cause the innertubes (tubeless tyres on a landy are a 1990's invetion along with silly things like alloy wheels and even to this day I think some new ones have tubes, though not many (they all have posserish alloys)) to pop, usally within the first thousand miles on the nice new rubber! - having 2+flats within 100 miles between them on brand new tyres is a bit of an embarisment, luckally I've never had it but some friends have - they were driving to Morocco and got as far as Spain before the problems occored.