The age of your car tires - it matters!

[singletrackmind]

I sold (fresh) tires and the common mantra back then was to generally replace tires more than 4 years old. It's really hard to convince a lot of people they don't want to drive on really old tires especially if the tread is still decent. Same with a tire that's been run low. After they've been re-aired they look just fine but run 'em low enough or low long enough and inside you'll find a mess of finely shredded rubber.


This guy's tires where, as far as he knew, 5 years old. Tire replacement should have already been brought up. A 9 year old tire, even one that's been on a van for 5 years, should have shown degradation to the point of replacement recommendation.

Condolences to his family and good thread, Biker Jo.

Ok, I just checked the "Funny Thing" thread and while both are maintenance issues, except in the case of a more sudden leak than normal tire pressure loss such as a puncture as is very likely in Melissa's case, Melissa's not a tread separation but a tire that was run flat. At highway speeds it doesn't take long for a low tire to do that. She may have noticed sluggish handling and a pull while driving when it was low since it was in front, but often people don't realize what's up until it's too late.