Tire age., How old is to old? Regardless of wear. Options

[championgt1]

I have a set of Yokahamas that have less than a 100 miles on them. They look new and have been in my garage. Thing is I bought them about 5 or 6 years ago. I want to have them mounted and use them, but am I asking for trouble doing this?

[Tom_T]

I have a set of Yokahamas that have less than a 100 miles on them. They look new and have been in my garage. Thing is I bought them about 5 or 6 years ago. I want to have them mounted and use them, but am I asking for trouble doing this?

They may be within the useful limits - if the sidewalls haven't started cracking from sun, ozone, etc. as the others have mentioned above - but only a max. of about 1-2 years or so of safe use, depending on whether you use the 6, 7, 8, 10 or other max. age you want to use, & when they were made - as opposed to when you bought them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

HOWEVER, even though you bought them 5-6 years ago, they could be even older by date of mfgr., so you need to look at the DOT date code on the sidewall to determine the exact age of the tire. Most tire retailers & mfgrs. have similar info. to this on their websites, but you can see reading sidewall for mfgr. date & life of tires links here for the 6-10 yr. range:
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoHome.do

Read up, get the mfgr. date of the tires (all of them, since each can vary), & inspect them for cracking by bending both of the sidewalls hard inward all around while looking for cracking on the outsides & repeat opposite direction to check the inside walls, & look down the tread grooves all around (even hairline is the start of bad news); then decide if they're even in the ballpark for your use.

If so, then try mounting them (oldest if different ages to spare) & inspect them first with max. inflation on the sidewall (not the vehicle max.) & "loaded" with the car on the ground & inspect for sidewall cracking & in the grooves/sipes between the treads (over inflation with stretch the treads outward to expose cracking there); then deflate a bit & do the same at a relatively low temperature (18-20 lbs.) to flex the sidewalls for cracking (low pressure over stretches the sidewalls) & treads again; then if no cracking shows at either of the two; try it all over again inflated to the proper 914 pressure specs. on the label at the gas filler/evap. tank & reinspect for cracking at sidewalls & treads.

If they all check out okay (including the spare) & is within the 10 year max. which most tire mfgrs. recommend, then try them out on the car for awhile, but be careful to check them all every 100-200 miles for cracks for a couple of thou, then every 500-1000 thereafter.

Also mark a date on a calendar or somewhere you won't forget to replace them on the date which the oldest mfgr. date tire reaches 10 years, & do replace them by that point or before. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

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