Vintage tires safe?

[Bobne]

I have a 2008 gt500 with 12,000 on it. It has the original tires. Other than the rubber being hard, are they safe to drive on? I,E., tread separation, blowouts, etc.

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[MAGS1]

18 year old tires? I wouldn’t drive on them. The fact you say the rubber is hard is your first sign. It’ll be like driving on hockey pucks. They’re not going to soften up much after driving on them either. Most tires are good for 6-7 years. By that point, the compounds have started breaking down. I think there’s been a few people here saying they’ve driven on 10 year old tires and they’ve been fine. No thanks, I’d rather have fresh tires that will perform as intended. Better safe than sorry

 

[Swtbabybilly]

Definitely not tires dry out over time if it was my car i wouldn't risk it

 

[Kevlar 74]

That is how Paul Walker died and numerous cars have been totaled, but it is entirely your choice.

 

[SCP440]

To get the car home if driven gently and not in the rain they will be OK as a one trip but further than that and its dangerous. You will have a lot less grip if you need to stop quickly and even corners could be like driving on ice if it gets damp.
In the UK it is illegal to fit tyres older than 10 years old on any vehicle carrying more that 9 people..

 

[Sparky1337]

I have a hard enough time driving on 6 year old tires.

Definitely would never drive on ones that old. If I’m storing the car and have no intention of driving it anytime soon it wouldn’t bother me. But the moment that car is about to go on the road I’d take the wheels off and have tires put on.

I wouldn’t even risk it going to the tire shop.

It’s not you that you need to be worried about. But when some dingleberry does something that would make you brake hard or adjust steering on rock hard tires you’re not going to have the proper traction and guess what:

Now you’ll have a totaled GT500.

 

[sk47]

a few people here saying they’ve driven on 10 year old tires and they’ve been fine.

but it is entirely your choice.

Hello; I am one who has driven on tires more than ten years old a few times on my own cars. I know a man who has driven on tires much older. The tires have held up in terms of blowouts and such failures.
The tires do get a bit harder which can be a bit difference on wet surfaces. That is about the only noticeable difference. But not a huge difference in my experience. I put new tires on my pickup to replace the old tires expecting a big difference in the rain. Not a huge difference, but some.

Tread depth matters in the wet maybe more than age.

The OP has a Gt500 which is a valuable machine with high performance with 18year old tires which is a much different situation than a half ton pickup. The pickup gets some weight on it from time to time without tire failure.
The GT500 can propel itself into situation where every bit of traction can be critical. This seems to me to be the more critical aspect. Cruising round the tires may be OK. using the car to it's potential is another story. I get the concern about pushing a hot rod hard on old tires.

Maybe find a very big open paved area and try a hard stop at 35 MPH in the rain and see if you can live with the results???

 

[DRAGOON]

Not trying to be a smartass here and yes, tires & rubber bands are made of different types of rubber, but go look at a 18 year old rubber band in you kitchen junk drawer. Buy new tires, please.

 

[Gen 6 Mach1]

Any comprehensive tire shop won't fix a 10 year old tire . Your Vintage tires are Vintage.

 

[luc]

That is how Paul Walker died and numerous cars have been totaled, but it is entirely your choice.

I call that BS
He died because his friend, the driver was going too fast for his skills and the road…
Simple as that
Was no tire explosion or anything like that
That the tires were old and consequently had less traction, is no different than having less traction on a wet surface…
If you crash, by yourself in the rain, who is responsible? You the driver..
If you can’t feel than a tire is a bit slippery and therefore adapt your speed for it,, you have no business driving, with a passenger, a powerful car at a high rate if speed
Sad story for sure

 

[OLD8BA]

funny this popped up a friend came to see me and she drives one of those big isuzu 4wd things
i was looking at her tyres no reason why just talking outside
the front 2 were cracking pretty badly especially between tread
the tread was quiet deep and the tyres were only 2.5 yrs old and 30k kms
it may have something to do with the sun here in Aus just thought i would mention it
she has booked in for new ones later in week

 

[sk47]

Hello; The gist of this discussion old tires can and do hold up in terms of blow outs, tread separation and such failure. Such is not the big problem running them.
The actual issue is the reduction in traction to some degree is real. Will take a bit longer stopping distance in hard braking. Likely will not corner so well. On that note it seems to me tire compounds have improved a lot over the decades. I sometimes think these "old sayings" started long ago and have continued.
I do not think my experience with several sets of tires is an anomaly. This past weekend a friend stopped by and we drove to Townsend TN. for the annual Blount County British Car Show. He mentioned his SUV has over 100,000 miles on a set of tires which are also old. He plans to get new tires as they are tread worn. We discussed replacing struts and checking front suspension parts.

I get why tire companies will recommend replacing tires on a time schedule. I suspect it is similar to the best by dates of food stocks. Some folks think the food is bad on that exact date. Not so. The food is fine long after that suggested date.

But in the end the OP gets to make a call. New tires can be expensive. May be the car sits a lot and has low miles on the tires with good tread. I watch the show Roadworthy Rescues. He often airs up tires which have sat for decades, often flat and runs them at least for a bit. Some do not hold air to be sure. Some pump up and hold air and get him a distance. He does put on new tires eventually most of the time. My guess is the OP's tires have not been sitting on flats out in the weather for decades.

Other than some boat trailer tires I have not run tires 18 years old myself. Maybe 16 years once on a pickup. I did carry around a couple three boat trailer wheel & tires from 1987 until around 2023 as spares. I put a new set of wheel & tires on the boat trailer back in 1998 because I was going on an over 1000+ mile trip a few times back then. I replaced them in 2023 as well. They were badly cracked on the sidewalls for many years. But as I had three spares and was only traveling around twenty miles to the lake the last 20+years I kept running them. They never failed.

 

[Hack]

There's a YouTube channel I watch where they buy wrecked sports cars at salvage auctions and disassemble them to sell for parts.

Those experts say most of the wrecked cars they see have tires that are past the expiration date.

Take that for what it's worth. I know we all have to exercise caution and care no matter what tires are on our cars, but I believe there's a much higher random factor with extremely old tires that is more difficult to compensate for.

 

[Craig Brown]

Tires have an expiration date of ten years; NO tire shop will install a tire 10 years old on a vehicle. I had my own tire shop and wouldn't even repair a tire ten years old. Tires are made with petroleum and when the tire gets old the petroleum dries out and they are not safe to be on the road. Change out those tires and have the peace of mind that you did the right thing. You have a wonderful car, and it deserve new shoes. DO IT SOON!

 

[luc]

Tires have an expiration date of ten years; NO tire shop will install a tire 10 years old on a vehicle. I had my own tire shop and wouldn't even repair a tire ten years old. Tires are made with petroleum and when the tire gets old the petroleum dries out and they are not safe to be on the road. Change out those tires and have the peace of mind that you did the right thing. You have a wonderful car, and it deserve new shoes. DO IT SOON!

Tires do NOT have an expiration date. How can you say that, if you are in the tire business
That is very misleading
Instead they have manufacturing date
Depending on the brand, the estimated life is anywhere between 6 to 10 years
A tire stored at room temperature in the shade will degrade lot slower than one outside always in the sun and temperature
Use your brain and common sense
Don’t forget to also change your oil every 3k miles!!!!

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