Tyre replacement frequency

[Matt Cotton]

Hi folks and a happy Christmas to you all.

I've read a few articles recently regarding tyre replacement. Danny Hopkins in P.C writes recently that fitters are recommended not to fit tyres over 8 years old and to replace at 10. Time has a habit of passing and my tyres have been on around 15 years now. No signs of cracking or crazing and annual mileage is low, but wondered if anyone has any thoughts on this?
Best regards MC

[yorkshire_spam]

Hi folks and a happy Christmas to you all.

I've read a few articles recently regarding tyre replacement. Danny Hopkins in P.C writes recently that fitters are recommended not to fit tyres over 8 years old and to replace at 10. Time has a habit of passing and my tyres have been on around 15 years now. No signs of cracking or crazing and annual mileage is low, but wondered if anyone has any thoughts on this?
Best regards MC

I'd say it depends on a few things. How much mileage and what sort of driving do you do? If you just potter around now and again and they look ok.... carry on!
On the other hand if you have a habit of thrashing your car around a circuit or over alpine passes.... might be worth considering a replacement set?
If you can get quality replacements fitted and balanced for 40 quid or so per corner that's 160 quid in total - a lot of money, but increased peace of mind?

[mahony]

Personally I would not drive with 15yr old tyres, they may look ok but they can degrade internally , read this http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm

[Mahesh]

I would say change, it's not worth the risk.

The tyre needs to flex when cornering, when braking, accelerating etc , etc, and a old drying up rubber tyre is going to give way, usually at the worst moment.

[Carledo]

You really will have no idea just how manky your old hard tyres have got till you fit some fresh rubber and realize what you've been missing for the last 7 or 8 years - like braking and roadholding!

I have any number of old Dolomite wheels and tyres around here, many of them will hold air indefinitely, so they are great as "slave wheels", but I would never venture onto a public road on them! Especially the way I drive!

Steve

[Matt Cotton]

Gents, thanks for the information and thoughts. That link was very illuminating Mahony.

I will plan for replacements in the near future. Not worth the risk. New tyres have always made a notable difference to the 'modern' cars in the fleet and I go thorough them regularly. The low mileage and cosseted life my Dolomite leads has taken my attention elsewhere, so I am glad this subject came up.

Some of the 'period' 155/80's from Longstone Tyres etc look nice. I don't like some of the more 'fussy' sidewalls on some of the modern tyres...just don't look right on a Dolly.


Regards

MC

[SprintMWU773V]

There's some half decent 'branded' tyres available for not a lot of beans. Try looking at something like a Barum (Continental) which is not bad for what you need them for. You'll find most of the big brands have their own 'budget' version which is usually available in our sizes. Far superior to some Ling Long ditch finder tyre.

[Matt Cotton]

Thanks Mark. I have run with Barum's in the past on some of my old Astra's and Cavalier and liked them. You do get what you pay for with tyres and I never buy cheap. Will have a good look around. The tyres on at the moment are Goodyear GT2's... probably not available now.

[yorkshire_spam]

If you are not that obsessed with the retro look then brands like Toyo, Firestone, Uniroyal and Dunlop are available on sites like blackcircles between 42 and 47 quid per tyre fitted.

[cliftyhanger]

I have become a bit of a tyre age "Nazi" since a pair of Goodyears, with plenty of tread but about 10 years old, nearly killed me and wrote my spitfire off. I foolishly thought the pair of new tyres (fitted 24 hours earlier) should go on the front as that is where steering and most braking takes place. BIG mistake....

Anyway, I won't drive on tyres over 8 years old.

As above, Uniroyals are a fine tyre and reasonably priced. And Toyo really reasonable, and nearly as good (think I can get them mail order for £22 a pop!) Wear rates obviously not an issue......

[soe8m]

I use for the 155 size kumho light truck tyres. No roll, very comfortable and period look. Before anyone say's too rigid for a dolomite I can say no they are not.

Jeroen

[Emerald Sprint]

I foolishly thought the pair of new tyres (fitted 24 hours earlier) should go on the front as that is where steering and most braking takes place. BIG mistake...

Would you care to explain this a bit further?

I remember having read on the TDC forum or in a Dolly Mixture - over a decade ago - how in a short period of time, several classic cars were written off due to a blowout. All after a lenghty restoration, all with the old tyres which still looked good and so were not replaced.

Regards,

Joris

[cliftyhanger]

Went round a corner,front wheels went where they were supposed to, rears lost grip and put me in a spin. Off the road, down a hill and rolled the car. The road was slippery with what appeared to be some oil/diesel over the damp road. Another car (dolly sprint as it happens) skidded a few minutes later, hitting an oncoming vehicle. But they were OK and managed to continue.
Rears skidding before fronts is VERY bad news. So best tyres on the back.....and nothing old or "iffy" quality, especially as new tyres are not expensive.

[GTS290N]

Just Google, "new tyres - front or back?" and you'll see it's best to fit a new pair of tyres to the back.

[RobSun]

Fitting new tyres to the front or rear came upon another club site and I, as others did, posted that we were always advised to fit new or tyres with less wear on the front. Now the experts say the opposite and I think this is because most cars are now FWD but I may be wrong. Just re read a tyre manufacturers reasoning on this and they state most modern cars are front wheel drive and set up to over steer. They also state that it is counter intuitive to counter a rear slide with opposite lock and keeping constant power on and not braking so to avoid dumping load on to the front exasperating the rear slide. Thing is this is what we were taught so we knew how to control a car with mainly RWD in a slide. I also had police advanced tuition and competed in international rallying on gravel, ice and snow, so that helped, but I was and still not convinced it is correct.

After the discussions on that site I was visiting a friend, a car nut who specialises in making them go quicker and a recently retired fast responder who spent his time getting to emergencies all over West and North Yorkshire in all weathers etc. I asked him what he thought about the subject and he gave me a funny look. "What do you want to know that for" was his reply so I explained. His reply was best tyres on the front every time. A rear slide is far easier to control than a front one, caused by worn tyres on a wet or greasy road. You need to have full control at the front to effectively steer brake etc. A bad under steer will see you off into the trees and badly hurt, and in his opinion and experiences was far more likely with poor front tyres. I asked him then why do the experts now say the opposite to our training and what we feel is correct from experience. His reply may or will insult a lot but he said because modern drivers cant drive and control cars as well. They are used to front wheel drive which as we know will tuck into a corner if you lift off, power steering, brakes, automatic handbrakes etc. etc. all makes them too dependent on the car not their own skills. They are not taught the car control we were or see the advice on how to drive in adverse conditions or in a slide that was available to us. The information was in front of us, now they have to go and look for it if they have the incentive. So even if you have FWD he would still recommend good tyres on the front is best if you are able to control a car properly.

So completely opposing reasons from tyre experts to those that drive very quickly to serve and protect us. I think in my friends reasoning is the answer car design and skill levels good tyres on the back, but I don't practice this not out of arrogance but experience.