Interesting news story done on 20/20 about aging tires and their safety.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Wow that's very interesting and scary... Remind me to check the date on my tires as soon as I get home

Skandocious said:

Wow that's very interesting and scary... Remind me to check the date on my tires as soon as I get home

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Hey Chris, check the date on your tires as soon as you get home.... The made me do it...

Just checked mine. Bought my truck late 2007. It has tires on it manufactured in week 45 of 2006 (so close to the end of 2006) I guess that's not to bad.

Three 05's and one 08 -- The 08 is the tire that I recently got replaced for free because it was way out of round.

I go with weather cracks . Light checking is normal and ussually start to set in about 5 years if ride is kept outside. The sun can do some damage . But in my line of business if they hold air u r lucky .

But I have the original tires on my 442 . Never goes out much and they still look new. Would I fly down the road at 120 MPH probably not.

I don't know, i don't buy into it entirely. I have had plenty of tires disintegrate like that, and never lost control. I rarely have tires with full tread go, usually they are well worn. Many of the tires they showed blowing out didn't have new tread on them, they were worn down a ways. Gotta love how they showed semi truck retreads laying on the side of the road...
I will say tire quality has gone down from what it used to be, but something that wasn't mentioned is that the longer life tires will actually wear out the sidewalls before the tread is legally worn out. I have had tires blow on the dually as well, and if my guess is right, that tire was on the rear, being they had a pair laying htere that looked like they had been mated, and it would be an extremely hard sell to convince me she lost control of a truck that lost one dual, unless it took the second with it, and even then I would say driver ability has more to do with it. Before anyone brings up the "professional drive" I also remember the Dateline bs where they made the story, rather than just report the story. Sensation sells, and this kind of thing reeks of it.
Heat tends to kill more tires, underinflation creates heat, and how many people do you know that don't pay attention to their tires that well. I can come up with a long list... I have yet to see a new tire blow out that didn't first powder the sidewall, which is a indicator of low inflation for a long time. I have blown front tires, rear tires, tires on trailers, never even came close to losing control on any of them. The closest and hardest was when the front tire threw the tread and totally disintegrated. It was almost like driving on ice, because the tire was down so far it skidded on the rim every time I touched the brake, but the car never swerved, but had I held the brake, sure it would have. I think more of it is the driver panics, locks the brakes, and then loses control. A rear tire should never cause loss of control, in my experience, as it hardly even moves the vehicle around, heck, i have lost complete rims off a one ton dually under a trailer, and an old 77 Grand Prix, didn't even have to struggle with the vehicle to maintain control. Fronts will pull a bit, but slow down gradually, braking like you are on a slick road, and it will be fine.
When I worked the tires shops, had plenty of tires come in that were blown, and other than beating up the vehicle, there was no other damage. I have seen tires that blew out sitting in the sun due to the heat, and sure, age was a factor, but the tires were well worn, and the tread had already separated.
Quality is an issue, and I have sworn off a number of brands lately because of it. Good year is about as good as Firestone any more, which I have never worn out a Firestone yet without them breaking a belt before the tread is worn out. Bridgestone has been ok, but I have seen plenty of them breaking belts way early as well.
Another thing to consider is potholes, a well known belt buster. Tires will get beat to hell on the roads with the holes, the belts start to let go, the driver doesn't know what that shake is that is developing, until it really gets bad, they keep trying to get to where they are going, or don't have time to get it checked out, and they blow before they do anything about it. I am guilty of pushing it, my sister is extremely guilty.... On that note, if tire's age was an issue, my dad's truck, my sister's truck, even my own truck should have been wrecked many times over by now. My dad won't pony up the bucks for new tires, and I haven't been able to afford them for several years now, and run on good used. I have damage from tires that let go, but no wrecks...

Chris, it's summer. Don't forget to change the air in your tires! CARB will tag ya for not recycling it...

mrfixit said:

Chris, it's summer. Don't forget to change the air in your tires! CARB will tag ya for not recycling it...

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Ohhh, good point Tom!!!

mrfixit said:

Chris, it's summer. Don't forget to change the air in your tires! CARB will tag ya for not recycling it...

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First I'll have to dunk them to check for leaks, but I seem to be short on water. Mind sending me some of that RAIN water you've got? Seems like you're getting plenty in MO. If you need me, I'll be out in the pool

mrfixit said:

Chris, it's summer. Don't forget to change the air in your tires! CARB will tag ya for not recycling it...

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CARB...........Is that anything like SMERSH or CHAOS?

Gunner

California
Air
Resource
Board

Yup..............Just like S.M.E.R.S.H and C.H.A.O.S

Obviously not James Bond or Get Smart fans

Gunner

I got the CHAOS reference but I didn't know what SMERSH was. Not a James Bond fan

you know what, im going to check mine on my truck AND motorcycle..,now that someone mentioned it