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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006   
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I was at one of the big tyre places yesterday getting my tracking checked and whilst waiting I was talking to the management and he was saying that apparently nowadays it is becoming increasingly recommended that if a tyre is submitted for a puncture repair and is over 5 years old the advice is to bin it and fit a new one. I voiced my scepticism that they would say that to sell more tyres but allegedly the manufacturers are reducing the life span of tyres even Michelin are now only good for about 25k. Can anyone in the industry or with some practical experience confirm this or am I right to be suspicious? Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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23rd Feb 2014 7:28am |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006
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Yeah I kinda knew that, I was more worried about the manufacturers actively seeking to reduce the life expectancy. I don't really like hard wearing tyres as I don't really do the milage annually to get decent value out of such things. My milage is only about 11k a year and is spread between 3 cars. If tyres are going to need replacing at 5 years old because they are made that way then I'm potentially going to be binning tyres that aren't even half worn which seems profligate in the extreme given what they cost. Assuming that the manufacturers are indeed working to reduce lifespan? Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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23rd Feb 2014 8:58am |
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| Mountain_man Member Since: 09 Dec 2011 Location: Right side of Offas Dyke Posts: 756 
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Remember that a completely worn out/damaged tyre costs whoever changes them a fee to dispose of. A 5 year old tyre "supposedly" past its' best will have quite a good resale price in a container shipper to India and the like.
Just saying....  |
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23rd Feb 2014 9:08am |
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| munch90 Member Since: 26 Oct 2013 Location: guildford Posts: 3558
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I think in some countries the age comes into they mot type thing , there was talk of it here years ago to but nothing ever happened
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23rd Feb 2014 9:12am |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582 
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Reducing tyre lifespan or increasing safety?
Low mileage use cars will have an apparent higher tyre costs per mile driven. Just imagine the carnage that an old set of tyres which has seen little use but badly degraded could cause when the car suffers a blow out on a busy motorway. Old tyres will be more susceptible to a blow out then a younger tyre. What monetary value do you put on your life and the lives of your close family? A set of new tyres every 5-8 years? if 4x4 tyre manufacturers wanted to reduce the life span of their tyres there are a couple of easy way to do that. Reduce tread depth of new tyres and use softer compounds which would accelerate tyre wear rate. Brendan |
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23rd Feb 2014 9:20am |
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| ericvv Member Since: 02 Jun 2011 Location: Near the Jet d'Eau Posts: 5816  
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Well, both my original GG TR used as summer tires, and my Nokian winter tires are now 5.5 years old. I alternate those wheel/tire combinations summer/winter, so guess the GG have done 40k km by now and the Nokian 27k km. Both the GG and the Nokian have lost not more than 3mm in the process. Both those sets get stored at home in dry and sun free conditions. There is zero cracking visible anywhere, they actually look like new. So in those conditions I think I am not buying the arguments by tire sellers that the rubber hardens after 5 years, etc... That argument is the new hit with tire sellers since about a good year or so. 10 years ago it was the argument that you need winter tires when temps drop below 7°C as the rubber of summer tires hardens then.... I buy into that last argument, but must admit here in Switzerland about 90% of the cars have a summer and a winter wheel/tire set. Not sure though that I want to believe that the rubbers today harden so much after 5 years that it is recommended to replace them.....
Now my wife's winter tires on her VW are in their 8th winter, and have 5mm left. This year she will continue to run those well into the summer, so we will not change to her summer wheels come early April. That is what my VW dealer recommended, those winter tires are in their last season now, but just continue to run them out into the summer, and then buy a new set come October..... Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation. http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I https://vimeo.com/201482507 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw |
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23rd Feb 2014 9:40am |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006
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The cost is not only measured in money though is it? There's also the impact on our natural resources to consider short lived tyres may be safer to us but they have to be made its not like everyone is using recycled materials or remoulded tyres. Like I said profligate. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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23rd Feb 2014 9:45am |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831 
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I had a set of tyres on my old Disco, they were 8 year old and hardly used, It went in for a MOT and it failed on tyres as they were passed the recommended age. I was lucky that the tyre supplier I use have a mate who could make use of my old tyres for his farm land rover that never went near a road and was willing to pay me for the old tyres. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to  us off.
Richard |
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23rd Feb 2014 10:16am |
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| JJ Member Since: 18 May 2009 Location: Winchester Posts: 932 
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I am about to replace my tyres due to age , original GG done 50k loads of tread left but 8 years old .
They look ok to the eye but for reasons of safety I am happy to change them. |
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23rd Feb 2014 10:34am |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582
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Sorry Eric but rubber starts to age/harden from day 1. Rubber ages for many different reasons, including oxidisation, UV exposure, thermal exposure, salt, phyisical stress etc etc. Yes by adding chemicals you can slow down aging etc. Yes a good quality tyre correctly stored etc will have a longer life then ones badly stored. In our mill there is an ice cream van which does very low mileage per year. The front tyres have deflated so that the steel rim is biting into the rubber. What is the betting that in another month or so the tyres will be inflated and that van will be running around the local tyre on dangerous tyres. Yet there is plenty of tread on the tyres. Are those tyres safe? How can you tell a tyre is SAFE from a simple visual examination? Yes obvious external damage is easily spotted, cracking of the rubber can be seen if looked for. However how do you easily see internal damage say delamination of the walls due to being deflated with a vehicle weight on top of it. IF you are worried about your tyre being sold on by the tyre centre, there is a simple answer. A sharp knife slashed the tyre wall when it is removed. You are paying for the disposal of your tyre so putting it beyond use is acceptable. Yes I have done it! Brendan |
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23rd Feb 2014 10:45am |
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| ericvv Member Since: 02 Jun 2011 Location: Near the Jet d'Eau Posts: 5816
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^^ QQ How can you tell a tyre is SAFE from a simple visual examination? QQ
Brendan, I presume there is no scientific/mechanical test devellopped yet for that. IMHO it all boils down now to common sense, a combo of visual inspection and knowledge of how the tire has been used during its life. In my case that means very gentle usage.... So, until someone devellops a reliable test which gives hard evidence of hardening to the point of the tire not being of acceptable standard anymore, the 5 year argument used these days seems no more than a sales pitch. Now, in the UK with greenlaning and off-roading much more common than here, many tires there may be up for replacing well before the 5 year mark I guess. And I think in the UK the benefits of running winter tires during 6 months, irrespective of whether there is snow or not, still is not as well accepted as over here here I think. (I may well be opening a can of worms here) 
Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation. http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I https://vimeo.com/201482507 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw |
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23rd Feb 2014 11:15am |
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| Cuthbert Member Since: 26 Oct 2013 Location: Up North Posts: 1535 |
Personally, I've found that the people who work in tyre depots are usually of very limited intelligence. If they can change a tyre without knackering your alloy rim and then balance it correctly then you will feel like you have won the lottery. Do any of them have professional qualifications that would support their "recommendations"? Any 'recommendations or advice' they offer will usually have been scripted by a marketing person with a view to selling more product. Tyre depots are infamous for ripping folk off by trying to sell vulnerable people tyres that they don't really need - I avoid several of the main players who have attempted to rip me off in the past. |
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23rd Feb 2014 11:32am |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006
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Tell me about it. They were incredulous that I had got the tracking bod on with just a tape measure. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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23rd Feb 2014 12:02pm |
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| GUM97 Member Since: 05 Feb 2012 Location: Cheshire Posts: 3555 
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Unfortunately too true Brendan. Take this incident for example... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23320526 Tragically, three people killed. An engine to TDi for! "Land Rover- Proudly turning drivers into mechanics since 1948"  |
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23rd Feb 2014 12:54pm |
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