Is there such a thing as too old? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

gregdacat · 02-20-2014, 04:04 PM

My tires still have at least half of their warranted tread life left. They are nice and supple with no signs of dry rot. However, the DOT date stamp is 0808 (8th week of 2008) I thought I read once where Porsche recommends replacing tires after 6 years regardless of wear. So should I . . .

a) Replace those bad boys before they blow out at the end of next week,

b) Run them another year and replace them in the Spring of 2015,

c) Or run them until the wear bar(s) show even if it takes another 6 years?

BIGJake111 · 02-20-2014, 04:19 PM

yes there is a such thing as too old.

But yeah i vote B... i think your fine for now but age does put a toll on tires same as mileage.

thstone · 02-20-2014, 04:24 PM

They are 82 in tire years.

In all seriousness, I'd replace them, no reason to take a risk with you and your family's safety.

TripleTrophy · 02-20-2014, 04:45 PM

I usually don't make it to the six year mark on tires, finding they are starting to get slippery around the 4-5 year mark. Rain or damp roads is the first indicator, followed by slips in the dry. Long life tires can be particularly bad for hardening up and not giving the grip I want.

I had to laugh at some reviews of a Michelin tire on TireRack.com. Same tire, Caddy CTS owners hated (no grip) while Accord owners loved them (long life!).

Once they start sliding when they shouldn't, it's time to change them, no matter what the tread.

dghii · 02-20-2014, 06:57 PM

Take your driving and type of commuting into account. If you're planning a trip or extended travel, new shoes may be in order. If it's close to home, around town type stuff, wait it out.

dghii · 02-20-2014, 07:00 PM

I have a set of tires on my 84 Alfa from 2002. The car is garaged and has covered 10,000 miles since the install.. I will get another set at some point but the current tires are fine for crusin' around the beach.

Mark_T · 02-21-2014, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TripleTrophy

I usually don't make it to the six year mark on tires, finding they are starting to get slippery around the 4-5 year mark. Rain or damp roads is the first indicator, followed by slips in the dry. Long life tires can be particularly bad for hardening up and not giving the grip I want.

I had to laugh at some reviews of a Michelin tire on TireRack.com. Same tire, Caddy CTS owners hated (no grip) while Accord owners loved them (long life!).

Once they start sliding when they shouldn't, it's time to change them, no matter what the tread.

That's exactly the point I'm at with my 5 year old Michelins - loads of tread left but they have all the traction of a hockey puck. I'm going to change them when I put the car back on the road this spring.

Perfectlap · 02-21-2014, 06:33 AM

what kind of tires are these?

SeanZ4 · 02-21-2014, 07:00 AM

My tires are have been on since '08 with less than 4k mi. No signs of wear or cracking etc. Always inside a climate controlled environment. I may replace this summer. Our summer temps get up to 110 and that's when I tend to be conscious and worry about them. They're just so damn expensive!

steved0x · 02-21-2014, 07:09 AM

The tires on my son's Miata were made in 2008 (Riken Raptor, a semi-budget AS tire) and while they had probably half of the tread left, they were hard as rocks and starting to develop lots of fine cracks in the sidewall, both on the outside (which I thought may be from UV) and the inside (little to no UV gets there).

We ended up with a set of budget Kumho Sense 195/60/14 (barely any summer tire choices in 195/60/14 or 185/60/14 and what is there is mostly more pricy than the 15" equivalents) and I didn't want to spend a lot of $$$ since we are moving to 15" wheels once we find the right deal on a set. According to the Kumho site the Sense has the best dry grip out of the three tires in that size but I'm not sure... TireRack seems to differ.

Kind of OT, but I do feel a lot better now that the tires are replaced.

If you don't ever hit the limits of whatever tire you have now, maybe a budget tire like Sumitomo HTR Z III (I have them and they have been fine, and performed well at two tracks days and one autocross, admittedly I am a beginner) Then you won't feel bad about replacing them with a lot of tread left.

Steve

Edit: I didn't see this part:

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregdacat

They are nice and supple with no signs of dry rot.

If it was me I would take a good close look at the sidewalls and they look good I would probably keep driving

Mark_T · 02-21-2014, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

what kind of tires are these?

You asking me? Pilot Sport A/S Plus

Perfectlap · 02-21-2014, 08:06 AM

no the op.

gregdacat · 02-21-2014, 05:50 PM

Kumho Escata AST

Squozen · 02-22-2014, 02:04 AM

The fronts on my Boxster have a DOT stamp of 3605.

Yeah, they're not the best for grip. Planning to replace them this year (four more payments and the car is paid off).

smshirk · 03-09-2014, 02:24 PM

I had some Toyo TiS' in my basemet for for several years. There were actually 7 years old, but had never seen sun light. I put them on thinking Id get a little wear before winter. Before 1k miles or so, the left rear blew up against the wall in the HOT lane. All the traffic to my right dead stopped. I was running about 70. I don't know how I kept from hitting at least 3 of those cars, the wall, or peeing my pants. It made a believer out of me. I've got a set in there now that wont fit anything I have in the rear. 295 30 18s. I think they are 5 or 6, brand new tires. If you want them come get em, but I'm a believer in the birthdate thing. I think they engineered them to fail at a certain age depending on the tire.

Kenny Boxster · 03-09-2014, 06:33 PM

I'd imagine it's mainly because the rubber "dries out". I read about companies adding chemical softening agents to make it pliable. Just like really old weatherstripping crumbling/falling apart in your hands.

jb92563 · 03-10-2014, 11:35 AM

I would not trust them if the rubber is starting to harden or you have a slow leak, due to age cracking.

Trusting old tires on a performance car leads to several possible outcomes.

1) A catastrophic blow out at higher speeds that sends you careening all over the road and may cost you new rims or worse because the old tires tend to disintegrate very quickly when they let go leaving you riding on the rims.

2) If you don't have a spare tire, just the goop and compressor then the old tire will likely leave you stranded at the side of the road as an old tire tends to self destruct when run flat and no amount of goop will be able to seal the resulting leaks.

Sure you can gamble and save a few bucks, but if the gamble does not work out it may cost you a lot more than 4 new tires and a comfortable wait in a Tire shop waiting room reading a magazine, drinking a coffee.

BYprodriver · 03-10-2014, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jb92563

I would not trust them if the rubber is starting to harden or you have a slow leak, due to age cracking.

Trusting old tires on a performance car leads to several possible outcomes.

1) A catastrophic blow out at higher speeds that sends you careening all over the road and may cost you new rims or worse because the old tires tend to disintegrate very quickly when they let go leaving you riding on the rims.

2) If you don't have a spare tire, just the goop and compressor then the old tire will likely leave you stranded at the side of the road as an old tire tends to self destruct when run flat and no amount of goop will be able to seal the resulting leaks.

Sure you can gamble and save a few bucks, but if the gamble does not work out it may cost you a lot more than 4 new tires and a comfortable wait in a Tire shop waiting room reading a magazine, drinking a coffee.

Once any vehicle tire has less than 10psi while driving it will quickly begin to disenagrate