Mike and all,
This is only one minority opinion. The entire tire industry agreed on
the 5 year tire point about 6 years ago and according to at least one
tire dealer I spoke to a year ago he felt it was overstated. The DOT
has no guidelines on tire ages (according to him and not independently
verified) and they would if there was a high risk probability. He felt
it was to avoid law suits and force dealers to destroy old inventory.
Chain tire dealers will refuse to even balance a tire over 5 years old.
The sidewall of tires is less affected by UV than they used to be and
now has agents that are affected without destroying the sidewall. You
see those in tires with brown dust on the sidewalls. This is
sacrificial material to protect the tire. Cord in tires can break down.
Rayon is an organic material made from wood fibers and is susceptible to
dry rot or moisture damage and rubber does get brittle from heat cycling
and UV. I sold a lot of tires when I was in college and certainly saw a
lot that shouldn't have been on the road.
My tires are 5 years old and kept in a garage with blocked out windows
in the off season. I'm not going to be using them in 10 years but I'm
not throwing them away today.
I apologize that I don't remember who posted it but the 80 profile tires
for a VW are a lot closer to the profile that was on the original
British cars we drive. From memory the 165SR15 was a slightly smaller
diameter than the 155/80/15 that was the match for the bias ply which
was about an 80+ profile.
I realize this will be contrary to many opinions.
Ron Parkinson
2-'53MGTDs
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