My front Pilot Sports were >10 years old- could have killed me! | FerrariChat
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My front Pilot Sports were >10 years old- could have killed me!

Discussion in '360/430' started by andrew911, Mar 6, 2010.

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  1. andrew911

    andrew911 F1 Rookie
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    Sep 8, 2003
    2,894
    Northern NJ
    #1 andrew911, Mar 6, 2010
    I had a complete flat front tire in my 2000 360, and had to wait until today to pump it up and roll the car out of the garage to see what caused it. I figured it was a nail or something, and the front tires looked old to me, so I had already ordered a new set of 4 tires figuring even if there were a nail I wouldn't bother repairing it. (the rears look fine, but can't match them since pilot sports are no longer made in the 360 front tire size). I put the spare tire on (my car has one- it was down to about 10 psi vs 65 psi recommended), and then pumped air in the front tire I took off to see what the issue was. It was leaking air from a dry-rot crack!!!!

    I then de-coded the tire and found it was made in the 44th week of 1999!! Original front tires! I assumed they were changed already at some point in the car's life, but I guess with <15,000 miles on the car they outlasted the rears which are clearly newer and in better shape! Wow- I put about 500 miles on the car before putting it away for the winter and had a few quick runs into the 100+ MPH range- the thing could have blown out!

    Just a reminder to everyone- CHECK THE DATE your tires were made- once they get to about 10 years old they are done no matter how good the tread looks. I knew mine looked old and figured I'd get a couple more thousand miles out of them- good thing the one tire decided to go flat. I noticed some front end twitchiness on hard turns, but figured it was either that it was cold out at the time (low 40's) and/or that I just wasn't yet used to the car.

    I don't know what I was thinking- when I bought my 911 it was 9 years old and the rear tires were new...the car had 13,000 miles on it and I changed the fronts just because of age- they looked fine. I have no idea of why I didn't automatically do that with the 360, but all's well end's well. New tires on order will be installed next weekend.
     
  2. teak360

    teak360 F1 World Champ

    Nov 3, 2003
    10,065
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    #2 teak360, Mar 6, 2010
    Good message. A simple solution is to drive your cars the way they were meant to be driven. That means new tires at least every 2,000 miles.:)
     
  3. SeaNile

    SeaNile Formula Junior

    Jan 25, 2010
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    #3 SeaNile, Mar 6, 2010
    Never would have thought about checking the age of the tires but I sure will now.
     
  4. Oengus

    Oengus F1 World Champ
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    Chas
    #4 Oengus, Mar 6, 2010
    When I buy a new car, Ferrari or otherwise I always put new tires on it.................

    I have my favourite brand and its always good for piece of mind :)
     
  5. scott40

    scott40 Formula Junior
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    #5 scott40, Mar 6, 2010
    "I then de-coded the tire"

    May be a stupid question, but how do you do that?
     
  6. Eric360

    Eric360 Formula 3

    Jan 11, 2010
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    #6 Eric360, Mar 6, 2010
  7. tajaro

    tajaro Formula Junior

    Mar 22, 2009
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    Erik V
    #7 tajaro, Mar 6, 2010
    My car had 10 year old P-Zeros when I got it. They look like they have 100% tread left- hugely grooved and the sidewalls look great! But of course they only had 6,000 miles in all that time and the car would push on a 15 mph corner they were so bad. No traction what so ever and just hard as a rock. They're gone now.

    I'm told that's pretty common and today we saw a 10k mile 456M at KARROSSERIE and it had the original P-Zero's also.
     
  8. TM328

    TM328 Karting

    Jul 26, 2004
    146
    New England
    #8 TM328, Mar 6, 2010
    I had 14 year old 4000mi original goodyear nct tires on my 328 when I bought it. They looked brand new when I took them off but not worth the risk.
     
  9. andrew911

    andrew911 F1 Rookie
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    #9 andrew911, Mar 6, 2010
    While my 360 tires looked like they were starting to dry rot, the tires on my 911 looked mint too. But when I changed those I realized I was driving with rocks on the front tires- I replaced the with the same Michelin Pilot Sports that were on the car from the factory, so it was truely an apples to apples comparison- the car rode considerably better and quieter.

    Wow Goodyear Eagle NCT's...I had those on my '78 911SC back in the late 1980s- you just brought back some memories for me!
     
  10. sparetireless

    sparetireless Formula 3

    Nov 2, 2003
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    #10 sparetireless, Mar 6, 2010

    They are original 1974 goodyear arrivas for a pantera, lot's of tread left!
     
  11. HOF Ferrari

    HOF Ferrari Formula 3
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    #11 HOF Ferrari, Mar 6, 2010
    Great advice.......can definitely save a few lives....
     
  12. bryanc4

    bryanc4 Formula Junior

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    #12 bryanc4, Mar 7, 2010
    proof you dont get your car serviced or any halfasss mechanic would long ago detect that.
     
  13. andrew911

    andrew911 F1 Rookie
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    #13 andrew911, Mar 7, 2010
    Now that's a classic response...obviously the prior 2 owners of my car drove more moderately than you suggest if the fronts lasted that long :)
     
  14. swaq

    swaq Karting

    Feb 7, 2007
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    Justin
    #14 swaq, Mar 7, 2010
    I've read that you shouldn't use a tire after about 5-6 years past its manufacture date. Definitely something to watch out for.
     
  15. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,732
    #15 Mitch Alsup, Mar 7, 2010
    The following list might be a little on the conservative side, but you won't get yourself killed by following it:

    You should not drive on tires older than 8 years old,
    You should not exceed the interstate speed limits on tires older than 5 years old
    You should not reach tripple digit speeds on tires older than 3 years old
    You should not touch 150s on tires older than 2 years old
    And
    You should not be on a race track with tires more than 1 year old

    Where old == manufactured date.

    A car with the performance capabilities of a Ferrari shold rarely be on tires more than 3 years old--even if the car only has 1,000 mles on the clock.

    Tires continue to vulcanize as they age, loosing traction, loosing ride quality, loosing thir ability to hold air, and finally with a continuing decrease in their structural integrety. When regular air is used to inflate tires, the insides of the rubber will decay due to the presence of O2 in the air.
     

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