Tire Life

How long should you wait to replace your tires? I did a search on this and could not find what I was looking for. I bought my car in the fall last year and it has great service records but nothing on the tires.

This week I noticed I had flat tire, I took the tire off and found a screw in the tread. When I took it to GoodYear to get it fixed I asked how much wear I had, they said about 40%, but as they were looking they noticed that the tires were made in 1997.

Should I get them replaced right away? The tread is fine but I am concerned with their age.

Matt

 

The standard is 6 years IIRC. Check here:

http://www.tirerack.com

I started buying tires from these guys in the '80s.

 

If you look in between the groves you will see wear indicators. They look like little bumps. Again the indicators are located in between the grooves of the tire. The indicators are about 1/16", or 1.6mm thick. Once the tread wears down to those then it's time for new tires. You can find were the indicators are by looking for the little arrows on the sidewall of the tire.

You can see a picture of what I'm talking about on this site. http://www.kumhousa.com/Care/RWI.asp
Or on this one. http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/tp/tp2823/rotation.htm

 

Almost 10 year old rubber might need to be replaced. I would, Murphys Law...

 

I would replace them, you will probably get a better ride and better handling with new ones. You should also know that once a tire is repaired it is no longer considered suitable for high speed use. There are a zillion tire choices in standard 328 sizes.

Dave

 

Thanks guys, I am going to go ahead and get new ones!