No they're Cooper Cobra radial G/T.

On the back I have BF Goodrich Radial T/A so what I think I'm gonna do is replace both Coopers on the front wheels with BF Goodrich Radial T/A's as well so all 4 tires are the same. The front right tire has the small cracks as well I noticed now so I guess it's best to have both replaced. The ones in the back look fine.

 

See those cracks around the rim.. thats called Dry Rot and as you might guess affects the the integrity of the rubber. Between the dry rot and the tear you really should replace that tire and it shouldn't be used as a spare.

 

better safe than sorry, replacing is the smart bet.

 

Looks like I need 4 new tires... or at least the front ones. But I knew this anyway, the front are pretty dry but the rears are OK I hope.

 

I would not run it on the front at all, but I will admit that I MIGHT consider running a tire with similar damage (depending on my "in person" examination of the damage) on the rear IF the tire was in otherwise excellent condition.

Tire safety is very important, but frankly, so much of what "the experts" want to junk a tire for is pretty much bull ****. (i.e. a small puncture outside of the center tread area, or IMO even a regular old puncture in the sidewall is no reason to not use a tire on a rear position).

In other words, even though a shop WONT patch a tire with a hole on a sidewall or outside the "center tread" I HAVE done so on MY OWN VEHICLES without consequence. (mounted in a rear position)

 

In my case the rear tires are thankfully in excellent condition. They are almost like new and don't have the cracks. I'm kinda glad I posted the pics because I didn't really think the tiny cracks were a big deal. I'm kind of a n00b really in car land. Thanks a lot to those who pointed this out.

Tomorrow I'll be getting two new BF Goodrichs.

 

Note that if you replace 2 tires make sure the new ones go to the rear wheels and the older tires are rotated to the front. You want the new tires on the rear wheels even on front wheel drive cars. Most shops should know this and just do it when the work is done.

 

Why is this?

And how does this work when your rear tires are wider than your front tires as is the case on my car?

 

While I almost agree, I've never had good luck patching a hole anywhere near the sidewall. I sold tires for two and a half years, and only rarely would a patch/plug within 1" of the sidewall stay sealed.

Yes, you can patch these things on a rear tire, but on a car that gets driven often, I wouldn't want to rely on it. It won't catastrophically explode, but most people wouldn't notice if it started leaking and got low enough to melt the sidewall. By then it's a little late and you're stranded on the side of the road.

But the dry rot really is a serious issue. Tread separation isn't fun. Doesn't suprise me that they're Coopers in this case. BFG/Michelin (same company) has much better quality control and their tires don't tend to have that issue unless they're really, really old. Even then, I've only very rarely seen any signs of dry rot cracking, let alone a full tread separation.

 

Talk to any tire shop or Google it a bit and you'll find it 'policy'. Even the manufacturers recommend the new tires go to the rear. For example.. on a front wheel drive car when tires are not rotated regularly the front wheels wear faster. When the tire shop replaces the worn front pair they will move the older rear tires up front and install the new tires on the rear. You want the better traction tires on the rear wheels. I've seen shops flat out tell people NO when told to put the new tires on the front.