How long should you keep tires
 

In terms of miles, my 06 GT only has 30,000, but I still have the original tires, which are now over 5 years old. Anyone else running their tires this long? I have heard that the rubber starts to degrade about this time and I worry about a blow-out. There is still some tread life left, so I don't want to ditch them too early if I don't need to.

Love to hear from some of you on this one.

Unless the tires are dry rotted, or there are wires showing, you should be fine. But thats not to say that you want a semi bald tire running on the car either.

I have never heard of having to replace your tires due to age. If they are wearing ok and not at the wear bars, and no dry rot cracks, you should be ok.

I have run tires for many years. I replace if side walls show dry rot cracks or tread separation cracks. Criss cross rotation can lead to blow out. The two blow outs I have first hand knowledge of were cheap tires.

Recommendation is five years from the manufacture date stamped on the tire wall to be safe. Or any damage or cracks showing.

Cheers.

I have read many times that tires should be replaced after 5 years. All the big car magazines (Car and Driver, R&T, Motortrend) have had "Tire articles" through out the years and have all said similar.

That being siad though, I do not ever recall them saying that the added risk was a blowout. They always spoke of the added risk being increased tire wear because the rubber was older and less pliable. They said that the tires suffer significant reduction in traction especially in areas where temperatures drop.

I guess if you wanted to be more certain you could email a couple of tire manufacturers, starting with the brand on your car. They'd probably give you the best answer and the most details to back it up.

I average 800 miles a year so my tires will be on for 20+ years. I treat inner and outer sidewalls and the car is in a temp controlled garage so this might help

As stated....about 5 years. Look for the cracks down in the tread grooves. I have seen tires that are cracked like that from age and they have blown just siting still. Another thing I have always noticed is the older a tire gets, the harder the rubber seems to get. That makes for less traction.

The way I look at it......my car is not worth risking a few miles on old, possible crappy tires. I replace them at 4-5 years. Especially bad if you do any performance driving. If you are not driving it and just hauling it to shows, any tire that holds air and looks good is fine.....no life involved there.

Replacing tires every 5 years is good for the economy and global warming.
Not everyday you can get 2 birds w/ one stone.

The tires do heat cycle, and the rubber gets hard with time. I have a set of tires from 2006 that rarely gets run on my Camaro, but man they have gotten skatey when I have to use them (street tires, car is 98% of the time on R-compounds).