Old tyres (1 Viewer)

Feb 28, 2015
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took my MH for it's CT (French mot) last Tuesday. Was chuffed when it passed. However the tester pointed out that the rear tyres were made in 2000. He said he would not recommend any long motorway trips. I have seen threads on fun on this subject so today I have replaced them. The MH is a 2001 model, so I assume these are the original tyres. It has done 84000 kms and is front wheel drive,but the tyres I took off still had 5mm tread.
This seems to bear out something I have thought for a long time. Are the tyres fitted to new vehicles longer wearing than any you can buy from a tyre centre?
I also bought a 9 year old Berlingo with the original battery. Does the same apply with batteries?
I know some funsters are in the motor trade so perhaps they can answer my question
 

funflair

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I imagine the rubber has gone that hard that they might last forever, or till the carcass blew of course. But to answer your question no I don't think OE are any better than what gets shipped to independent dealers.

There again I am not in the trade so could be wrong.

Martin
 
Nov 3, 2013
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Hi.
Cannot say about tyres,BUT, the original battery always seems to last longest,so you may be right on that.
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PeteH

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The tyre Question? It has to do with the fact that tyres are better if used. apparently, if not rotated regularly they have a tendency to embrittle the rubber compound?. So a tyre that gets rotated for a few miles and then parked up, and then repeated frequently, would (in theory) be in better condition that a tyre that had done one long trip of the same mileage BUT had been parked for (say) a year?. You pays your money?

Maybe the old "use it or lose it"?

Pete
 

Murphy

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This is what happened to a tyre on our previous MH, it had been on since new, tyre was 6 years old, but MH only done 15k, better to be safe than sorry!
image.jpeg
 
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Deleted member 36503

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In my professional life I used to write both legal and technical stuff for the tyre industry for publicity purposes, as such I hope what info my aged grey matter can churn out will be of interest to those who have old tyres.

Very unfortunately tyres degregate or in other words, just like your skin when subjected to relentless loads of sunshine they get old and crinkly and hence the week of manufacture stamped into every single tyre sold in the Western world.

The problem is that tyres are not rubber, in fact no commercially available tyre has any rubber in it today but a large number of compounds mixed together in some magical mixing pot, and just as long as all of these compounds keep on turning around all is fine and dandy............. However when a tyre is fitted, for example to a motorhom, which is likely to be parked up for very long periods of time without any kind of movement, all of these compounds and polymers start to fall out and begin to feel as they no longer want to be mixed up together so they begin to separate. The result of this is the tyres start to go grey in colour as well as starting to crack. On the other hand, keep your tyres turning on a very regular basis, they will last for far longer, even if the treads might wear out!

If you are wise and if you jack up your outfit every time you know you are going to be parked up for a very long time, remove the weight from the suspension and more importantly, remove the tyres and store them away in a cool, dark and well ventilated spot then the tyres could last you 20 years or more...................... But hey ho, we are in the real world and next to no one does this, so get into the habit of changing all your tyres, even if they have almost the full tread left, at least every 6 years.

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Murphy

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AA who attended stated tyre failure was due to side wall failure, tyre where at correct pressures,
They advised full change of all 4, as they all shown signs of tyre wall cracks,
 
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Deleted member 36503

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AA who attended stated tyre failure was due to side wall failure, tyre where at correct pressures,
They advised full change of all 4, as they all shown signs of tyre wall cracks,

Sorry to say but in all of my professional days I never did meet an AA man who technically knew what he was talking about! Almost certainly your tyre failure was due to a reduction in tyre pressure which caused over heating. The tyre might have been alright even 50 miles up the road when you last looked at it, but an amazing amount of terrible things can happen to a tyre in a very short period of time.

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sedge

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Have to say - a few years ago my 06 reg car - which did about 1000 miles a year since I'd had it in 08/09, had an advisory on one tyre, as part of the tread was getting low. So we asked E-tyres to replace both on that axle as they were of a similar age and tread wise we were aware that there wasn't too much left on either so we knew they'd both need replacing 'soon'. So he arrived , jacked it up and removed the wheels, and said immediately - have you seen this? - serious cracks in the inner walls. Not just a couple. Scary!The answer was No - we hadn't. So he replaced them then jacked up the other axle to see what was happening there - EEk ! - exactly the same. So he was here again the next day! Phew.

B good job neither of us is heavy footed else anything might have happened.

When we really thought about it, which TBH (and obviously) neither of us had done even though we are BOTH aware of such things - and thought we were both WELL aware - we realised that all of these were OEM tyres that had been on it some time before Citroen loaded it onto the transporter at their factory.
 

TheBig1

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i took the wife's car in for a puncture repair a few months back. the fitter called me through to see it was not a nail etc all 4 tyres had huge splits between the tread grooves . the car has done less than 3000 miles since new in 2009
 

stcyr

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John, whereabouts are you in Basse-Normandie?

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PeteH

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There is a current "conversation" on one of the classic car Forums, to exactly this effect. And to be fair is one of the reasons why even classic enthusiasts are NOT universally in favour of the latest "rolling" "NO MOT" requirement for post `60 vehicles. Because Tyres are a regular Failure, for exactly the same reasons, and could be overlooked leading to failure, IF involving other vehicles would inevitably lead to calls for removing "classics" from our roads all together!.

Pete
 
D

Deleted member 36503

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Tyres are without doubt the singularly most overlooked and ignored item attached to a vehicle and yet, to use a tag line from a promotional campaign I once wrote, designed and produced for the Dunlop brand, "they bridge the gap between your car and the road"!

Take for instance spare tyres mounted on the bonnet or back doors of certain 4x4 vehicles, it is a fact that in some hot sunny climates, they can go from brand new to being a state of being almost unusable in only 12 months!

Tyres mounted on any vehicles or trailers that are seldom used, such as caravans and most motorhomes, most especially on the sunnier side when parked, will be subject to a far higher level of polymer and compound degradation than those fitted to the opposite side.
Furthermore, the compounds and structure of tyres have a form of memory, in so saying, if they are parked up for long periods without being rotated, they will develop a flat spot at the bottom.

As PeteH has so rightly said, tyres are a regular topic of conversation between classic car owners. In truth the only safe and secure way to look after your tyres when not actually driving a vehicle along the road is to remove the weight from them and to cover them so as to protect them from any UV rays. The best thing of all to do is to actually remove them and keep them stored in a cool, well ventilated dark room.

But of course, next to no one is ever likely to go to these lengths, so the only sensible thing to do is to think more about how to be their best friend!
 

Glandwr

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I bought some new tyres online and had them delivered to the garage that does my servicing and MOT. It is one of the ones that belong to a bus company that is owned by an old school friend of mine.

He happened to be there as I was having them fitted and asked why I was changing them as they were well within the tread limit. I explained in short that I had been scared by forum posts suggesting that at 6 yrs old they needed to be scrapped.

Nonsense he said they look ok to me, I'll have them for my minibuses. Now bear in mind that he has several dozen doing rural school transport AND long distance airport shuttles I quired this. He said that it is regular inspection inside and out that is important And that every vehicle in the fleet has every tyre checked for pressure and condition regularly.

Dick

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PeteH

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The best thing of all to do is to actually remove them and keep them stored in a cool, well ventilated dark room.

Which accurately describes my Garage currently!!!. Cold, Dark, and BLOODY Freeezing!!. So not a lot of "proper" work being done!!. (as opposed to decorating!!)

Pete
 

stcyr

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Ah, right, go through there fairly often ... We're in St.Cyr-du-Bailleul, near Barenton. (y)

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mariner

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The problem is that tyres are not rubber, in fact no commercially available tyre has any rubber in it today but a large number of compounds mixed together in some magical mixing pot, and just as long as all of these compounds keep on turning around all is fine and dandy............. However when a tyre is fitted, for example to a motorhom, which is likely to be parked up for very long periods of time without any kind of movement, all of these compounds and polymers start to fall out and begin to feel as they no longer want to be mixed up together so they begin to separate. The result of this is the tyres start to go grey in colour as well as starting to crack. On the other hand, keep your tyres turning on a very regular basis, they will last for far longer, even if the treads might wear out!

If you are wise and if you jack up your outfit every time you know you are going to be parked up for a very long time, remove the weight from the suspension and more importantly, remove the tyres and store them away in a cool, dark and well ventilated spot then the tyres could last you 20 years or more...................... But hey ho, we are in the real world and next to no one does this, so get into the habit of changing all your tyres, even if they have almost the full tread left, at least every 6 years.

Having been in the trade and having worked for Michelin I can assure you that Tyres do contain Natural Rubber!
I have visited a Michelin Truck Tyre factory and seen for myself, the shelves of natural rubber which is grey in colour until the Carbon Black is added.

This from Michelin USA hence the Tire rather than Tyre.

Over 200 ingredients go into a tire. They play vital roles in safety, fuel efficiency, performance and eco-friendliness.

These components fall into five groups:

  • Natural rubber: the main component of the tread layers
  • Synthetic rubber: part of the treads of car, van and 4x4 tires
  • Carbon black and silica: used as a reinforcing agent to improve durability
  • Metallic and textile reinforcement cables: the "skeleton" of the tire, forming the geometric shape and providing rigidity.
  • Numerous chemical agents: for unique properties like low rolling resistance or ultra-high grip
:cooler:
 
Feb 24, 2013
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@Buzzy-Beans

Morning and many thanks for the technical input, based on comments read here when we bought our used MH three years ago, it was already 3 years old and 5 years since supplied by Mercedes to Hymer, so although having only done 2000 miles we changed all 6 tyres

But I did decide not to change the spare, which is mounted vertically in the garage, so dark and no weight on it, I would add that it not being changed was as much oversight as anything else, but based on your comments would you think that tyre would still be good to use in an emergency and maybe for a few miles till it could be swapped back? It will be an 06 manufactured tyre that has literally not seen the light of day for 8 years

David
 

mariner

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As a matter of interest you should always check for yourself the age of the tyres you are having fitted.
It isn't unusual for less than honest tyre fitters to fit tyres that have been on the shelf for a while.
Had a Spanish fitter try to palm off a set of Dunlop SP's which were already 5 years old!!

:cooler:

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Dec 12, 2010
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When I worked for Pirelli, the windows in the production area were covered in an amber film, bit like old French headlights to stop UV degradation of the natural rubber. One of the ingredients on the cheaper budget tyres (Courier Steel ?) was chalk dust, we used to call them McEnroe's ;)
 
Nov 26, 2007
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Just replaced my front tyres on my Fiat Luner Roadstar 2006 van all original Michelin's 36k 6mm tread left on them, No cracking but as going to Belgium in Feb through better safe then sorry,
 

laird of Dunstan

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I've had tyres delaminate on my boat trailer ,they were 7 years old ,I had the tyres go on my caravan on the motorway they were also 7 years old , change them at 6 years sounds about right(y)

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Badknee

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Wasn't there a fatal coach crash in 2013/14 where the tyre at fault was twenty years old?
Our MoHo when bought in 2014 had new tyres on it as the three week old MOT had a tyre age related warning on it. 22k but eleven years old.
 
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Deleted member 36503

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Having been in the trade and having worked for Michelin I can assure you that Tyres do contain Natural Rubber!

When I wrote and produced an information leaflet on the building/construction of a tyre for Dunlop way back in 1989/90 for their car tyres division I can well recall being amazed that their car tyres didn't contain any natural rubber.

Mind you, I do know that some types of tyre do contain the natural ingredient.
 

GWAYGWAY

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I have a secret plan, replace my older transit tyres myself with my changer and flog the old ones to a local builder or P***y as they do not care about the age only the tread depth, Get some money back towards the new ones. I could get some campers that way without bankrupting myself for six new ones.

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kglblue

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took my MH for it's CT (French mot) last Tuesday. Was chuffed when it passed. However the tester pointed out that the rear tyres were made in 2000. He said he would not recommend any long motorway trips. I have seen threads on fun on this subject so today I have replaced them. The MH is a 2001 model, so I assume these are the original tyres. It has done 84000 kms and is front wheel drive,but the tyres I took off still had 5mm tread.
This seems to bear out something I have thought for a long time. Are the tyres fitted to new vehicles longer wearing than any you can buy from a tyre centre?
I also bought a 9 year old Berlingo with the original battery. Does the same apply with batteries?
I know some funsters are in the motor trade so perhaps they can answer my question

We bought an Elddis Sunseeker 25, 2001 plate, after a trip to France we left the tunnel and joined the M20 to go home. 30 miles down the motorway the rear offside tyre burst, we were not hurt and were able to get onto the hard shoulder, but had £800's worth of damage caused to the van!. The tyres looked okay and had passed the MOT, but AA rescue said after a few years the tyres may look okay, but the rubber deteriorates and weakens. As well as the £800 we had to buy 4 new tyres and one to replace the spare. You did right to replace them and may have saved yourself expensive repairs to boot.
 
Dec 10, 2013
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I have a secret plan, replace my older transit tyres myself with my changer and flog the old ones to a local builder or P***y as they do not care about the age only the tread depth, Get some money back towards the new ones. I could get some campers that way without bankrupting myself for six new ones.
@GWAYGWAY Have you found any campers to fit your Transit, need 6 tyres for mine but all I have been able to find are light truck in that size.
 

GWAYGWAY

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No not yet but it might mean just ordinary Vanco s to replace the ones i have and are actually still OK. There again I am lokking to replace the van with a Merc, Sprinter base.

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