Tyres cracking, whats your view on these

[Phill D]

i am quite meticulous about the care of my tyres. I use covers when they are in direct sunlight, I regularly check pressures and change them on their age as well is wear and tear.
Today i decided to change the front disc pads that i have been threatening for several months now, and all that went to plan. However, i had a bit of a shock when i saw the condition of the first tyre I had removed. So as you would expect i then checked all 4 tyres ( the spare was new 12 months ago and in a cover so is pristine. )

all the tyres were changed in June 2017 at 5 1/2 years old as i wanted to ure on the side of caution regarding their age., out of interest at that time the fronts were at 3.5mm and the rears on 7mm.

The following photos are of 2 of the tyres, which are the worse cracking the other 2 have some similar cracking but nothing like as bad. These have 7mm of tread and have done 13.5k miles in the 31/2 years they been on the van.

2 questions for any tyre buffs amongst us !!

1. Does anyone have the email address of Conti tyres customer or technical services?

2. whats your view on these tyres? are they a blowout waiting to happen? or am i being paranoid and they are fine?
I am particularly concerned with t14

 

[Nigel L]

This is the guy that was extremely helpful when I was enquiring about tyre pressures, and is in their technical services, so might be worth an email to him.
gwyn.fennell@conti.de
Will be interested to hear what the outcome is.
personally, I would be looking to change them.

 

[LesW]

They look a bit grim to me, I'd definitely be looking to replace tem.

 

[gus-lopez]

I'm with LesW .I wouldn't be happy going along on them

 

[poacher]

The pictures show the additional sipes manufactured into the tread of 'wet weather' / 'winter' tyres

Broken Link Removed

Image T5 does not exhibit any cracking of the side wall - which is the area of the tyre in which 'cracking' should 'ring' alarm bells

(You may well find mud / slush (snowflake) motif / symbol moulded on side wall to confirm)

If you are still not happy with them, will gladly take them off your hands, at no cost to you , assuming they fit my wheels

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[Badknee]

I would personally change them but be as sick as a chip though. That date code of 2017 is week 20 of 2017 isn’t it?

 

[Wikky]

If the tyres are cracking then change them but contact the manufacturer as they shouldn't have gone like that in such a short time esp with covers on them.

 

[Mountain man]

Had similar on set of Hankook i was advised the were ok and didn’t require changing.I replaced them as did not feel

safe with them.

 

[Phill D]

I would personally change them but be as sick as a chip though. That date code of 2017 is week 20 of 2017 isn’t it?

correct week 20 17 is teh manufacture date. I specifically stated "NEW" production tyres when they were fitted.

 

[Phill D]

No cracking whatsoever in any of the side walls.

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[mpdcymru]

i am quite meticulous about the care of my tyres. I use covers when they are in direct sunlight, I regularly check pressures and change them on their age as well is wear and tear.
Today i decided to change the front disc pads that i have been threatening for several months now, and all that went to plan. However, i had a bit of a shock when i saw the condition of the first tyre I had removed. So as you would expect i then checked all 4 tyres ( the spare was new 12 months ago and in a cover so is pristine. )

all the tyres were changed in June 2017 at 5 1/2 years old as i wanted to ure on the side of caution regarding their age., out of interest at that time the fronts were at 3.5mm and the rears on 7mm.

The following photos are of 2 of the tyres, which are the worse cracking the other 2 have some similar cracking but nothing like as bad. These have 7mm of tread and have done 13.5k miles in the 31/2 years they been on the van.

2 questions for any tyre buffs amongst us !!

1. Does anyone have the email address of Conti tyres customer or technical services?

2. whats your view on these tyres? are they a blowout waiting to happen? or am i being paranoid and they are fine?
I am particularly concerned with t14

I do not pretend to be a tyre expert but there is no way thaat I would use them on any of my vehicles - they would be changed immediately

 

[pappajohn]

I'd run on them with no hesitation.
It isn't an MOT failure, even on the sidewall, if there are no bulges and the structural cords don't show.
If it were that dangerous VOSA would make it a fail.

 

[gus-lopez]

he pictures show the additional sipes manufactured into the tread of 'wet weather' / 'winter' tyres

You aren't looking at the cracks in the bottom of the grooves then?

 

[Phill D]

I'd run on them with no hesitation.
It isn't an MOT failure, even on the sidewall, if there are no bulges and the structural cords don't show.
If it were that dangerous VOSA would make it a fail.

it had an MOT approx 3 weeks ago at a trusted garage who deals in tyres. not mention of it at all. perhaps i will pop in and ask him.

 

[Phill D]

I have sent an email off to Continental tyres technical services with photos and info on age and miles / tyre tread depth.

i have asked if this condition is acceptable for this age of tyre and also asked if continued use of these tyres is safe.

ot will be interesting to see where this goes.

I will update as and when i get anything back.

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[ambulancekidd]

This sad story just confirms my impressions on so called "quality tyres".

I buy relatively cheap new tyres & replace them every couple of years, I can afford 4 sets to the price of 1 set of these overpriced pieces of rubbish.
So its easy to replace my tyres every two years with ease, win win & I've never experienced any problems in 40yrs of driving commercial type vehicles.
I was a tyre fitter in a previous life, so I do know my way around a set of boots.

 

[Phill D]

This sad story just confirms my impressions on so called "quality tyres".

I buy relatively cheap new tyres & replace them every couple of years, I can afford 4 sets to the price of 1 set of these overpriced pieces of rubbish.
So its easy to replace my tyres every two years with ease, win win & I've never experienced any problems in 40yrs of driving commercial type vehicles.
I was a tyre fitter in a previous life, so I do know my way around a set of boots.

so whats your view of the condition of these tyres? ( no liability infured!! )

 

[ambulancekidd]

so whats your view of the condition of these tyres? ( no liability infured!! )

I wouldn't be too happy to drive on them, any form of cracking is a warning sign.

Have they been sitting for a long time in one place during the lockdown periods? This might explain at least some of your problems, but tyres this age & mileage should not be in this condition & imho this is a manufacturing defect.

 

[TheBig1]

Not on the motorhome, but the car. The year after Brenda had her first stroke, her car was parked up. I went to move it and noticed a flat. Tried pumping the tyre up but the rubber valve stem was split. So put the spare on and took the car to my local tyre place I always used. He took the spare out the back and called me through after a couple of minutes. 3 year old tyres with 8mm plus of tread had split between the treads. Checked the others on the car and all 4 were lethal.

As for motorhome tyres, if you pump them up to 80psi as the converters suggest, they are like a bomb waiting to go off

 

[DuxDeluxe]

One of my fronts (drivers side which spent time in the sun under previous owners) is coming up to 7 years and a couple of tiny cracks so they are going soonest. The rears I had replaced earlier. Only point of contact with the road on 5 1/2 tonnes of van.... no brainer

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[Phill D]

I wouldn't be too happy to drive on them, any form of cracking is a warning sign.

Have they been sitting for a long time in one place during the lockdown periods? This might explain at least some of your problems, but tyres this age & mileage should not be in this condition & imho this is a manufacturing defect.

over the past 12 months i guess no longer than most other motorhomes, did a few decent journeys in september althogh onlt about 2k in the past 12 months. covered from the sun, and i move the van to rotate tyres now and again.

ido think at 3 years old this is a defect and as far as i can tell Conti's have a 2 year defect warranty.

but i have asked for their opinion.

 

[Phill D]

Not on the motorhome, but the car. The year after Brenda had her first stroke, her car was parked up. I went to move it and noticed a flat. Tried pumping the tyre up but the rubber valve stem was split. So put the spare on and took the car to my local tyre place I always used. He took the spare out the back and called me through after a couple of minutes. 3 year old tyres with 8mm plus of tread had split between the treads. Checked the others on the car and all 4 were lethal.

As for motorhome tyres, if you pump them up to 80psi as the converters suggest, they are like a bomb waiting to go off

i tend to set the pressure base on the Conti axle weight table so rarely if ever at 80psi.

 

[stewartwebr]

I was absolutely shocked when assisting my Sister remove the spare wheel carrier and spare wheel from her 4 year old Morelo Palace (she has bought a new one, this one used to be mine) as the new one she has bought does not have a spare wheel which is now a Morelo extra.
Whilst under the van I noticed the condition of the LHS inner rear tyre. The inner wall was completely gone. I drove it very carefully to a commercial tyre garage 2 miles away. He replaced the tyre after a frantic search for the key for the alloy wheels. He said he sees this frequently with overloaded vehicles. I think carrying the Smart in the Iveco chassis is asking a little too much.

 

[hblewett]

so called "quality tyres

I had Contis on my MoHo for 9 1/2 years and 50,000 miles, still with legal tread depth andno signs of cracking whatsoever, so I replaced them with Contis on the basis that similar performance would work out as economical as a cheaper option.

I have had to replace various brands of tyres on my cars due to cracking, but they get less use than the mororhome, so I think there's something in that. The only brand of tyre which has stood the test of time on the cars is Khumo - I even replaced some last year because the treads were down to 2mm [at 7 years] ... the fronts are still going but will be replaced at 10 years whatever.

 

[WillH]

I had identical cracks on my front pair at about the same age, one was losing pressure. Changed both.

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[denisejoe]

Noticed the same on our car changed all 4 same day

 

[Manic]

We had similar cracks in the base of thread on our previous motorhome and only noticed when the ride seemed strange, had a look and the tyre was were rugby ball shaped. Got them replaced straight away.

 

[lou020]

I noticed one of the 4 Conti campers on the back of my chieftain had cracks in the tread. They are from 2015 and done around 30,000 miles but depth is still like new. Put 2 hankook on the front a short while ago and been fine.... Think I'll try hankook or Toyo on the back this time or even Maxxis vansmart, they are a better load rating than any camping tyre.

 

[Garfields]

I'd run on them with no hesitation.
It isn't an MOT failure, even on the sidewall, if there are no bulges and the structural cords don't show.
If it were that dangerous VOSA would make it a fail.

Cracking of the sidewalls is a MOT fail
But like rust on brake pipes there is a description of whats acceptable
Personally I would be looking them to change them before any long drives

 

[Ian Bosman]

They look a bit grim to me, I'd definitely be looking to replace tem.

Its the sidewalls you have to be careful of cracking, not so much the treads. Also check that the load rating suits the vehicle

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