Fixx
 

Joe, every Michelin tire that you see that are a few years old on suv's have spider cracks in them..have a look at a few when your out and about and you will see what im talking about..they are just serface cracks and will probably be ok for now..

Get out and check the date on the tires, if the stamped date is over 7 years replace the tires. Any use after that time you are just waiting for a tire to blow. You might be lucky when it blows and only damage is to the tire. I have see when a tire blows it can tear up the trailer, boat, & anything that is around the tire when it goes.

It almost never fails that the date is stamped on the inside. You will find a spot where it looks like they took a hot iron and stamped 4 numbers on the tire right next to the DOT info. First 2 number are the week and last 2 are the year. I tire made this week would be 5010. If the last 2 numbers are any smaller then 03 might start looikng at buying new.

As has already been said before, check the dates when you buy the tires. I had to replace a tire due to having a bad date with a piece of rebar. Two years later that tires blows out and when I take it back to the dealer he said I had a 10 year old tire.

I learned that when I had 'new' tires on a truck I had, 1200 miles and had the tread seperate at 70. crumpled the bed side and put the truck instantly sideways and on 2 wheels. I saved it but had to change my shorts. Called the tire company, they told me to go get the date code of the tire and told me the 3 year deal. under 3 years they would have fixed the bedside, replaced the tire etc... Turns out my 2 month old tires were 5 years old.

that's why you don't buy tires at a box store or similar
they buy up dated tires (dated lots that real tire shops won't accept as new stock) for cheap in big quantities, (it's huge business) and then distibute and sell them to the clueless consumer, undercutting genuine volume tire shops and still make a killing
it may be you they kill...
buy your tires from a genuine well-known tire shop that does volume and pay the extra few bucks
AND check the dates before they go on the machine for peace of mind
have the serial# and the man. date of each tire accordingly put on the reciept
a shop that does genuine volume shouln't have much in name brand rubber and common sizes that are much more than 6-8 mos. out from manufacture
I remember one time catching sears trying to put 4 year old (new) tires on a gal I knew's minivan that she was carting her 2 little ones around in all the time including long road trips!
ozone starts killing tires the second thay come out of the mold. think of them like fruits and vegs....kinda
you want FRESH

tire safety/quality/age is very important! :eek:

I have the good year wrangler HT's on my myco same size 238-85-16, however after checking around I am switching to the BFG, they are 115 each as opposed to the 148 for the goodyears. I have had very good lock with BFG as well.


http://www.treadepot.com/tirelist.html

Firestone TransForce was recommended to me by a good friend in the tire biz, and OSO member; for trailer tires. When I was swapping out the tires on my last trailer, I was replacing them with the Firestones and they were far superior to the Road Kings that came on it.

If your tires are cracking buy these;

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...&ci_sku=450662

just wondering...would a tire shine like black magic help with tire cracking. plus it would look good.

it should help protect the tires a little.

You will have good looking chunks of rubber all over the road.

the HT is very tough. The wear like iron as well. We use them on the ambulance fleets we service here. too bad i dont have a trailer with the same size tires. they make us replace the at 6/32 for their own reasons. and they are only on the units for about a year.