When Are You Going To Age Out Your Truck Tires?

[SuiteSuccess]

Most of us will never reach milage limits for our tires. When do you consider steers and drives aged out?

[sclord2002]

Carl, based on the number of times commercial trucking companies cap their tires, I am hoping that 8 to 10 years on virgin tires might be reasonable ??? I know that time is not a tires friend but we don't stress our tires much and it seems that should make some difference. It will be really interesting to see what peoples thoughts are on this. I'm pretty sure some will say 8 to 10 years is too long but that is just my thought for virgin tires that are somewhat protected from the sun and otherwise properly cared for. What say ye. Charlie

[SuiteSuccess]

I'm saying 8 on my virgin steers and probably going 9 - 10 on my virgin drives. I'm dually tandem as you know. On edit, my reading seems to point to 10 years on both if visual inspection shows no obvious defects.

[Big5er]

I think y'all are pushing the limits at 8. I aged out my virgin drives at 6-7. I realize that climate and use makes a lot of difference but 9-10 is way too much for my comfort zone.

 

I know Trey Selman has posted many articles about age, and I don't think any of the recommended 9-10 years.

 

EDIT: Article I just read.

[SuiteSuccess]

Thanks Phil. This is the article that prompted my survey. This is from Bridgestone.

http://www.tirereview.com/how-long-do-truck-tires-last/

[brunsje]

I just replaced my steers at 3 years (to increase size and width), but will go with 5 years. Drives I'll probably go 6-7 years.

[TreyandSusan]

It is very hard to put a year mark on it. Like many things it depends on a lot of factors. Maintenance is incredibly important. RV use cannot be considered the same as commercial use. For example, at least one of the major tire manufacturers has shorter warranty periods for personal/RV use (e.g. 5 years) compared to commercial use (e.g.7 years). Other tire manufacturers may not have this distinction in their warranties but this one of the two manufacturers which actually build tires for RVs, so they understand and quantify the difference in the warranty. The primary issue is that we RVers let our tires sit unused for extended periods of time, which is detrimental to the rubber in the tire. This is a different kind of life reducing stress on the structure and components of the tire. This is partly observed in the various types of checking or small cracks that will show up. Weather/UV and Ozone mixed with inactivity accelerates this phenomenon. These issues compound over time to decrease casing life unlike a commercial tire which is more likely to be in constant use. The best thing to do is to be diligent about maintenance, especially proper inflation pressure. Watch closely for irregular tread wear so that adjustments can be made to correct it, if needed. (e.g. alignment, inflation wear. suspension components) Occasionally there are unique forces or hazards that could quickly change the plan. e,g, an unexpected emergency stop that could flat spot the tread or flat spotting from storage environment or practices. Finally, find a good commercial tire shop foreman who has some degree of understanding and training about the issue of RV tire aging to evaluate the degree of weather/ozone checking. These evaluations should begin at about 5 years (or sooner) and then annually, if possible, after 5 years.

Commercial trailer tires (think 17.5") will have an even shorter lifespan because they have greater stresses in multi-axle systems.

 

Our virgin truck tires are three+ years old and they are already showing minor signs of weather checking inside the grooves of the tread.

 

Certainly we all hope for as much time as possible, so, good practices (including personal observation) along with evaluation from someone trained will help to mitigate the risk once the tire gets past the five year mark (commercial tires) when the risk of failure begins to increase. When comparing commercial use to RV use it is important to understand that there are some significant differences that may make the considered points of comparison less relevant. Everyone's risk level is different so when computing that level of risk, it is important to keep these differences as part of the equation.

 

(ST trailer tires are a completely different story - lifespans for these types of tires are shorter and vary greatly due to many factors)

[sclord2002]

Ah, the old oxygen concentration theory again. I guess that could be a reason to fill tires with nitrogen. I believe the air we breathe is approximately 78% nitrogen but by purging with nitrogen, I can get the air in the tire to about 98% nitrogen. That should potentially increase tire life if the oxygen is attacking the inside of the tire. I am fortunate to be able to purge my tires at the Michelin Headquarters about 3 miles from my house but I understand that getting truck tires done commercially could be pretty expensive. I can see aging out steer tires a bit before drives. Charlie

[rickeieio]

I have to wonder, if perhaps premium tires age better than cheap tires? Sorta like wine v. milk?

 

I have a commercial trailer with fairly expensive Bridgestone tires. I bought the trailer new in 2001, and those are the tires that it wears today. Thus far, I've had one puncture, repaired with a plug. Tread is still about 50%, and there is no significant checking. I plan to change all 8 when I have the first failure.

 

I also have some trailers with cheap tires. Some are badly checked in only 4-5 years.

 

Perhaps paying more up front buys us more down the road?

[Randyretired]

I ran my last set of Dunlap drive tires 10 years and the steers 9. The tire dealer gave me $120 a tire credit as these were in excellent condition. We are part timers and travel 6 months or so a year. The truck and 5er are garaged when not in use.

[pugsly]

I hope to be at a point where I have to retire my tires due to age and not wear. Not there yet - had to spend $2200 replacing 4 year old tires in Reno a few weeks ago. bleah.

[Nolan]

Rears changed out after ten years. Had lots of cracks in the bottom of the treads. The first set of steers changed out at about two years since they were cupping. The replacement steers looked great at ten years. No cracks but changed them out anyway.

[Pete Kildow]

Lot of local flatbed and log haulers here. Love to buy these old tires. Then run them for years under over loaded trucks each day. But for them its all about the bottom dollar. Shoot I used to haul logs and if we got 3 years out of our truck tires they went on the trailer. And this is grossing 110,000 lbs load after load. It was normal for me to be 110,000 lbs coming out of the woods lots of loads. And that was on old tires that most would throw away.

Now if I had been running 500 miles and hot weather. No way would those same tires hold up. But most loads were within 100 miles of the mills. And running most times under 60 MPH.

 

Ask your self what your time is worth? Would you rather take a chance of sitting on the side of the hwy? Or be traveling down the same road? Old dry rotted tires can kill you. Kill others and even cost your hours of travel time. Now days for me its not worth running old tires that I think are not safe. Have 6 19.5's that are 55 to 60%. But 6 to 7 years old, there not going on anything I own.

Pete

[RickW]

My plan is to replace the tires about every 7 years. It will also depend on how well the tire(s) are aging and holding up. I do not carry a spare (for the truck) so I figure any road service call that involves a tire purchase would wipe out any saving by trying to get another year out of the tires.

 

I had to replace the steers on my truck a few years after purchasing the truck. The tires got our round, badly. Tires still appeared to be in great shape and were less than 7 years old but the truck sat a lot before I purchased it. Truck sat for 8 months from the time it was taken out of service until I finally bought it. Could have set longer as this was during the great recession. Of course 2 weeks later I had to replace the drive tires. The drives had recaps on them. Found one that was starting to separate where the two ends come together. It was the only one but replaced them all for piece of mind.

 

While I did shed a tear having to replace all the tires on the HDT in a 30 day period, I figure the tire cost is a wash when compared to the Super Duty. On my Super Duty I was averaging 24~30 months out of a set a tires. So if I get 7 years out of the tires on the HDT then look at what I would spend on tires if still driving the SD then the tire cost is a wash. Only difference with the HDT is I spend it all at the same time instead of spreading it out.