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BeWare	I have been doing some research. After the DOT code there will be a three or four digit code on the tire. Three if manufactured in the 1990's and four if after the year 2000. A code of 258 will mean the tire was manufactured the 25th week of 1998. A code of 3003 will mean the tire was manufactured the 30th week of 2003. There are varying opinions on tire life irregardless if the tire is being used or not. Some say 6 year and some say 10 years. I checked my tires and the front's are 258 and the rears which I just purchased last year are 269. This means I should replace my fronts this year and my rears next year. The fronts are about worn out but the rears only have around 6,000 miles on them. That really sucks. This also means that many low mileage cars built in 97, 99 and 2000 should have the tires replaced between now and 2010 regardless of tread wear. Any opinions? Six years or ten years or ? This message has been edited by BeWare on 05-05-2008 at 08:52 PM
TFischer	Rich: That's good info to know. Thanks! I was always told tire life was 8 years. Tami
DublinOH	Hot topic. Ask the tire companies and they'll dodge the question. Why you may ask? Afterall, a shelf life statement would cause them to sell more tires because some are not worn out, but passed their expiration date...right? The problem arises from the fact that they have hundreds of thousands of tires in inventory (warehouses) that are very well aged. Their distributors have tires that are older than 10 years in some cases. These will all need to be discarded...right? When you purchase a set of tires, your not going to want 4 year old tires but brand new ones instead. It's a real problem which will most likely not be solved anytime soon.
TLRandall	I noticed that the Mulholland has a lot of samll cracks in between the treads, especially on the front tires. That can't be good. But there is plenty of tread left. I would worry about them coming apart at hight speed with this age? It has 21,000 miles on them. The Purple has only 5,000 and has very few cracks at all, but they are older tires? ------------------ 1997 Purple Prowler Go-Cart and Trailer 1999 Purple Prowler and Trailer 2000 Yellow Prowler Trailer 2001 Mulholland Edition Prowler and Trailer 2001 Cargo Express STE 16' Enclosed Carrier 2004 Ford Mustang 40th Anniversary 2006 Vintage Outlaw 48' Enclosed Trailer 2008 Ford F450 Dually and Trailer
hotroddaddy	* This message has been edited by hotroddaddy on 08-14-2008 at 05:08 PM
catfish	tl,i dont think i would worry about those little cracks.ive never seen a run flat come apart or throw a tread,like reg non runflats have done in the past,anybody else. ------------------
BeWare	quote: Originally posted by hotroddaddy: your message states "25th month of" and "30th month of".... did you mean week instead of month?? Yes I fixed it. Thanks
catfish	tl,mine also has those cracks in the rr.im not worried about it. ------------------
idive	I have heard of 1 person whose runflats had tread separation on a Prowler. They cut that section of the tire completely off so it would not tear up their fender and continued to drive it a short while til they could replace the tire. Tire age and need for replacing is an important thing to know. But there are lots of factors involved in the rubber breaking down. Use being one of them. Exposure to sunlight is another. For example, tires with 25K miles on them that have been parked in the garage under a car cover for 10 years will have more life left to them than tires with 10K miles on them parked in the elements for the past 10 years. And I would assume that the harsher the elements, the less the life. 10 years in Alley Cat's driveway is worse than 10 years in CJ's driveway. You get the picture... I'm sure cnote6 will have some info on this topic. Basically, tire life came to light when all those Ford Bronco's started blowing out and rolling. They looked at the age of the tires for something to blame, as opposed to the manufacturer defect. "Let's blame the consumer for not changing them rather than blame us for selling bad tires." On the other side, "you sold me old tires in the first place." I'm not too sure how critical the age role plays, outside of of a disclaimer. My uncle has a 55 Chevy he's raced since 56, and still has the original tires tucked away. He's not saving them for nothing. If they are cracked and dry rotting, yea, I'd say replace 'em. This, from someone that typically drove on tires til they became slicks and blew.
condor	The org. runflat tires are from date of birth very hard in the roll-comfort. After 8 till 10 years the rubber is even more hard. The street competition on this tires, compare to new ones is poor. But, most of the prowlers are cruisers and not performance drivers, so if you stay in 26/28psi, they still doing fine. I replaced my (4900miles org.) runflats with a 225/35R19 and 285/35R22 non runflat combo, and I was surprised to get a ok ride comfort.
ProwlerBobWpg	My Prowler has had the tires replaced when I bought it. Approx 25,000 miles. It now has Goodyear RSA's on it. They are not runflats, but nice ride. I assume the previous owner went to these are they are significantly more economical.
TLRandall	quote: Originally posted by catfish: tl,mine also has those cracks in the rr.im not worried about it. Jan, I have seen many other cars with the same small cracks, I don't think they are deep at all, just look to be surface. I am with Ed though, I am trying to keep them stock!!! lol
Prowl 36	I would have to agree on the many factors involved here. I had a Vette stored in the garage for many years the front tires were on the concrete and the rears were on carpet and the fronts are cracking and look sick but the back ones look like new with no cracking. I always keep my cars on the carpet now. ------------------ This message has been edited by Prowl 36 on 05-08-2008 at 06:22 PM
cnote6	8 years on tire life tops. I always put about 10K miles on tires then sell them and get new ones. The Goodyear (bricks) EMT's now that are 5 to ten years old are like slickes now. JMO. If you See crack always replace, they are fine to drive on but if one to rip apart it will damage the car. I like non runflats on my Prowler. If I were to have a Flat im not to far from a tire store call a tow truck. FYI a Prowler can hold a donut tire in the back, Just in case of a flat. Just make sure you have tools to remove the front fender and drive slow to the next tire store. People get off your chair now sell your tires and get new ones. End of story.
Roger	Cnote, please make a tire recommendation. Thank you
EdsCat	Here is a news article on tire life. Interesting... http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897&affil=wjxx ------------------ [ This message has been edited by EdsUp on 06-16-2008 at 03:30 PM
catfish	ed,cant get it to play. ------------------
ntprowl	I built a MGTD kit car in 1985 on a Volkswagen chassis. I put Michelin tires on the car. I have only put 6000 miles on the car in the ensuing years. The tires look as good as the day they were installed. No cracks and no leaks. The car has never been put on blocks during the winter months. Bob Leonard
Gary Heath	Tire shelf life is a hot topic these days and what would be common sense a few short years appears to not apply anymore. Apparently most modern tires have UV protection "built in" 'and' are better lived if used than if shelved. A stored tire deteriorates faster from interior breakdown than a tire in use, because flexing of the sidewall tends to release beneficial lubricants from within the rubber. And a stationary tire has a greater tendency to dry on the surface. The rule of thumb these days appears to be between 6 to 7 years for modern tires. This is unfortunate for those of us that own many "specialty" vehicles that see little use, and especially people that own large motorcoaches that have a tag axel (8 tires that almost always get replaced well ahead of being worn out). Searching the issue should provide more in-depth information on this subject with respect to built in UV protection and internal lubricant preservation. That said, it does seem to me that in the past we didn't have this issue of shelf life. People used to not only use tires many years old, but there was a large "used tire" market and we used to be able to retread tires for passenger use. I have to wonder if tire manufacturers started doing something different, that has brought about these shelf life issues.
EdsCat	Try the link again. Don't know what happened... http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897&affil=wjxx ------------------ [
ed monahan	It takes me to ABC but not about tires.
EdsCat	I just clicked on the link in this post, and it took me right there. It starts out as a commercial, but then the story begins. Here is a screen shot from the URL in this post. Note the url at the bottom of the picture. I can send the link directly from the website if you send an email address. ------------------ [
Orange Power	I think this is the URL http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/aged-tires-driving-hazard-4826897
padroo	Very informative.
xtreme prowler	I threw out a set of front Kuhmos that had 90% wear remaining because it had a crack running right up the center groove... They were 4 years old but not used for 2, I stored them properly... I am guessing that because they have a soft compound they are more subject to cracking when they sit... can't take a chance on getting stuck or wrecking because of a couple hundred bucks worth of tires