While I know that tire folks are hesitant, or even decline to work on
older tires for the "safety" factor I can attest to the fact that I just
drove 3,000 miles this March on 13 year old tires. The valve stems were
leaking a little (o-ring type on metal stems), so I had those replaced
in Arizona. While the tire tech and manager was aghast that these
ancient tires had just been driven from Dallas, they broke down nicely
and balanced right up. I promised to heed their warnings about getting
new tires as soon as possible (which I won't).
This particular car is driven only on vacations and as such gets very
few miles/year. This year was an exceptionally long trip. My cars are
all stored in a garage and therefore have minimal to no UV exposure.
Tires have a "wax" that is impregnated into the compound that comes out
when the car is driven (tire flexed) to stop the cracking/checking of
the sidewalls that can come from UV damage. Tires exposed to weather
certainly have rotted for me over years past. 303 products makes a UV
protectant that I highly recommend. It caters to the RV crowd, whose
tires are exposed to the elements with long periods of non-use, but if
you look at their site they have many other products as well. I just
used a great fabric convertible top cleaner on my jag, and have extended
the life of my fabric awnings (wife's choice) on the house by 3x after
using the fabric protectant. NFI on 303 products.
Tires aren't necessarily shot due to age, there are other factors in
play.
Ed Fisher
Dallas, Texas
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