So ten years ago I purchased four Firestone winter tires, studded for my Tacoma. Since these were mounted on a set of spare wheels I only run them in the winter months (Dec. to March, sometimes mid April) and some winters not at all. Total miles on the tires are way less than five thousand and they are stored out of the sunlight in an insulated shed. Decided to do the change over this year and was informed of the Firestone policy of not installing ten year old tires despite the fact they looked new and had no sign of cracked sidewall or other deterioration. Firestone now recommends that tires be replaced every three to five years. Have to wonder about the mileage sales pitch and why bother getting quality tires (supposedly) if you have to replace them that often. Walmart looks like a good option since you don't have to pay for all the marketing. This is first time in forty years of swapping between all seasons and winter tires that I have heard of the ten year deadline. I was informed of this by my local Firestone dealer!

I would not want to run 10 year old tires regardless of how they were stored.
Everything I have read says to replace at 6 or 7 years old.

8 years is my limit, regardless of mileage.

I'm actually with Firestone on this one.

I wouldn't want to trust a tech to properly use, read, or interpret a durometer.

Industry standard advice is usually 6 years, I believe. Even protected from UV and temperature extremes, the rubber compounds will oxidize over time.

-Rob

I can understand Firestone not mounting them. 10 yrs is a long time and they are covering themselves from liability.

That being said, mount the tires yourself since they are already on the wheels.

I believe Discount Tires policy is 6 years from the date code on the tire, recommended replacement.
Not sure about when they will no longer service them.

A couple months ago I had Discount Tires replace the front tires with some new ones I'd bought 6 years ago. They recommended new ones in lieu of my new/old ones, but I had them use mine anyway. Their in-store sign also said they won't service any tires that are more than 10 years old.

Liability. They have no proof of how the tires were stored. All they have is the worry of a hyper-litigious society.

Having grown up in a family tire store and having mounted and balanced more tires over 30 years then I would care to count, I will tell you that Firestone is correct. Tire will "dry out" and get really stiff. After 10 years, get new ones.

Mounting a 10 year old tire there is a good chance you will tear the bead when doing it and the tire will be junk anyway.

You do realize this is because the tires actually degrade over time, not just because they're trying to get into your pockets, right?

Not the tread, the rubber compound. As soon as they complete them they are essentially drying out from then on, with or without UV.

It's not safe for you, your family, others on the road or the poor guy you want to mount it.

I'm wondering how many decades you have on your trailer tires by now? The ones of those you see on the side of the road have plenty of tread too.....

I agree with Firestone, too. I was all over my neighbor for his ten-year-old tires ("But they don't even have 30,000 miles on them!" was his response).

That said, I've had the Land Rover in storage for a while (almost 20 years), so this past summer I replaced the 1987-vintage recaps that were on it (with less than 10,000 miles). I'm pretty sure they were in the high-50's Rockwell.

All tires are marked, as to the date they were manufactured. It is always a good idea to check this when purchasing new tires for your vehicle.

Well shit, I don't think these are the responses he was looking for...

I'm sure it'll be fine, what could go wrong at 75 on the HWY???

quote:

Mounting a 10 year old tire there is a good chance you will tear the bead when doing it and the tire will be junk anyway.

I gathered from the OP that they are already mounted on wheels. Nevertheless, I side with Firestone. The independent I work for probably wouldn't do it either. They would definitely not mount those tires (if not already on wheels).

I have some ten year old winter tires and asked our local tire shop that's been around for 30 years if they're too old to use. He inspected them and said since I'd been storing them well they're in excellent shape and there's no reason not to keep using them.

I sure as hell wouldn't use them either. 10 years is too old. The rubber gets dry and brittle.

Didn't that Paul guy from the fast movies die because the car had dry rotted old tires?

My wife, the school marm, drives a 2014 Honda Pilot. It has 32,000 miles on it. We replaced the tires last year. The tread looked good but the sidewalls were dry-rotted.

I once walked out of buying a new truck because they wouldn't budge on changing the tires that were approaching 2yrs on the DOT date. Price on the truck was great, but being an F350 DRW, the price wasn't enough to offset the cost of 6 new tires.