Mildphil

So as stated in the title, my tires DOT(s) are "0504" and "1104" so manufactured in 2004. The tread and tire looks great, almost brand new. They are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS. With that being said though, I have heard some horror stories about running old tires, so I am kinda feeling weary about running them. What do you guys think? If I am convinced to replace them, I was thinking new replacements would be firestone firehawk wide ovals, or the Indy 500 wide oval, so any advice on this would be appreciated as well. Thanks guys.

Midnight02

iTrader: (8)

There are a couple different schools of thought on the risk of riding on these, however I wouldn't trust them at higher speeds. Over time, the rubber does tend to get hard and brittle and it's tough to identify those that have hardened just from a visual inspection.

I'm in a similar situation as I have a pair of 305 RA-1's with mid-2004 dates codes sitting at home. They look almost new and I know they've been stored in a climate controlled environment for years, however I don't have great expectations for getting any real use out of them in the future. I've debated just slapping them on my street wheels just to drive around town at low speeds and to satisfy my curiousity of how the compound feels after that much time. That being said, I wouldn't trust those tires on the track or even ripping off a good run through the gears on the highway.

Mildphil

Yeah that was one of my fears, highway driving. Sometimes when shifting, if done in the 3k+ range I can feel the rear moving a little so idk if it is from the torque or the tires losing traction. Another fear of mine was the tires completely falling apart as im driving...not good haha. When it stops raining I might take some pictures of the treads and post them. Idk if it will help but doesn't hurt to do it.

Midnight02

iTrader: (8)

What's your current power level?

How is your straight line traction right now? 1st gear isn't a good indicator because cars with stock power spin in 1st, however do you have wheelspin in 2nd or 3rd gear on warm pavement?

Firebrian

I read a lot of on-line threads on this topic over the past year. My stock 1999 Camaro Eagle GS F1's are from late 1998 and have 15,500 miles on them. There's not a crack anywhere or any other problem that I can see, feel, or hear. The car has not lost traction in any condition, then again I don't drive it very hard. About 50% of the tread remains. It might be a different story if I drove the car all out. Would like to take it out on the highway and drive further from home at times.....so a new set of tires is in the works. There's just no way to tell if a tire will go 20 years or fail tomorrow. No one knows what's going on inside that tire. The outside condition, or even the inside surfaces may not reflect what's occurring deep in the tire. The tire manufacturers recommend that 6 years is normal useful tire life. They also warn that nothing over 10 years old should ever be used on the road. I know in the "old" days we only replaced tires when they affected performance, wore out or began to crack.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Being an "old timer", I understand what you're saying. But keep in mind, in the "old days", the tires weren't radials, and barely lasted a couple of years. Consequently, age wasn't that big an issue.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I've written long posts about this in the past. This issue gets a lot of press and I think it scares some people into buying new tires before they actually need to. Of course, how the tire has been (and will be) used, stored and maintained over it's life will be a huge factor in whether or not it will last beyond the 6-10 years that is "recommended".

I have personally used tires much older than this range, and the tires currently on my '98 are 9 years old. I won't be dumping them at 10 years, in fact I'll probably continue using them for several more years. BUT, this is based on how I use the car, how I store the car, and how the tires have been maintained. If you didn't buy the tires new (and thus don't know exactly what sort of life they have lived), or if they have lived a less-than-ideal life (outdoor storage, extreme climate, comeptition use, etc.) then it's best to just replace them if they are old.

Understand that there is no magic failure/death date for all tires. Everything from their usage/storage history to their specific construction (such as speed rating) will be a factor in this.

Firebrian

I can't disagree with any of this. I know the history of my F1-GS tires and they have lived a sheltered and fairly stress-free life. If they were 9-10 years old I'd be trying to get another 3-5 years out of them. But, at 14 years the risk/reward is different. I can buy a new set right now for $520...so figure my peace of mind will cost $52/yr from the date of installation. I also wouldn't mind knowing how a new set of summer tires stacks up against 14 year old OEM tires. If they are fairly similar in performance, I'm going to be .....

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

This is understandable. Mine too have lived a very sheltered life, and I will probably consider replacement around the 15 year mark as well. At this point, they only have about 3,500 miles on them.

It's not just about the money to me, there is also the fact that, in terms of cosmetics, I don't like the recent new tire options as much as my current discontiued tires. I'd be more willing to replace them sooner if I could get the same exact tires again, but this is not possible so I'd like to keep what I have (and am happier with) for as long as possible.

In this regard I think you'll be satisfied. I bought my '00 WS6 brand new, and it came with the same Eagle F1-GS that your '99 SS did. Even when brand new, the F1-GS was not a great performance tire. I would call it passable at best. People have mentioned that they were very good in the rain - I wouldn't know as I never drove that car in the rain. But in terms of dry weather, they were not nearly as good of a performance tire as the BFG KDW that I replaced them with in 2003. I liked the KDW so much that I bought another set of these for the SS wheels on my '98 Camaro in 2005, and those are the same ones I'm using today.

69z-28

iTrader: (6)

Oil in the rubber dries out over time and performance is affected. As stated, how the tire is cared for plays a large part but typically, anything 10 years old is "not serviceable" and most manufacturers recommend replacing tires after 6-7 years regardless of wear or cracking. Also, a tire that is regularly used and goes through some form of heat cycling will be in better shape than a tire sitting in the trunk of a vehicle, or sitting on a vehicle that is never driven.

Mildphil

Thanks for the feedback everyone, this has provided me with a lot of useful knowledge. Since im not the original owner I am not sure how the previous owner drove it, but it was mostly kept in the garage (car only has 38k miles) they are driving fine now, but that is the problem, fine NOW. My worry is the whole fact that the risk of something happening is higher due to the age, and it iS also my DD. If it wasn't I wouldn't be as worried. The old owners also were from Michigan so I am unsure if the temperature in the garage from winter to summer would change the rubber. The old owner had MS so he couldn't drive stick anymore so the car sat for who knows how long before he moved, qnd then sat for a year before he sold it to me.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

With questionable history such as this, and unknown mileage on the tires themselves, and the fact you intend to DD the car, I would probably replace them if it were mine.

No telling how long they may have sat under-inflated for, or driven on while under-inflated (so many people aren't good about monitoring tire pressure - hence the Explorer/Firestone issue and now manditory TPMS on newer cars), and/or the exact storage/usage conditions they were subject to under the last owner.

Again, IMO, this sort of thing is case-by-case and, all things considered, in this case it's probably best to go ahread and replace them at this point.

Mildphil

Im going to go ahead and replace them then. The risk just doesn't make sense in my situation. So im now stuck between the firestone indy 500's or the BFG comp 2's. I also heard the comps have a $70 reduction or something for this month. Anyone know where/how to get this?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I don't know anything about any rebate, but, if I needed a new set today, the BFG Sport Comp 2s would be my tire of choice at this point.

Mildphil

What is the main benefit over the firestone, better overall quality?
(I have the eagle f1 GS' s btw, idk if I said that already)

NC01TA

This topic has indeed been beaten to death.
Replace them for 'peace of mind'. While Goodyear makes an excellent tire I personally despise worrying when I want to take my car for a 'serious' ride. Why prolong the inevitable? Why risk your car or your well being? You need tires.
I am happy with the Firestone Indy 500 on my SS. I am also OK with the BFG G-Force on my T/A but they are not as good as the Goodyear F1.

cph15

I have done lots of tire research, testing, and modeling. I currently work with a professor that did a lot of research on the tire aging process. Even though you might not see any "weather cracking" or such. The tire is still breaking down and can become unsafe. If they were stored inside in a temp controlled room with no load on them, they could possibly be fine. It's still not a risk I would take on a performance car. The chance of one of these failing under not-so-ideal conditions are very great.

If you are looking for a life span of tires, I'll give you a hint. The group of engineering professors from around the world that were working on it found that tires should be replaced after 7 years, no matter the wear. Now if you are wondering why this is a not a law here in the states, like it is in some parts of Europe. It's because the company that was putting this together tried to keep some of this information out of the hands of the already nasty insurance companies.

Now that last bit of information is a little bit of hearsay. I wouldn't quote me on the reasoning, it's just what the professor told me. I think there are other reasoning behind it, I just don't know the whole story.

Firebrian

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/promotions.page

Michelin, Goodyear, BFG, and Firestone all have coupons in effect right now. BFG is above/Firestone below. Search on line for "tire coupons," "tire rebates," or even check out a major tire dealer's site (Tire Rack, Discount Tire, Town Fair Tire, etc.) and you should also find the available coupons.

http://www.firestonetire.com/destina...here/promotion

Mildphil

7 years sounds reasonable, I think this is a topic not many people are informed about but should be. I have also always wondered why re-treads tend to break apart but maybe that is one of the reasons.

Mildphil

Thanks for the links, they are pretty cheap on tire rack compared to the websites. Now im stuck between the indy 500s, the comp 2, and the gforce supersport A/S. decisions decisions...