Looking back, that was before we were smart enough to look for the build codes on the tire walls. I'll be there were a lot of them were TEN years old?
I can tell you that my P7s are all split in the treads and are a lot older then 10 years. I'm not going anywhere with them. Just trying to decide which 15 tire to use?
My experience with failed tires was on my Ford Econoline. I had the Ford aluminum wheels on it (15x6) and had BFG All Terrain tires on it.
The first tire failed at about 18 months. It failed by the tread coming apart and throwing out a chunk about 6" x 6 ". I took it back under waranty and was told that even though the rim was within the manufacturers recommendations, 6-8" wide, it was the wrong application, and the dealer wouldn't replace the tire under waranty. He said it was designed for a 7" rim and mine was a 6".
...oh, and he's the guy that sold it to me.
Anyway, stupid is as stupid does, I put another set on the van and this time in three years, three of the tires did the same thing.
If you looked at the tire, there was cracking through the treads.
My opinion to all of this is that each manufacturer ads an aging agent, or more precisely an anti-aging agent to the rubber.
It varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but none are going to go more then 5 years.
For safety reasons, replace the tires regardless of how much tread they have at around 3 years.
That's just my opinion.
Most of these agressive patterned tires won't go more then about 8,000 miles anyway.
It's just the way it is, some things will never change-Bruce Hornsby
