[stevenriz]

Hi all, I was the lucky one to find a 2005 STS with only 15k miles on it a couple months ago. I noticed that the tires had some dry rot on them. I can provide pics if you want. My question is this. Is a small amount of dry rot on the tires dangerous? Should I worry or not about this? I imagine only getting through the summer with these tires anyway before needing to replace them but thought I would ask...

thanks!

 

[BaTu]

You know,,, I don't know WHAT's going with tires these days.....

I too have seen the cracking sidewalls more and more (I think "dry-rot" is inaccurate and refers to old cotton based plys that haven't existed for decades )

I replace my trailer tires every 4-5yrs even though they have 9/32nds tread left (maybe 20% used) because the sidewalls are so badly cracked. I cover them from the sun when not in use, don't use any "tire shine" on them and they still crack a lot.

I think the petroleum based tire goop people lather-on could be the cause of much of the trouble. My '05 with 27K shows no sidewall problems so maybe that's the problem with yours as who knows what the previous owner did. I use a tire shine made by Michilen that looks similar to Armor All and figure it can't hurt the tires.....

But I've also read where there are those who say tires now "expire" after a certain time (I've always chalked that up to the reactionaries among us ) and should be changed based solely on age sometimes even if you don't see anything wrong.

I think minor cracking is nothing to get too concerned about and isn't an indication of an impending, catastrophic, failure. Even badly cracked tires would probably develop leaks before they blew-out and with your TPS you'd know earlier than most

 

[next2pool]

This is a common problem but more for trailers and motorhomes since tires tend to get older before they wear out. Michelin specifies a max life of 10 years, but attaches a lot of conditions to that. You're right that a lot of tire dressings can aggravate cracking. Modern tires have a "lubricant" as part of the compound and regular usage keeps the compound from getting hard. Tires that sit will have a shorter life span. The UV issue is not as bad with newer compounds so covering them is not all that important these days. Also, cracking is not the end of the world--it depends on how deep the crack is. That's a tough thing to measure, but heavy duty truckers and motorhomers are used to doing that.

 

[bbshriver]

My 05 has pretty evenly distributed dry-rot craking throughout the whole tread area. Probably depends a lot on your climate, dry weather=dry rubber.
I'm getting mine replaced next week at some point, my brother had a tire literally explode a few years ago. tires were 15 years old, but looked brand new. no external cracking at all, but apparently INTERNAL cracking/dry rot is very common as well, as the environment inside the tire is much different than outside the tire. One of the reasons many people like nitrogen rather than air for inflating tires. I've always heard you should replace tires every 5 years regardless of wear/visible deterioration.

Hi all, I was the lucky one to find a 2005 STS with only 15k miles on it a couple months ago. I noticed that the tires had some dry rot on them. I can provide pics if you want. My question is this. Is a small amount of dry rot on the tires dangerous? Should I worry or not about this? I imagine only getting through the summer with these tires anyway before needing to replace them but thought I would ask...

thanks!

 

[stevenriz]

thanks gentlemen... I only see the cracking on the tread. teh sidewalls look just fine. Has anyone actually used tirerack.com or any other reputable internet dealer? I once brought the tirerack quote to Sears and for the same tire, they matched it. I only had to add mounting and balancing so I was happy there.

 

[c5 rv]

My dad used to spend winters in Palm Springs, CA and kept his Buick there year-round. We used to talk about how fast tires aged in the dry, hot, sunny weather. One time I called him and he was hopping mad. He was writing a complaint letter to GM and General Tire about how the tires on his 9 year old Buick with only 14,000 miles were failing. I reminded him of our discussions about tires in in the desert. "Oh..." was all he had to say.

 

[turnerbend]

My 05 STS with less than 10k miles show no signs of dry rot.

 

[ECha3]

Who might be driving the car? Who will be in the car? What is their safety worth?

A blown tire can freak out many drivers.

If the tire is older than 5 years and has noticable flaws, I'd consider replacing the set.

Other opinions?

 

[stevenriz]

ya I drive 100+ miles a day mostly highway. Maybe I will get 2 at a time to comfort the blow no pun intended. The cracking is just on the tread now but like bbshiver mentioned, we don't know what is on the inside. Turnerbend, where do you live that your tires have not seemed to have aged? are they factory original? I have the michelin 235/50s on the front and the 255/45s on tne back...

 

[Dadollac1]

For great tire prices try:
www.tires-easy.com
Just picked up a set of 18" staggered tires for $411 shipped to my door.