Old tires

[Firewind]

So I have some old tires I bought about 4 years, I was planning to put them on my newest car since it needs new tires, however it turns out they were made back in 1995, and really I don't feel that safe using them on my car.

So the reason I am posting this in the "Around the House" section is well that's exactly what I am intending to do with these tires, insted of paying for my tires to be recycled I want to recycle them by finding a use for them around the house. Currently I am idea searching. I saw the tire house, but I don't have enough tires for that. I don't want to make a flower pot, tire swing, retaining wall, or sand box. Those are the ideas I have seen so far. I kind of wish I had some way to turn them into an energy saving idea or just something useful... Any thoughts are welcome, no matter how crazy! Give me some ideas for these tires!

PS: I also have aluminum rims that are with these tires, that are also junk, I was going to take them to a metal recyclers to see how much money I could get for them, but open to ideas with them too!

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

IMO, if they haven't started visibly checking they'll probably hold up a year or two, it's weather, humidity and UV that seems to eat them, so if they've been stored in a stable environment they might be in better shape than tires that have been on a car for 3 years.

[Lug_Nut]

Where, and how, have the tires been stored?
Indoors out of sunlight, not in close proximity to electric motors or oil? I'd not have any qualms about using them on my car.
List the wheels on the local Craig's. 'reuse' comes before 'recycle'.

[thornburg]

Yeah, there's a guy in with a VX that still has the original tires on it... I wish I could remember who it was.

As long as they don't show signs of dry rot & have been stored properly, tires last quite well.

Although Consumer Reports does recommend you check the date code on new tires and not buy them if they are more than about 2 years old.

[bobc455]

I'll disagree with the group here, and I'm glad you don't want to use the old tires.

You could always use them like I do, to take up space under your back porch and maybe even a mosquito farm.

Besides that, a tire swing is about the only thing I can think of.

-Bob C.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by bobc455

I'll disagree with the group here, and I'm glad you don't want to use the old tires.

You could always use them like I do, to take up space under your back porch and maybe even a mosquito farm.

Besides that, a tire swing is about the only thing I can think of.

-Bob C.

The last set of tires on my Buick were on there for about 12 years before they just plain wore out. I had no problems riding on old tires.

-Jay

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

When protected from temperature cycling, oxidation, humidity changes, ozone and UV, rubber actually becomes more durable with age. Free flight model aircraft enthusiasts who build rubber powered models, are known to store and age "rubber motors" for 5 years to improve their qualities. I think it's said that a given motor will stand 50-100% more turns if aged. Generally this means putting it in a light-tight air-tight container and leaving it somewhere cool for a few years, various recipes are touted as preservatives, including castor oil and glycerine, which also lubricate it. I presume the advantage is that it seals the surface of the rubber from oxidative attack.

Anyway, I'd go wholly on visible deterioration, in my experience tires "go" from the outside in (unless you've been pumping them with pure ozone) so if they've been stored out of sunlight and even still have the factory coating on, they should still be useable. The one thing you may find is that they have hardened a little and don't offer 100% of the grip they did when new.

[Firewind]

I am not sure I trust old tires...
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

The tires have been stored for 4 years under a deck, have seen sub zero tempatures, and tempatures as high as 90+ and have had some sun light.

Still looking for ideas.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

The guy referred to above with the original tires on his car is R.I.D.E There is a catch though. they have less than 30k on the tires and the car was in an airconditioned storage facility

Low mileage, 27,492 when purchased. Totalled when 2 years old. Insurance company kep it for training adjusters. Air conditioned storage for 13 years, no broken glass, hit in rear. Original tires still good. Interior perfect.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Well if you're not confident that the storage conditions were good, then best not to use them.

I think the message I get from that report reading between the lines is that actually ALL tires are timebombs, you just don't know how short or long the timer has been set by storage conditions, I bet tires stored in an Arizona warehouse where electric forklifts work all day will be dangerous at 2 years old, due to that drying out problem mentioned. Kept in a residential basement for that long where temperature and humidity is relatively stable, they might keep 15 years.

It was interesting that they said not to "put into" use tires more than 6 years old due to elasticity issues. This suggests to me that the tread compound ages a little differently than the sidewall and if they have not taken pressure for 6 years of storage then the treads may separate when put into service, whereas those that have been in service or have been mounted and inflated may not have this issue.

So you could consider them "safer" if you've actually had them mounted and inflated on rims all this while and they are pre-stretched to service pressures.