9-yr old Michelin's with good tread. Safe?
 

I bought my 1984 380SL a year ago. At the time the tires appeared virtually new. A few days ago I decided to have the tires checked at a good shop and I was told the Michelin MXV4's were nine years old.

The car is very low mileage and I would estimate these tires have no more than 20,000 miles on them.The shop told me I could wait a year before changing them although they suggested I rotate and do an alignment. I know that tires degrade with age.

My question is: would you want to replace them due to age right away or do you reckon I could get another summer out of them?

I would rather err on the side of caution from a saftey point of view.

As long as they don't look all cracked up then use them up. If they start looking cracked real bad, then think about replacing them.

Also unless you have uneven tire wear, or is pulling or some other driving ailment, the car does NOT need alignment.

Have a great day,

There is what the shop called some "feathering" on the outside of the front tires which is why they suggested rotation and alignment.

Yes, feathering indicates the need to check toe.

Good luck,

Thanks, Larry I appreciate you taking the time to give me some guidance. I'll go ahead with the rotation and alignment.

one thing to consider about tires is that the rubber degrades over time, even if it is not used, and especially if it is not stored properly.

It can lose its flexibility (hysteresis), which would affect traction adversely.

Worse, it can become brittle and you could have tread separation at speed.

For reference, the government is debating on whether to enact legislation banning tires over six years old. I don't know where this is at and whether it means nobody can drive on tires over six years old.

For your present tires, it depends on how they were stored... indoors or sitting in the hot sun for a number of years, and whether you do a lot of high speed driving. I've had tires come apart on me, usually from used cars I bought where the tires were bought by the original owner. It's not fun at high speeds.

funny I just replaced a set of 10 year old michelens on my car still had a lot of tread, but I just don't trust them anymore, your life is worth way more than 300.00!!! At least I hope it is.

6-8 years is about the elastic limit of the rubber compounds in a tire ... I would replace any tire over 8 years old regardless of tread depth or condition

Thanks, Luke. You and others have convinced me that I need to buy new rubber and I will do so next week before I start to seriously go touring this season.

I just put Michelin MXVV4's on my Bimmer, with good results, and I think I will do the same with the "380". Any comments?

Another question, Luke. When I go to your web site and input options for 205/70-14 nothing comes up. Is this size no longer available?

I don't know what you are doing wrong ... it seems to work fine for me ....

Luke, yeah it's working for me now too. Don't know what I did wrong before. Thanks.

I would suggest that you take a look at the Bridgestone Turanza LS-H. I just replaced the MXV4's on my W126 with the Turanza's and have been very satisfied. They are highly regarded, and as a bonus cost less than the MXV4's.

Cheers!

geoellis,

Unfortunately the Turanza LSH doesn't come in 205/70-14 size and Michelin has stopped making this size.

I have found that Firestone Affinity's come in the right size (with "H" speed rating) and this site (& Luke) have good things to say about them so I will be going with them.

A local tire shop in Toronto will install and balance them for C$114 each (about US$85).

Thanks.