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Re: Tires for project car? Posted by Snowmobile [Email] (#686) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Snowmobile) on Tue, 6 Jan 2015 12:08:06 In Reply to: Re: Tires for project car?, Justin VanAbrahams [Profile/Gallery] , Mon, 5 Jan 2015 22:56:07 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I think it does depend on the shop/tire brand, but 6 or 7 years is the party line... that said, some brands of tires barely last that long before exhibiting cracking and others can go a dozen years with no signs of spiderline cracking anywhere. In that regard, I have found Nokians are fantastic and Michelin quite poor. Even after a couple of years there can be crackling in the tread. I have never seen this on 10 year old Nokians. So buying expensive tires is no guarantee, but probably most cheapies are cheap for a reason. I assume the DOT inspection mainly looks at tread depth rather than age, but if a garage does the inspection, they may not like the age if they look at the date stamp or especially if they see spider line cracking (at which point you really should not be using them).
Also, have you considered used tires? Sometimes you can get a good deal on a quality used set. Sometimes even mounted on SAAB rims. Last set, I paid $100 for tires with decent tread on saab alloys. Can't even get them mounted and balanced for much less than that! Lots of 15" sets around, but watch again for tire age...
I agree that in general one should have the best tires on a car you can attain, and along with that, the rule for tire age is probably smart to follow... but if this is just a set for a rolling restoration that sees few miles/year, well, it might not be necessary to spend a lot on tires... well, at least until the restoration is nearing a close, and then get some great tires. In that regard, the selection of mildly performance oriented tires for 15" and even 16" rims is getting thinner and thinner every year as even econoboxes go to bigger and bigger rims.
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