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The danger of old tyres.......

Three people returning from the Bestival music festival died after a coach tyre that was 19-and-a-half years old blew out, an inquest heard.
The 52-seat coach crashed as it headed north on the A3 in Surrey, travelling to Merseyside from the festival on the Isle of Wight last September.
Driver Colin Daulby, 63, and passengers Kerry Ogden, 23, and Michael Molloy, 18, were killed.

Tyre expert David Price said several of the six tyres on the coach were old, with the tyre that burst being "abnormally old".

Another dated back to 2001 and the spare was 14 years old.
The burst tyre had a dot code giving its age and caused the accident as it finally failed, he said.
The coach crashed through a fence and into a tree

He said the tyre had been falling apart internally for months.
Mr Price said it was only half worn so had either been a spare or in storage for many years.
"This is one of the oldest tyres I have encountered failing," he said.

He said recommendations from manufacturers said tyres should not be fitted to cars if they are six years old, and should be replaced if they are 10 years old.
He said that this was not a legal requirement and that it did not apply to coaches or lorries, which was "frustrating"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23320526

I'm running 20 year old tyres on my Mini. Works great.
A 20 year old suspension bush could also be lethal...

It's not the age, it's the lack of maintenance that kills.

I've seen quite a few cars at shows with very old tyres on them, full of cracks and while I can appreciate originality, I'd like to be well out of the way before they get driven

I agree, old tyres are fine for a show, but it just isn't worth the risk running them on the road, same applies to people who choose to use 50 year old magnesium wheels. They are nice & original & dangerous as hell.

M

A report about this on TV news last night mentioned that low annual mileage cars, little used classic cars, caravans, trailers and horse boxes as being important to check the tyre 'date codes' as the tyres may become dangerous long before the tread is worn out.

"A tyre date code found on a tyres sidewall will tell you what month and year the tyre was manufactured in.
The date code is made up of four numbers (or three and a triangle if made before the year 2000, the triangle means 1990′s and the single number means the exact the year of manufacture in 90′s the first two numbers will mean the same as before, the week of manufacture)
Basically the first two numbers represent the week it was manufactured in and the second two numbers represent the year it was manufactured in."
http://www.puretyre.co.uk/tyre-informat ... date-code/

same applies to people who choose to use 50 year old magnesium wheels

At least these can be dye tested and crack tested. Using them after that is ok imo.

At least these can be dye tested and crack tested. Using them after that is ok imo.

True, but not many people who use them actually bother.

M

At least these can be dye tested and crack tested. Using them after that is ok imo.

True, but not many people who use them actually bother.

You're probably right, seems crazy, you spend thousands restoring a car and then don't spend the extra couple of hundred to crack test and restore the wheels. It wasn't that expensive when I did mine, just took a while to find the someone I trusted to do it. He found damage in one of mine too (needless to say that is now a garage ornament only!)

Doesn't mean it has been fitted that long...

Know of national tyre depo outlet that have had tyres longer than some staff....

Could have been fitted the week before the crash..

These stories are prone to exaggeration and scaremongery. You run more risk with a modern eurobox at todays' speeds on their cr*p 18" eggshell alloys and runflats !! I'm glad mines' a company car put it that way ...

"In evidence at the inquest, tyre expert David Price said that the tyre was ‘abnormally old’ and was the cause of the accident. The tyre was only half worn, so it had either been a spare or in storage for many years. ‘It is known that tyres deteriorate significantly with age’, he said and explained that it had been delaminating internally for perhaps months, but this was not noticeable to the eye. He added that lack of a legal requirement about the age of tyres was ‘frustrating’.
Following the inquest, coroner Richard Travers will be writing a rule-43 report concerning age of tyres to the Minister for Transport. This is the procedure used where a coroner believes that action should be taken to prevent future deaths."

Mechanic killed by car he treasured
Classic car fan Keith Lester died after his treasured MGB flipped onto its roof when one its 25-year-old tyres burst on a motorway.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... red-988730

Danger of old tyres
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... yres&mid=0

I had a set of pirelli P-Zero Nero in 235/45-17 on the wifes Saab 9-5. They where new in 2012, and used last summer. I inspected them before fitting them this spring, looked ok. But after 1 month they started to delaminate It was on the inside of all 4. I only notised because I was preparing the car for MOT

Yes.. but these are defective tyres - not old ones... Unfortunately some tyres are just born bad. Back in the 70s Kleber managed to produce whole ranges of defective tyres...

Unfortunately age is only one factor in the life of a tyre... but its an easy on for reactive regulators to jump on.

Cheers, Ian

I really appreciate to above discussion, well, recently, my father also have change his old Tyre's, and now using new Tyre ...





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Caravan industry recommends changing tyres at 5-6 years old irrespective of wear, obviously they can spend a lot of time parked with one contact patch taking all the weight and can "flatspot". Little used classic cars aren't that much different. Cost of a set of tyres is little compared to risking your own or someone else's life.