How safe/dangerous are tires with weather checking?

[JerryM]

I have several old vehicles and I do not drive a lot. I also recently bought some used (never on ground spare) tires for off roading that I found to have some seemingly minor weather checking.

I recently discovered that the manufacturers state that tires should be discarded after 6 years from the date of manufacture regardless of their apparent condition. My F-250 has tires that are probably 25 years old but kept indoors and my 1995 ZJ has 10+ year old tires - both with no weather checking evident,

Just how dangerous are these tires? I cannot imagine (or afford) replacing tires just because they reach a time limit.

Has anyone experienced catastrophic failure (blow out) from either old or weather checked tires with no evidence of any physical damage?

I figure that if I am going to go off roading with my ZJ I would rather do it with cheap tires that I can more readily afford to replace if I accidentally tear one up. The tires I've torn up in the past were almost new and it was the sidewalls that failed due to rocks etc.

I would think that blow outs would more logically come from tires that were damaged on the trails but low pressure prevented failure until run at high speed (higher temperatures) and normal higher pressure on the freeways going home.

What do others think (I don't have a lot of 4 wheeling experience).

Thanks,

Jerry

[SOLITUDE]

Give the tires a thorough check for Dry Rot.....

[VirginiaZJ]

or go by a local tire place (that you trust..)

i mean, only be skeptical of them if they tell you what you don't want to hear.

[JerryM]

Originally Posted by SOLITUDE

Give the tires a thorough check for Dry Rot.....

How would I do that (seriously)?

Thanks,

Jerry

[JerryM]

Originally Posted by VirginiaZJ

or go by a local tire place (that you trust..)
.

Unfortunately there is no local tire place that I trust.

I got so tired of tire stores telling me that I needed new ball joints when there was nothing wrong with my ball joints that I quit going to tire stores years ago (and Goodyear lost a very good customer).

Next Michelin lost me as a good customer when they refused to honor a promotion on tires I bought from Sam's club and I had to get the Attorney General to get Sam's Club to honor their promotion.

Now I buy my tires from whoever has the best prices on the type of tire I want and my off road tires came from junk yards (great tread and great prices).

I tried Wal-Mart but when I was dropping 3 tires off for mounting and balancing I noticed that they had put my pickup on their lift and were about to do someone else's service order on it.

When I returned and dropped off another tire to be mounted and balanced they did not have it ready on time because the tech could not find a non-existent hole (he had been told to fix a flat - not mount and balance).

There may be a good local tire store but if so I don't know where it is.

Thanks,

Jerry

[rcjoslin]

What is worth more to you? your tires or your life?

[85IrocZ-28]

Originally Posted by rcjoslin

What is worth more to you? your tires or your life?

X2

Especially when lifted and with larger tires, I wouldn't want to loose a tire at highway speeds. I like to spend the necessary $ on tires. They may be expensive, but I shop around and will only put good tires on. My wife drives the WJ most of the time during the week, and I drive the Camaro. I would hate for her to have problems with an old tire.