Dry rot - should I worry?

[airlia101]

I was in at a dealership to get a flat patched (second plug = repair limit anyway), and the rep told me the tires were suffering from dry rot and should be replaced as soon as possible. As a student, I'll be leaning on parents for funding new tires , but I'd like to get some opinions about how much of an issue this is, especially with winter approaching.

These are BFGoodrich Premier Touring that were on the car when I got it. Don't have a mileage count, but there's good amount of tread left. The manufacturer's dates range late 05 - mid 06. As far as I can see, the cracking is limited to the tread area, have yet to see any encroaching on the sidewall (which I'd consider immediately replacement-worthy).






A few looks at sidewalls (did not notice any damage there)





A nail I've been watching for a couple weeks. Seems to only be in the tread, but I haven't worked myself up to pull it out yet (funny, splinters are easier to handle than that).

[grossgary]

drive carefully when it snows and see how they do.

aged tires do terrible in the snow. the ABS in my OBS was freaking out in the snow and i blamed the ABS at first (like i've seen other people do online). the tires had tons of tread, but were aged/dry rotted. the car couldn't even come to a complete stop down a hill on it's own in the snow, but i live in the mountains with steep grades. new tires solved it.

i now run my dry rotted tires in the summer and have extra wheels. they're fine in the summer, probably a bit worse in the rain but i haven't noticed, though i'm not a "performance" driver at all.

['05 Outback 2.5i]

Originally Posted by airlia101

I was in at a dealership to get a flat patched (second plug = repair limit anyway), and the rep told me the tires were suffering from dry rot and should be replaced as soon as possible. As a student, I'll be leaning on parents for funding new tires , but I'd like to get some opinions about how much of an issue this is, especially with winter approaching.

These are BFGoodrich Premier Touring that were on the car when I got it. Don't have a mileage count, but there's good amount of tread left. The manufacturer's dates range late 05 - mid 06. As far as I can see, the cracking is limited to the tread area, have yet to see any encroaching on the sidewall (which I'd consider immediately replacement-worthy).

Well, to error on the side of caution, they should really be replaced. Tires with an '05-'06 manufacture date are 6-7 years old, which meets or exceeds many auto manufacturers recommendations for safe tire ages.

As Gary has noted, there is already a significant decrease in the tire's performance from the degradation of the rubber compounds, some thing that in and of itself could mean the difference between avoiding an accident or being in one, but depending upon who you talk to, the tires are old enough that you are beginning to run the risk of catastrophic failure, with little or no warning.

BFGoodrich's official stance is that tires should be inspected annually once they reach five years of age, and replaced as needed, but not be in service more than a maximum of ten years (given annual inspections that show no indicators of a need for replacement). -- Personally I think this is bad advice since the factors that could lead to failure may very well not be found in a simple visual inspection.

Many European vehicle Manufacturers have warnings in the owners manual not to use tires in excess of 6 years of age as well, though I don't think Subaru has any such warning in the owner's manual for my 2005 Outback.

Do your own research and make your own decision, but I can tell you my family would not ride around on seven year old tires without visual signs of degradation, much less seven year old tires with clear signs of degradation. Even some inexpensive off brand tires would be safer at this point than what you are currently riding on..

Some Links for your research:

Tire Rack - Tire Aging Part 1

Tire Rack - Tire Aging Part 2

Are your new tires really 6-year old ticking time-bombs?

[1 Lucky Texan]

Originally Posted by '05 Outback 2.5i

Well, to error on the side of caution, they should really be replaced. Tires with an '05-'06 manufacture date are 6-7 years old, which meets or exceeds many auto manufacturers recommendations for safe tire ages.

As Gary has noted, there is already a significant decrease in the tire's performance from the degradation of the rubber compounds, some thing that in and of itself could mean the difference between avoiding an accident or being in one, but depending upon who you talk to, the tires are old enough that you are beginning to run the risk of catastrophic failure, with little or no warning.

BFGoodrich's official stance is that tires should be inspected annually once they reach five years of age, and replaced as needed, but not be in service more than a maximum of ten years (given annual inspections that show no indicators of a need for replacement). -- Personally I think this is bad advice since the factors that could lead to failure may very well not be found in a simple visual inspection.

Many European vehicle Manufacturers have warnings in the owners manual not to use tires in excess of 6 years of age as well, though I don't think Subaru has any such warning in the owner's manual for my 2005 Outback.

Do your own research and make your own decision, but I can tell you my family would not ride around on seven year old tires without visual signs of degradation, much less seven year old tires with clear signs of degradation. Even some inexpensive off brand tires would be safer at this point than what you are currently riding on..

Some Links for your research:

Tire Rack - Tire Aging Part 1

Tire Rack - Tire Aging Part 2

Are your new tires really 6-year old ticking time-bombs?

good post.

I'd just add, consider your personal situation. If you will not need, even in an emergency, to drive under poor conditions on the highway for long distances - if you have plenty of help available if the car strands you somewhere - if you are prepared to make a quick/unplanned tire purchase-etc, those may be in favor of keeping them. Otherwise - start shopping. Tires are critical components of your car.

[katmandoitall]

First there is no such thing as DRY ROT, it's merely dry.
Don't mess around get new tires right away. I call tires
in your condition, MAY POPS as they MAY POP at anytime.
You are a hazard to yourself and others on the road. Don't
risk an accident it could haunt you for a long time.

[grossgary]

they are a huge safety concern and should be used cautiously and realize performance is degraded...but so are cheap tires verses high performance expensive tires, so is not using studded snow tires, so is not using snow tires, so is having extra weight in the car, so is having a cell phone......etc. so while i agree new tires are the best option, there is never a one-size-fits all approach, i would get more out of them - but i have a fleet of Subaru's and dedicated vehicles for dedicated seasons and travel.

being in NY - they're probably going to suck in the snow and like the previous poster i'd consider them a hazard if you have any amount of winter driving to do. if you can not drive in the snow at all, which is conceivable for many college folks, you could get another year out of them.

the chances of a tire popping are slim. try to cut through a tire and you'll realize how robust they are and not "prone to pop" as a rule by any stretch of the imagination.

when i was in college i used to run the cheapest, oldest, warn out tires i could find for $15. i ran them until they blew out while driving and swapped with a full size spare in the trunk. as they aged i put the worst ones in the back, so it was always those that failed. they blew when they were WAY past completely bald and metal strips were coming out of the rubber, made them a pain to change - almost needed gloves. LOL. they never blew out until the metal was exposed all over the place. my point isn't that i recommend that at all - it's a terrible idea! but my point is that tires are very robust as a rule and unlikely to fail unless they are seriously abused or warn (like metal is showing).

[John E Davies]

I wouldn't drive on those further than to the nearest tire store. Nor would I let one of my kids drive on them at all. I wouldn't drive them 10 feet on a snow or ice covered road.

Talk to your folks, tell them you need new rubber so you won't wreck your car, and see what they say. I bet they will assist. Those tires were marginal for winter when new. They are far worse now.

You said you have been watching that nail in the tread for a couple of weeks. What planet are you from? If you leave it long enough it will force its way through the plies. If you removed it two weeks ago it might have been fine. You do NOT leave steel cr@p in your tires and drive on them! Don't tell your folks about this or they will slap you upside of the head....

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

[subiesailor]

Old tires get tired and will come apart if your not careful.

If all your doing is local surface street around town stuff no 50+mph driving its probably not really a big deal. Old tires that are beat on by sun UV damage and just weather etc just are not very tolerant of high speed freeway use.

This issue is pretty common with my boating hobby where boat trailers sit in the dry yard for years getting wheeled around the yard to the hoist and might see a trip or two to a year to destination events where highway speeds nearly always find the guys with old rotted tires.

But low speed stuff the tires might last 20yrs LOL but the second you hit the highway you'll find your self throwing treads and shredding tires in no time.

So if your doing any sort of parkway 45+mph stuff every day or even jumping on the highway then yes its probably very wise to get new tires. If all your doing is poking around town surface streets with the car then its probably not a big deal though you could still end up with a flat though obviously not as big as a problem if you were bombing down the highway at 65mph.

With the boat trailer in most cases we end up replacing the tires long before the tread ever becomes an issue given the trailer in most cases doesn't see enough road miles to wear the tread down but the trailers sit around in the yard for years and get wheeled sometimes by hand a couple hundred feet to the hoist to drop the boat in for the weekends racing etc. Which case the tires just get old and rotted long before the tread ever really becomes an issue.

[grossgary]

Originally Posted by John E Davies

You said you have been watching that nail in the tread for a couple of weeks. What planet are you from?

ROFL, i missed that nail part.

"a watched pot never boils" so the commutative property of anecdotes tells us that "a watched nail never leaks"!

yes, definitely take care of the nail. tire repair kits are amazingly effective and easy to use if you want to fix it yourself, i've repaired countless over the years with the simple plugs. done properly they hold 100% of the time.

tires often don't leak for long periods of time, which has always surprised me, but leaving them in is a really bad idea. it never seems bad until you're on the side of the road...and then it seems really bad when your spare doesn't have any air in it too. make sure that spare and jack are in place.

[airlia101]

Thanks for all the input, folks. I'm gonna start looking at replacement this week. And, heh... it never crossed my mind to worry about the nail sinking in further, thanks for calling me out on that >_>. Will report back when a decision is made.