Cracks in the rubber

[WXman]

According to records, the previous owner got 70,000 miles out of the OEM Michelin Cross Terrains. He then installed Maxxis Bravo 760 HT tires. I bought the 4R and it's now at 110,000 and the Maxxis tires are down to 5-6/32nds depending on exactly where you measure. So, they are on pace to go to almost 70,000 miles distance also.

But here's the deal.. first of all I don't like the tires. They work great and I have zero problems with them. I just don't like HT tires on my 4x4s. Second, they are over 5 years old now and the rubber is starting to show cracking.

Would you guys go ahead and replace them? Or would you keep running them another year or two and then replace?

 

[hearno]

I'd roll with those until they can't hold air.

 

[JB.]

Tough call. Late autumn is when I like to get new shoes and I don't like to get much below 5/32.

It would either be this fall or the next.

 

[Tooltime19]

Welcome to my specialty! Ive been tempting to do a complete tire's 101 writeup for some time. Cant sit down long enough to just do it. Im going to attempt to make this quick and easy.
Your tires are dry rotting as you can clearly see. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggies is age. And based on the pic, thats what is happening here. This is the beginning of the end. What I tell customers at this point is to start saving for some new shoes because the end is near.
I tell them to do weekly (safety) inspections. The belts, and innards are the next thing to pop out of the dry carcas. Trust me, the innards are very close to doing just that right now. Please limit your freeway driving. If you perform weekly inspections, keep your air perfect,and limit high speed driving, you just might succeed in many more miles. All my info is based 100% on safety!
Tires mostly wear in two ways; They physically wear out. And they dry rot due to age, yet have plenty of tread left as in your case.
For more info on tires, anyone can PM me, or request a thread and I will bust one out. Thereis alot of info out there people have never considered. It will be a big wakeup for some. Some think as long as the tire is round and black and holds air, then its good.:becky:

 

[WXman]

Yeah I've used dozens of AT and MT tires over the years. I don't normally run HTs but these were on the 4Runner when I got it. The only tires I ever see with dry-rot like this are the BFGoodrich tires. Their AT KO is the worst about doing this, but some Michelin tires (same company) have the same problem. They just use a crappy rubber compound I guess. It's pretty bad that in 5 years time the tires rot before you can even use the tread up. These are made in Thailand according to the sidewall and the rubber company is Shang Chin or something like that...a chinese company I think.

I will replace these before the end of the year. I usually try to buy tires that are made in USA and surprisingly there are lots of options. Generals, Nittos, Goodyears, Coopers, etc. are all great AT tires that are made in our country.

Thanks for the advice. The hardest part isn't saving for new tires. The hardest part is convincing the wife why you need to with tread still clearly in good shape.

 

[Canazes9]

The only driving I would do on those tires is to the nearest tire store to get another set (slowly). I'm not going to drive my wife and kids at speed down the highway/interstates on dry rotted tires waiting for a blow out to send us out of control. I don't try to economize on tires or shoes.

Regards,

David