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Posted by Clint Dixon [74.206.63.42] on Sunday, February 05, 2012 at 10:38:31 :
We own two used vehicles as our daily drivers. Both came from the factory with Goodyear Wrangler SR-A tires in the P245/70R16 size. One vehicle is an '02 model and one is an '04 model.
We bought the '02 from good friends who bought it new and kept detailed repair records down to each time the tires were rotated. So, you could say that we may as well have bought it new. We just bought the '04 model from a dealer. We negotiated a good deal and are not looking a gift horse in the mouth.
I have run Goodyear Wrangler tires on three previous vehicles of the same model from the same manufacturer and have learned that I can expect almost 80,000 miles from these Goodyear all-season traction tires.
The '02 is on its second set of Wranglers. The '04 is also on its second-and-a-half set with two of the second set appearing to have been replaced in the past year or so. Two have very nice tread and have the date codes of 5210 and 0411. The other two are worn down over half of the tread depth. The date codes on these two tires are 1009 and 2509. The wear is even across both tires and appears to be no fault of anything mechanical.
Both vehicles have the original Wrangler SR-A full-size spare that came from the factory. Neither spare has ever had the tread touch pavement or had lug nuts tightened against the holes in the rims. Both have been stored in storage wells under the cargo compartment since new and have not been wet and have not had sunlight shine on them. Both still have the blue protective coating over the raised white lettering.
The spare in the '02 has the date code of 1502 which fits right in with the production date of the vehicle. The spare in the '04 has the date code of 1703 which also fits right in with the production date of that vehicle. The '02 spare tire is 10 years old and the '04 spare is 9 years old.
I have seen a lot of talk about radial tires on this site, but have not paid serious attention to it because I have never had any interest of running radial tires on any of my Power-Wagons. With the recent rise in tire prices I absolutely can not justify buying Goodyear tires anymore for any of my daily drivers even though I have learned from experience that I can expect close to 80,000 miles on them before they need replacing. Also, our '02 has 90,000 miles on it and our '04 has 115,000 miles on it. By the time I buy new tires for either vehicle, I will be buying cheaper tires (probably Cooper) and will be expecting them to last only as long as I own the vehicles - which will probably be around an odometer reading of 200,000 miles on each.
Everything I have ever learned about tires, from practical experience, to talking to others - except for some posts here - tells me I should demote the two worn tires on the '04 to spares and take the '02 spare and the '04 spare and put these on the '04 and run them with the two current tires that are in nice condition.
Now, about the posts here. There has been a LOT of discussion on this subject and it seems that radial tires from some manufactures have a shelf life of only 6 years, at which time they break down and become dangerous. I find it hard to believe that with today's technology, and today's government intervention, that any American manufacture would be building tires with such a poor quality causing them to last only 6 years before expiring. But, maybe with the government involved, someone has their hand in someone else's pocket and that is what is driving the decision to make inferior tires?
Anyway, I am looking for opinions here before I take the tires to the dealer to get swapped on the wheels. What better way to start off a new Forum?
Thanks,
Junior
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