Dangerous Tyres?

[Kmac888]

hi everyone I've just noticed some long vertical cracks in my tyres inbetween the treads (please see pictures) these are on both front tyres which have approx 4mm tread remaining. Are they safe or do they need to be replaced? The cracks are more noticable when the tyres are dry. Thank you

[FROSTYBALLS]

What age are the tyres?

[Kmac888]

not sure only had this car for about a year but the rear tyres are the same brand and both have 6mm tread on them (champiro fe1) so I'm guessing whoever had the car before me put a full set (4) on 

[Parts-King]

As they are the only things in contact with the road I would be inclined to change them, difficult to see from those pics but those cracks look suspicious going in that direction, get a pair of decent new ones 

[Stivino]

The date stamp on the tyres will tell you how old they are.

[Hybrid21]

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to replace them asap, would be mot failures, but your safety is more important 👍

[TonyHSD]

Not dangerous yet but it seems they are on their end of life cycle. Doesn’t matter what brand of tyres you gonna buy in uk tyres can’t last long , perhaps 3-4 years if you are driving regularly on motorways especially during winter. The reason for that is the amount of salt spread and water. I had been fighting that issue on different brands midd range and premium, no car tyres can survive the salt conditions. Best to buy a set of new ones. 

[Kmac888]

rears are 2020 (6mm)

fronts are 2018 (4mm) 

it's the fronts that are cracked

[Kmac888]

thanks for those replies I didn't know about the date stamp until you mentioned it. I drive on the motorway every day 250 miles per week. I'm going to replace both front tyres....thanks everyone for your help and advice much appreciated 

[TonyHSD]

Just now, Kmac888 said:

thanks for those replies I didn't know about the date stamp until you mentioned it. I drive on the motorway every day 250 miles per week. I'm going to replace both front tyres....thanks everyone for your help and advice much appreciated 

You will need to check all 4 tyres from inside, usually they get cracked on inner side walls and this is where the things starts to go wrong plus this is an mot fail. 100%  and also dangerous. Look mine 3 years old , inner side really bad, outer side that get washed the walls are perfect. I am a regular motorway driver  too. Best to change all 4 and get decent tyres. 

[Kmac888]

thanks- the rears look ok with 6mm remining and only 2 years old but you are right.....now that it's on my mind I will need to have a closer look at them to make sure. For now replacing the fronts is a priority. Surprisingly Asda is cheaper than costco (didn't know asda did tyres!!!!)

[Llynyfan]

Ive used Asda tyres a few times, similar service to Blackcircles who are also good. Put both in to compare, some are offering store vouchers as an incentive as well. 👍

[Kmac888]

asda have quoted £127 for both fronts c for fuel b for wet rating inc fitting less than a mile from me so happy with that 

[Llynyfan]

Just put your tyre size into Blackcircles, theres some good tyres for not too much money out there e.g. Toyo, Kuhmo...both fitted as standard fit by manufacturers including VW, Toyota and Ive seen them on Hondas too. 

[Kmac888]

correction £127

[Llynyfan]

Blackcircles just under £125 for Toyos 👍

[Kmac888]

not a bad price.....tyres don't seem to last as long as they used to still have 4mm remaining

[Mojo1010]

If you haven't purchase the tyres yet have a look here, there is a 15% off code. Here

[Bernard Foy]

2 hours ago, Kmac888 said:

not a bad price.....tyres don't seem to last as long as they used to still have 4mm remaining

As you are driving at motorway speeds replace the fronts asap, having the wheels balanced and steering alignment checked at the same time. As the rears are of the same manufacturers keep an ongoing check on them.

[flash22]

They are not so cheap Chinese tyres they look like they are heat cracked, I have seen better looking tyres that are 20 years old

there are a lot better tires on the market for the money

[Roy124]

I seem to remember the longitudinal cracks arise from soft running.   On a second hand car you have no idea on how they were used. 

[ISL]

Useful link here from kwik-fit 

https://www.kwik-fit.com/blog/why-are-my-tyres-cracking

[TonyHSD]

I would say the salt on the roads is the biggest enemy to car tyres , then under inflation followed by the sun uv rays. 
This summer especially during the heat wave I saw the most breakdowns on the motorways been blown tyres, and I mean a lot like 10 cars or more  within few miles drive !
That can’t be accepted as normal. The reason, obviously low pressure and old tyres plus higher speeds ,. The worst combination. 
No one talks about the salt and grit which in uk are highly unnecessary but we have that more than any other country, and I have been in quite few in Europe.
My dad who lives abroad has a 10 years old winter tyres that has no cracks and 10 years old summer tyres that has some small dry rot cracks, he is replacing these tyres with all season most likely this winter.
Why his tyres last so long and mine so short, well firstly the mileage, he drives only 2-4k miles per year, I do that per month or even within 2-3 weeks. , secondly during winter he drives very little and mostly in town where no salt on the roads and he stores the extra set of tyres in a cellar without any sunlight. Summers there are a lot warmer than here and the sun in stronger. 
Why I believe that the salt is the major cause of tyres dry rot in uk, because here we get salt and grit when temps are around 5C° , that’s insane, no ice can form even on bridges at that temps, second we have a lots of rain and the salt mixes with water and become salty water, active acid that covers the whole underbody and inner side of the tyres coating them with thin acidic film that can’t be wash easily and eats the tyres and the whole cars with the time. 

[Max_Headroom]

Tyre DOT: how to tell tyre age?

Your tyres have a « Tyre DOT » marking which indicates, by a code, their date of manufacture. This code is made up of 4 digits, the first two designate the week and the next two the year of manufacture. With this information, you can find out whether your tyres have passed the 5-year mark or not.

At the end of the tyre DOT, the tyre age code indicates that it was manufactured in the 47th week of the year 2014

Tyre age limit : the 10-year threshold

If the tyres have not been replaced 10 years after their date of manufacture, Michelin recommends replacing them with new tyres as a precaution. This recommendation also applies to spare tyres.

 

https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/advice/change-tyres/how-long-do-tyres-last

[MikeSh]

The legal age limit for certain axles of larger vehicles is now 10 years, which must be indicative of a common sense time to replace any road tyre.