Original Tires shaking after 12 years ? Is that possible that I need to replce the old tires. It happens if I go up over 120

[FastEddie]

I have recently noticed a shake at "highway speeds" in my 2012 GS. It is still on the original tires with just 20,000Km. I am driving it much more this month as my Denali is under repair. Now I get this steering wheel shake and it is generally rough at Highway Speeds on the 400 series. I store it with the wheels on white styrofoam each winter . Is it time for a new set of tires? Are the tires just OLD?

What do you think?

 

[Paul C7 to C8]

Automotive tires degrade over time and have a "life span" Look for the letters D-O-T on the side of your tires followed by a series of up to 13 characters. For tires made since the year 2000, the tire date code is always the last four numbers in the series. The first two digits represent the week of the year the tires were made, and the last two digits indicate the year.

 

[Afterimage]

Last time you had the wheels balanced?? Perhaps some wheel weights have come off if they are stick on weights.

If your car sits for a long time with no movement there could be flat spots on the tires and if they are old tires won't be as easy to unflatspot (word of the day) and be round again.

 

[OL Yeller]

Generally tires should be changed out at 6 around years, so at 12 years of age, they are way past the normal life and you should probably have them replaced very soon.

 

[Jack Raccoon!]

OL Yeller, you could donate some VetteCoins to FastEddie to buy new tires. Oh, hang on. You only have enough to buy a lug nut lol...

 

[theboss]

I would not keep tires that long. you should replace them or at least check them for worn out on the inner side. If you didn't know what to ask for net christmas .....

 

[Murray20c8]

Since you don't drive the car much, I'd check for balance and if you get them fixed drive them until they are worn out. Unless of course you feel they are also hockey pucks.

 

[SSSN8KE]

Check the date code and you will see they are out of date. A tires life span is approximately 7 years old regardless of how much tread is left. I would not drive your car with 12 years old tires especially at 120 mph. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Murray20c8]

Many tires can last 10 years.
They'll likely wear out before then though.
I had snows for my Camaro and 2 sets of summer tires and wheels. I used to change them up every year. One set I prefered the width, but the other handled better so I got about 12 years out of them before I sold the car.

 

[SSSN8KE]

Many tires can last 10 years.
They'll likely wear out before then though.
I had snows for my Camaro and 2 sets of summer tires and wheels. I used to change them up every year. One set I prefered the width, but the other handled better so I got about 12 years out of them before I sold the car.

I’m not saying tires won’t last 10 years or more. I’m saying the safe life expectancy is 7 years. I wouldn’t take the chance driving 120 mph on 12 year old tires in any car. If a tire ever blew out you’re dead! We all have choices and I choose not to do it.

 

[Murray20c8]

I’m not saying tires won’t last 10 years or more. I’m saying the safe life expectancy is 7 years. I wouldn’t take the chance driving 120 mph on 12 year old tires in any car. If a tire ever blew out you’re dead! We all have choices and I choose not to do it.

A tire in good shape won't "blow up". One should always check their tires every year at least.
Nobody would be doing 120 MPH on a 12 year old tire anyway. 120 KPH maybe. Anyway, simply because a tire is 7 to 10 years old doesn't make it a hazard. Even a 12 year old tire could be perfectly fine given make, model and composition etc. We shouldn't generalize tires.

 

[1st Vette]

A tire in good shape won't "blow up". One should always check their tires every year at least.
Nobody would be doing 120 MPH on a 12 year old tire anyway. 120 KPH maybe. Anyway, simply because a tire is 7 to 10 years old doesn't make it a hazard. Even a 12 year old tire could be perfectly fine given make, model and composition etc. We shouldn't generalize tires.

Mine is in cold storage and not up of the ground but because it warmed up to-7 today I started it and rolled the tires 180 degrees just because. Not too concerned about flat spots but figured why not. I had some tires on a vehicle that wasn’t driven much so the tires only had maybe 1500 km on them but when I put it back on the road I took a good look at the tires and could see cracking in between the treads and side walls . The tires were about 10 years old at the time. They had also been exposed to UV most of the time. I replaced them and stacked them up, filled them with dirt and grew potatoes in them lol. And no , these aren’t mine but same method.