Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by blw2

For what it's worth my 2013 model had tires date code 0113 and 0213.
Just over 4 years old and just under 11,000 miles on them

That's the biggest problem I see with replacing tires every 5 or 6 years regardless of mileage. Many motorhomes get driven very little, so you'd be retiring tires with most of their useful life left on a wear basis.




I'm way past due by age, but hate to buy new tires if I'm going to trade. When I had van in for repairs at Ford recently, I asked them to do a safety inspection and they didn't say anything about the tires. Two months ago I took van in for State Inspection and again no issue. Since inspection was at a tire shop, I asked them afterwards about tires, whether it would prevent passing. They said cosmetic cracks would not cause inspection failure.

Still, I look at 10-year-old tires (maybe more) with about 80,000 miles on them and they concern me some. Cracks are limited to area just below tread, are not deep, and are considered cosmetic. Still?

Interesting that if damage is caused by UV, the outside of tires should show more cracking. Mine are the same on inside and outside, suggesting sun hasn't played much of a role.

Likely damage is due to millions of cycles of rubber at shoulders flexing with each rotation. Obviously, when tires are loaded heavily they flex more, and they get hotter too, which speeds up the cracking problem.