Long term project and tyres ?

[markgenesis]

I have a long term project, by long term i mean i've been at it two years and i recon it'll take about another three before it see's the road, not in any hurry though, problem is i bought some wheels and expensive tyres fairly early on as i was desperate to get the shell rolling, i've now realised by the time i get the car roadworthy the tyres may be knackered due to age , i've always thought the shelf life of a tyre to be 5-6 years ? (and they are a couple of years old already), bearing in mind these are track day tyres.

Would it make sense to sell them now, get a set of cheap rollers and buy wheels again in a few years when the car is nearly roadworthy ?

Trouble is i realy like the wheels and i think the tyres may be hard to find now

BTW this is not a for sale add so i don't want hundreds of PM's asking how much, just an opinion on the above, will be sticking an add in the parts section if i decide to sell.

[will]

I would GUESS* that if they are kept in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight they would be completely fine.

*might want to check out with the manufacture though.

[markgenesis]

Read somewhere that it does'nt matter how they are stored, the rubber hardens with age, also just realised the 5-6 year shelf life was bike tyres, not sure if thats the same for car tyres ? .

I've seen some running ancient tyres but i've never fancied it, bought an 80's Mustang a while ago with Michelin TRX tyres on, it passed an MOT ok but the side walls had hundreds of tiny cracks and the treads were rock hard (almost like plastic), hellish in the wet, i guessed those tyres must have been at least 20 years old though

[RobinJI]

How you store them will effect how fast the rubber goes off, cold, dark and dry is best. I'm never sure about the shelf life of tyres that are stored correctly, and suspect that in ideal conditions they'd last a while longer, but they do eventually go off even in ideal conditions, and any official advice I've heard always seems to be to change after 6 years regardless.

[stretch]

not sure but i put a set of tyres on my old minx and one kept going down every 4 or 5 weeks that tyre was found t be 8 years old when i got it but ws told it was new just differant tread pattern it had gone hard and porous never got anymore from there lol

[nomad]

By the sound of it they are on the car and being used to roll it around so no chance of keeping them in ideal storage conditions.
It also won't do them any good to be parked up for long periods as all the weight will "stress" (my word - maybe not the right one??) the section of tyre on the ground.
If they're off the car there's no weight and you can keep them somewhere suitable - got told cool and dark is best but it's 2nd hand info

If you can afford to I'd be tempted to sell the tyres and fit a set of slave wheels, fit new rubber to your rims when you're ready for the road.
(... but it's not what I did when I was in your position - my car had new tyres and I liked them so kept them on while it was stored)

[jinky]

As RobinJ1 says. Store the tyres in Dark,cool and dry conditions. I work in the oil business and we have rubber (various types, nitrile, natural etc) seals and elements we store for long periods. Some cost up to 45000 dollars so we take storage conditions seriously. Should be off of car though. If in your garage put them in heavy black bags.

[scruff]

If selling them is an option, then sell them.
Do you want to be driving at the limit on track with tyres you know are at least 5 years old?
I wouldn't.
Sell them now, save having to store them and know that your new tyres are the best they can be.
Also storing them they need to be off the ground and within the storage limits the manufacturer recommends. Contact them and ask perhaps?
A couple of years back Toyo 888 (I think) were reported to be cracking if stored too cold.

Even if you did store them how long are you going to roll them for? Another couple of years perhaps?
Would you even entertain tracking a car with 7 year old tyres?

I'm fairly anal about old tyres and I've swapped out full sets of tryes as they were of unknown age, much to the disgust of some I know: it's got loads of tread left, what's wrong with them? Erm, they were made in 1990....!

Rich

[markgenesis]

Cheers for the input guys , was thinking about it today and pretty much decided to sell , just feel like it's a step backwards with the project , then again if the wheels sell i'll put the money into the engine.

BTW i don't intend to track the car, just the tyres are marketed as track day tyres (Kumhos), these may have a shorter shelf life than normal tyres ?

Will sort out an add later anyhow