I got a full set of these with the car when I bought it
Until I decided to do something with them I put them in my shed...that was about 3 months ago.

Last week I decided to use one for a spare and also as a display piece so I cleaned it up and put some air in it and put it in my trunk. Again that was last week...and mind you, last week was one of the hottest weeks we've had this year in SE VA.

So today I go out to do some tinkering and when I opened the trunk, this is what I saw!! After my initial shock, my first thought was I'm glad I didn't have to actually use it as a spare...the results would have been disasterous!

Can anyone help me understand how this happened, cuz I've never seen anything like this. I admit the tires do have a small amount of weather checking, but nothing serious. Hell, the tires that were on the car were worse and they hung on till I could put some new ones on.

I'm not taking any chances with the other three so I'm just gonna scrap them and buy a single for a spare.

So there ya go...again, if anyone has any ideas, please share.

Thanks for the read,
Dave

 

Take a look at the manufacture date along the rim, I'm going to bet that tire is a lot older than it looks. I had the same thing happen to my spare. The rubber breaks down long before we feel the need to buy new based on tread wear.

 

Ok...so what does this tell us?

 

Check this link.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=11

 

I looked at that but I can't decipher it...lol

 

The information you are looking for might be on the other side of the tire. The front side with the white letters.
Even today some tires I look on for date only has it on one side.
And if you read the Tire Rack info it says you will not be able to tell which DECADE it was made if it was before 2000. The tires were made thinking they would not be in use after 10 years.

 

last 3-digits "482" = 48th week of 1992

 

 

The checking and cracking that can be seen in the close-up photo of the tire clearly shows that it is old and should have been discarded long ago. I think the interpretation that 482 means 1992 is correct. This tire was made 26 years ago.

 

Good grief!😱
Yep...to the bulk trash they will go.

 

The newest they could be is 2002, which is still 16 years old and not safe..........

 

Shouldn't the fact that they're Goodyear Eagle STs have been something of a tipoff?

 

Kind of my thought as well. These have been out of production for years.

 

Forgive me oh great and wise elders...for I am not wise in the way of tires.😀

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as condescending -- I just remembered that the last time I went shopping for tires, I was disappointed to discover that STs had been off the market for years. Along with Radial T/As, they used to be the go-to tire for muscle car owners in the '80s and '90s.

My apologies.

 

 

No worries..I was being sarcastic..lol

 

Lol..I should have known better than to think I would be able to use them...and like you said, at least it wasn't on the car.

 

The original Eagle STs had an eagle head on them. Yours are the second generation of those tires & do not have them but they are still old.

 

Here's some BF Goodrich radial TA's at a good price.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...aACCI4C&adurl=

 

beginning in 2000 - the DOT required 4-digits for the date code (WeekWeekYearYear)

 

they are goodyears! do i need say more.