Old tire risk at track?

[RECHRGD]

I haven't been down the 1/4 mile in several years.  My Grandson really wants to see it race before he leaves on Saturday.  The tires are redline radials with plenty of tread but are about nine years old.  Is the risk extreme, as far as failure is concerned?

[skip68]

Are they cracked?  Maybe do some trial runs on a empty road. 

[RECHRGD]

No cracks.  They still look like new.  I've made a couple of on ramp blasts (90-100) with him during his visit without dire consequences.

[myk]

Are they cracked?  Maybe do some trial runs on a empty road. 

Read this article guys:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-old-and-dangerous-are-your-tires.html

Tires may look good but you may not know the true condition of a tire until it self destructs.  IMO it isn't worth the risk to save money over what's riding on your wheels...

[RECHRGD]

Thanks Myk....  Maybe I'll just take him and watch the others have fun.  I was going to replace them this season, but not being sure if I'm going to keep the car much longer, made me think twice...

[JR]

No way id drive on track with decade old rubber. When it lets go it will probably be sudden ane unexpected. Id replace them anyways.

[6spd68]

No way id drive on track with decade old rubber. When it lets go it will probably be sudden ane unexpected. Id replace them anyways.

, you're technically in a high risk situation even with new rubber

[skip68]

Great article myk.    

[myk]

I want all of us and our cars to live is all...

[AKcharger]

Enter a burnout contest!

[Lord Warlock]

If you were nuts enough to take him to 90mph in it on the highway, I don't see why it couldn't go down a quarter mile.  10 year old tires shouldn't be a high risk, especially not if you use them regularly, but if it was stored for 10 years I'd be concerned with dry rot.  My car was rolling around on 40 year old rubber until about a year ago.
Rolling around was meant to mean it supported weight of car and tires didn't go flat...I wouldn't trust them on a track, a reason why I replaced them when I figured the car would be returning to street soon.

[green69rt]

The problem with old tires is that they may look good but be ready to fail.  Tire rubber (it's not really natural rubber) can oxidize and get brittle and hard but you can't tell. The tire sets and hardens but the surface of the tire looks good.  Once the tire is on the car and starts to flex from use then the problems show up.  This is why tires have date codes on them.

Typical problem is someone with a ten year old spare in the trunk.  The tire looks good but after ten years it starts to harden.  You get a flat and put the spare on and it goes flat really quick.  This is a problem waiting to happen,  check your spare and be really suspicious of any old tire!! 

[A12 Superbee]

I had a perfectly appearing BF Goodrich radial TA delaminate whilst I was doing 100kmh on the highway. About a minute or two after this photo was taken. It peeled away the tread, which punched a dent the size of your foot into the top of the fender, broke the lower retaining rod, the indicator and smashed the armoured tube for the brake line into the firewall, or is it the fuel line, I don't know.

The tyre, or tire over there, looked brand new but it was about ten years old. Since then, I have replaced all four. They all looked great but no way I was going to trust them on a genuine A12.

[myk]

Or your life.  Your life is more valuable than the A12...