Tire experts opinion asked
 

Hello,

all 4 of my Avon tyres have at least 6 to 8 mm of tread left, but the inner tread has longitudinal cracks all around the tyre.
What is your opinion? Should the tyres be replaced or not? Regardless of the age of the tyre, there are no other defects but this is what I would like to know.

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Emiel



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Replace them. Tyres and brakes are an area that you shouldn't risk it.

Over here those tires would not pass the bi-annual safety inspection (aka MOT). I had Michelins do this. It can happen in as little as 4 years. I was told it is due to EU mandated change in manufacturing processes and/or materials for ecological reasons. I have had much older Japanese and Korean tires that didn't do that.

totally agree, they are a serious risk to your safety, dont risk it.

Thanks for the advice. I already took the wheels of the car to let them changed. DOT 2016. Weird that all of them have no wear at all, only that part, all four of them. Seems maybe a production failure, week point? Not a huge ammount of sunshine on it, it is on the inner side of the wheels.

Anyway, safety first.

Tnx, Emiel

He said DOT 2016. I guess that is the 20th week of 2016, so 5 year old tires basically.

A common fault with Avon’s apparently!!

I wouldn't have thought 5 years of life was too bad for a tyre. If you do the average 10k a year they should have done around 50k which would be very good going for a soft compound grippy tyre. If you've still got virtually all the tread on them then they have probably cracked due to lack of use. Same with suspension rubbers and components, if they aren't used they dry up and then crack when flexed.

Rubber degradation - cracking issues due to road contamination, sunlight exposure/UV and irregular use/dry storage are the usual culprits. Avons aren't what they used to be (but then they are not alone) and the rubber mix is something only the manufacturer has control over. DOT code helps but doesn't make you feel better about the situation, none the less still adequate if you don't ever carry heavy loads and/or keep your speeds down to say max. 50mph non-motorway driving. You are likely to suffer slow punctures/leaking before a blow out - but why take the risk.
I haven't had any issues with Goodyears so maybe move to another brand and if you tick any of the above driving boxes as a norm, buy something cheap and replacment costs will drop - who knows they may last the remaining lifetime of your car anyway.