Tacoma Tires

[Ishler]

Well after hearing all the problems with the Missions, I was glad to have the Tacomas on my early 2005 which haven't shown any signs of problems. Until today, I took the covers off and the sidewalls and bead areas have severe cracking and what looks like dry rot. I believe these are made by Dean and I have had great luck in the past with dean tires. I need to get the info off the sidewall and see how old they really are. I guess it's time to go tire shopping.

Mike

[Glass Guy]

Ihere was a post not to long ago that someone said the Tacoma tires were made by cooper, If you find out different please let us know as my 2004 made in June of 03 also has Tacoma tire and will also need to be replaced in the near future. Roman

[Ozz]

Someone said that around 3-4 years is about the max. lifetime of trailer tires. Is that correct? If so, you are within that window.
I stand ready to be corrected, as you know, tires are not my strong suit.........

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Tires will start showing their age at about 4 to 5 years and by 7 years they should be replaced.
I would suggest contact a "reputable" tire dealer for his opinion and not go by anything you read on the Internet. I spent many years in the tire business and feel I know tires but there is no way I could give advise without actually seeing the tires.
The words "severe cracking" is a relative term. To a layman what you may call "severe" I may call normal age progression and could possibly tell you not to worry about them. Than again, I could also say replace them now. But I can't recommend anything without seeing them up close and personal.
Tacoma Tires are made or were made by Cooper Tire. Not sure if Tacomas are still available but I do know that Cooper does have their own tire with the same tread design.
I also had Tacomas on my 04 2955 which came off the line in May of 03. I traded the 2955 in January of 07 and the tires showed nothing more than minor surface cracking and I would guess your's should not be any different than mine. If I still had my 04 today I still wouldn't be too concerned about them.
Because he is still in the tire business, maybe LonnieB will also jump in here.

BTW-Using tire covers does little to nothing to extend the aging process. To me, tire covers do nothing more to the extend the aging process than putting a hat on your head.

[LonnieB]

I can't really add anything to what Glenn said. I agree with him on the cracking issue, impossible to give accurate advice without seeing the tire up close and personal. Most of the time these cracks are superficial, and in no way make the tire unsafe, unless the tire is of an age close to, or beyond it normal life span. Occasionally though, something that looks minor to you, may be a disaster in the making. That is why you need to have a REPUTABLE tire shop look at it, and not to offend anyone, but IMHO, Walmart, and Sams club don't fit into the reputable tire shop category.

Tire covers.....I don't use them. As Glenn said, they do little to extend the life of the tire.

[DL N K]

Our '05 3500RL came with the Tacoma tires. They are, (according to Cooper), made by Cooper for Parrish Tire Company which is somewhere in the Carolinas. Last spring, I had one that developed a leak around the bead area, and would loose 10 psi in a week to 10 days.. Tire shop tried bead sealer which did not help. The other 3 then started to loose pressure slowly, a few psi every week or so. I finally had the tire shop spin the worse leaking tire 180 degrees on the wheel and recheck the leak to make sure it wasn't a bad wheel. The leak followed the tire to the opposite side of the wheel. There were many cracks of varying depths under the edge of the wheel that I could not see until the tire was taken off the wheel, as well as the normal weather cracks in the sidewall next to the bead area. I could see what appeared to be some fabric "string" coming from a few of the cracks. Since the tires had way less that 10,000 miles, I made several attempts to contact Parrish, (at Coopers suggestion), to see if I could get any warranty consideration. Parrish never returned my phone calls or answered my e-mails.... Our '05 now has 4 new Firestone Transforce tires installed.

[Ishler]

Glen et al
These show spider web like cracks on the sidewall from the contact point to the rim. Other areas of the sidewall show cracking that is at least 1/16 or more deep, possibly to the sidewall cord. Not going to mess around and just replace them before the season starts here.

[Dogman]

Our '03 came with Tacoma tires on it and we never had any problems with them. Always kept them at 80 psi and put about 35000 miles on them. They were worn a little on the edges but that's about it. Last year I noticed some minor cracking near the rims on all of them and after checking the numbers found that they were manufactured in 2002. Decided it was time to change only due to age and not really because of wear. We bought a set of XPS Ribs and put them on just a couple of weeks ago. Should be good now for a few more years.

[grooving grandpa]

I am so confused about what kind of tires to use. I have a 2005 with Tacoma tires. I do use tire covers. The tires show no hair lines cracks or wear at this time. But you guys have convinced me to replace them after 7 years, even if they look good. I run Michelin tires on my Dodge Truck. Does Michelin make trailer tires. By the way I wear a hat on my head and I don't have any "hair line cracks. As a matter of fact, I don't have any hair either

[skypilot]

Years ago I was told that wearing a hat leads to baldness; then went into the Army and lost a lot of my hair (had to wear hats of various types, colors, fabrics - you know the drill) -- in any case, now out of the Army for several years and hair still awfully thin -- must have been true what I was told as a kid - 'wearing hats does lead to baldness!! '

Now as for tire covers - It has been a long time since I've worked for Firestone but I was cleaning out some old files a couple of weekends ago and I happened to look at an old flyer I had for the original Firestone V1 (one of their first radial car tires) and it recommended against any type of cover or polish (Armour all was just coming out about the time this was published I believe) - stated that the tires have additives / chemicals added to their formulation to minimize dry-rot, and ozone decay.....I know that they continue that same process today, just with newer technology and chemicals.