Boat Racer

At what age do you guys think it's no longer safe to run Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials? I just bought a used set that the seller stated in the ad that were "about 2 years old". Unfortunately, I didn't ask for the date codes or look at the code when I picked them up. When I got them home, I see that the date codes say that the tires were built in the 29th week of 2008 (2908) making them about 6 years old. The seller said he only used the tires about 300 miles on the street with no burn outs and the tires do look barely worn. But, they do have some micro cracking down in the groove of the tread. Are these tires safe to use while drag racing on a 550 rwhp car with 130 mph trap speeds?

jxhunte

A couple of years ago I called MT and asked one of their Tech Support people this very question. The answer I received at the time was 2 years. The MT Drag Radials I was using at the time were on there 4th season or 4+ years old. I purchased new Drag Radials from MT and this will be their 3rd season. Very few miles, just track time or 80 1/4 mile passes per year. Tires look great and are stored in a dry environment with temps ranging from 40 to 75 degrees.

Boat Racer

Thank you for the feedback. I decided to do the same thing as you and contacted the MT Tech guys and got the same response as you. He said that after 2 years or so, the compounds in the tires start changing and the performance will degrade. He also said that in my case, with the micro-cracking in the bottoms of the tread grooves, the tire wasn't even safe for street driving or drag racing. I will discard these tires and not bother mounting them. The good news is that I notified the seller of these tires and he will refund the money I paid for them since he wasn't aware they were that old.