mx5cartalk.com

G'Day All
i have noticed recently that when braking hard in the Sydney traffic, it has become all too easy to lock up the fronts and basically slide towards whatever i am trying to avoid... Not good! in the wet, its even worse!
i have had the car for just over 12 months, and have had the rotors shaved, but not new pads, there is also plenty of tread on the tyres, but i believe that they are old and the rubber has gone hard..

Is there any way that you can tell if your tyres have gone hard, or is there something else i should be looking at?

Thanks in advance
Steve

If they are old (how old is old?), chances are that the tyres would be the first things to change. Get them before new pads. If the current pads are locking up, putting more effective ones will just lock it up easier.

in the old days would also have considered the possibility that the brake pads had glazed & therefore needed roughing-up, but with todays materials i'm not sure that this would still be a consideration. in terms of tyre hardness the look & feel of the rubber can be a good indicator. it might also be possible that the brake hydraulic performance has changed with normal wear & tear.

Check the tyres for hairline cracks that appear when they go hard and stale, but it sure sounds like they're the culprit as they're being overcome by the braking power.

to check the actual age of your tyres find this 4 digit number on them.............it gives you the week of the year it was produced.......this one shows it came off the assembly line in the 29th week of '05

AJ wrote:to check the actual age of your tyres find this 4 digit number on them.............it gives you the week of the year it was produced.......this one shows it came off the assembly line in the 29th week of '05

Hey, thats a handy thing to know . . .thanks AJ . . . but I hope you don't use your computer glasses while you are driving . . .

thanks heaps guys.
i am just abou to bolt downstairs to see just how old they REALLY are...
next post in a minute or three!
Steve

1202...
i could only find this on one of my 'road champ power max' tyres!
So... how does this compare to anyone elses tyres??
thanks heaps for the hint AJ, i would have purely guessed and i wouldnt have even had an educated guess to go off!

so... is that old for tyres?

happi_steve wrote:1202...i could only find this on one of my 'road champ power max' tyres!

I'm not sure what's more obvious...the date of those tyres or the silly name that says... we are cheap crap...replace us!

Time for an upgrade Steve, and remember...always get the best you can afford as it's the only thing holding you onto the road!

craigs right.........4 yrs old & \"road champ power max\"??? .......get some new tyres dude

always get the best you can afford as it's the only thing holding you onto the road!

Perfect advice!!!!!

Some of the info passed on last night relating to tyres was very interesting, parallel importing and getting the wrong type of compounds for Aussie conditions. If they are cheap, then enquire further with the manufacturer.

At the end of the day, u usually get what you paid for.

baron

yep, i thought that the rest of you out there may have got a laugh at the name of them... i sure as hell did when i first read it!
yep... paid in a fortnight or so, and i will hit the shops shortly afterwards..
i had G3's on my last car and was pretty happy with them, so i might see if i can stretch the budget to reach for another set...

i mainly just do the work and back hack, very rarly do i get the chance to even hit the country raods anymore...
so, if anyone knows of anything that is reasonable at a good price...

thanks again everyone
Steve

happi_steve wrote:so, if anyone knows of anything that is reasonable at a good price...

Champiro GT Radials. "Alan Moffet sent you". Yeah, those ones.

I find that they're more than good enough for day to day tyres. They don't wear down very quickly at all and have quite good grip. Obviously won't keep up with the weekend warriors but I can go for a very spirited drive (6 or 7/10ths) with them. Need to be a bit more careful in the wet though.

I paid $135 each for a 205/45/16 so you'd get them alot cheaper in 14" size. They've got great reviews as one of the best value for money tyres.

Bevan wrote:I paid $135 each for a 205/45/16 so you'd get them alot cheaper in 14" size. They've got great reviews as one of the best value for money tyres.

Maybe as they're new to Oz the prices are low to get some market share?