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5 year old Cooper Cobras cracking…… ?. Anyone else? ?

I have the Cooper Cobras GT now for 6 years now and no cracks yet.
 
I have two sets of Cobras. One set is April 2016 and the other set is May 2018. No cracks in any of them. I spray Meguires tire shine on them from time to time on the outsides and my cars are garaged. Not sure if that makes any difference.
 
They aren't producing any rubber products with the chemicals that they used to use. Park your car with the sun shining on it everyday and tell me how long your wiper blades last. You'll be lucky to get a year out of them. Belts, bushings, motor mounts, the list goes on. Thanks to the EPA we all have to pay more and get less.
 
Ok, maybe I got it right this time. 0319 and that should be March of 2019 which means the tires were somewhat “fresh” when I got them. Really unfortunate for them because now they will lose my support and I will search out different brands and go from there.

I hope this helps anyone else here who may be considering buying tires. I can assume that most of us generally only drive our classic cars in better weather and like me replacing tires more based on aging out rather than wearing them out. All I ask is to get around 10 years of reasonable service without falling apart.
Peel out more so the tires wear out before they crack.
 
That really sucks. The climate here in W WA is generally pretty favorable to tire life.

Given quality in anything these days, I wouldn't be surprised if some new rubber formula has been baked up to force obsolescence in 5 years. That's what the tire companies all want. 5 year replacement will probably be law next.
 
How much exposure do they get to the outside elements especially direct sunlight?
Looks like he lives in Lynnwood Washington with nine months of rain and overcast for 10 months, I doubt his car sees the sun. I lived in Marysville, Washington up the road from him.
 
My Cobra's cracked in the same way. Purchase date was 2 years. Found the date code that they were 6 years old before I bought them.:mad:
 
I need to check my 10 year old Mickey Thompsons on my Cobra. Same basic tire as the Cooper Cobra. That’s a shame. My MTs are the best tires I’ve used on my older cars.
 
Not my experience. Carport occasional sun. San Jose.
 
Ok, maybe I got it right this time. 0319 and that should be March of 2019 which means the tires were somewhat “fresh” when I got them. Really unfortunate for them because now they will lose my support and I will search out different brands and go from there.

I hope this helps anyone else here who may be considering buying tires. I can assume that most of us generally only drive our classic cars in better weather and like me replacing tires more based on aging out rather than wearing them out. All I ask is to get around 10 years of reasonable service without falling apart.
Yes, that's the date code. All on highway tires have a date code.
 
That is actually the 3rd week of 2019 which would be January. Around here, the tire dealers won't touch anything over 8 years old. It's less than ideal to buy new tires knowing that you won't get all of the life out of them, but that's what we do.
 
My cars get a few hundred miles a year and set in a garage with heat/AC the rest of the time while I work on one or the other. Not dumping tires after 5 years based on some study for daily drivers.
 
I checked my Coopers today - they're fine. I bought them in 2017 or 2018.
 
As did I. Zero issues. Wasn't crawling under to get date code off RWL side.
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My cars get a few hundred miles a year and set in a garage with heat/AC the rest of the time while I work on one or the other. Not dumping tires after 5 years based on some study for daily drivers.
Fine have at it, but if your tires are cracking at 5 years they are past any reasonable life expectancy. I don’t think the dealer is going to do anything but offer you new tires. Just sayin……
 
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