First post here. I bought a jeep on Bring a Trailer. 2006 Rubicon in Nevada. My wife and I will fly out and drive it home to Michigan via Utah. Issue: the tires look new but are date coded 2010 so they have to go. Problem: I will almost certainly lift it and put on new wheels and tires once we get her home. Right now I think my best bet is to get new tires in Nevada and sell them once we get home. Any other bright ideas?
Unusual situation leaves me needing advice on wheels and tires
- Thread starter TheAbbot
- Start date
Drive through Nevada, and visit Mr. B's shop, get it lifted with tires and drive it home.
Contact Rory at Moab Motorsports and see if he'll let you ship the parts to his place and do a parking lot thrash install. I did a winch bumper and winch in the parking lot of a 4wP on a road trip. Or Paul at Fabrats.
-Mac
Contact Rory at Moab Motorsports and see if he'll let you ship the parts to his place and do a parking lot thrash install. I did a winch bumper and winch in the parking lot of a 4wP on a road trip. Or Paul at Fabrats.
-Mac
I'd drive it as is, if they're not dry rotted. I'm a risk taker. I don't change my oil every 3,000 miles either. 
p.s. My tires are dated 2012 and have only been on the Jeep for 7 years.
p.p.s. @TheAbbot, drop your old tires off at my house on the drive home. I can use them on the wife's WJ.
p.s. My tires are dated 2012 and have only been on the Jeep for 7 years.
p.p.s. @TheAbbot, drop your old tires off at my house on the drive home. I can use them on the wife's WJ.
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FB marketplace near where you are picking up the Jeep? Might find what need or even set already mounted good enough to get you home
I'd drive it as is, if they're not dry rotted. I'm a risk taker. I don't change my oil every 3,000 miles either.
p.s. My tires are dated 2012 and have only been on the Jeep for 7 years.
I agree, do a good inspection for dry rot and drive it !
If it’s been stored inside, they are most likely ok. But, finding a another used set shouldn’t be hard either. Maybe the seller can help you out?
I wouldn't rush to dump those wheels. Those are pretty rare. I belive Jeep only made that style for the 2006 models.
I agree with your logic. 13 year old tires would be to old for me to comfortably drive cross country. I'd put a decent set on and then resell them when you upgrade. Even if you took a 50% loss I would say it was worth the peace of mind. Since you own a TJ now you might as well get used to loosing money. : )
I agree with your logic. 13 year old tires would be to old for me to comfortably drive cross country. I'd put a decent set on and then resell them when you upgrade. Even if you took a 50% loss I would say it was worth the peace of mind. Since you own a TJ now you might as well get used to loosing money. : )
I bet you change your oil every 2500 miles too ! I find it funny that back in the 70's, 80's and 90's you drove them until the chords were visible, nobody cared about their age unless they were dry rotted ! but now with the push of the tire companies we worry more about how old they are. whats next light bulbs only being good for a set number of hours before they go bad ? no wait headlights are only good for a year and need to be changed even if never driven at night
I’m with the risk taker crowd, make sure the spare has got some air in it -you already have a back-up Tire if needed. I did a similar thing in doing a 2 state drive home on some 10 year old tires and the original spare on the tailgate. All went well. Plan B Note where the discount tires are on your route, if you need to put the cheapest thing you can on to make it home. As mentioned FB craiglist can be opportunity spot to find some cheap take offs.
Good luck and enjoy the road trip! Let us know how it went.
Good luck and enjoy the road trip! Let us know how it went.
Me too.
I remove mattress tags. Blatantly.
Go in “out” doors.
I even listened to Britney Spears one time.
AAA membership saved me in a similar situation. bought a car 3 states away. had a donut spare that was not gonna cut it. had a slow leak we tried to limp finally called it in they towed me to a shop got 2 tires for the front and finished the drive home was out the 200 bucks for the tires and made it home.
Now that I think about it...that same trip we did the parking lot bumper and winch install was on my wife's 2012 JK we had just purchased. We were supposed to be offroading to Montana but the rear end grenaded in Prineville. My mother and father in law drove out a trailer and the recently purchased JK so we could finish the trip
The JK's tires were completely bald...hench wanting the winch...I called every tire store in the area and nobody had C or D rated 35s on 18s in stock...lots of Es since it's a common truck tire.
Ordered ahead to a Discount Tire in Montana and got tires before we took the freeway home. Found out... cause I never checked the date codes...that the tires were from 2013.
Low speed sure. Highway...no thanks. Lots of gambling.
-Mac
The JK's tires were completely bald...hench wanting the winch...I called every tire store in the area and nobody had C or D rated 35s on 18s in stock...lots of Es since it's a common truck tire.
Ordered ahead to a Discount Tire in Montana and got tires before we took the freeway home. Found out... cause I never checked the date codes...that the tires were from 2013.
Low speed sure. Highway...no thanks. Lots of gambling.
-Mac
Still hot enough and plenty crazy 8 out of 10...would smash.
Oh and about the tires, check the spare out, make sure you got a jack and head out.
Have fun.
so you're thinking it's because the mfg date was 2013 and not the fact that they were completely BALD !
so since my tires were made in 2021 I should just keep driving on them even though they have 100k miles and I can see the air in them !
OK i'm good with that, i'll use them for another 5 years
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I would weigh it against the route. Places in Nevada can introduce most folks to a new definition of "remote". If you have to go through any of those stretches, especially in dangerous weather, I might be more risk averse, but most areas in the country are no more than 30 miles from a town.
I don't think I've ever looked at a tire date code except when I was selling them.
I don't think I've ever looked at a tire date code except when I was selling them.
Look guys I am no authority on anything but I’m going to tell you something about tires- I learned this from a very intelligent RV owner.
Now this may not be the case with this particular vehicle.
Every spring we see some guy who purchased a boat that’s been sitting in somebody’s yard on the side of the road and he’s got two flat tires.
What happens is when the vehicle is sitting in the grass or on damp earth the rubber absorbs water and the steel belts rust. The tires fail. This is why they sell pads to elevate tires off the ground.
Now my feelings about the thread-
If the vehicle was stored inside, and it has been driven at least some in the last few years the tires are probably perfectly fine for the trip- But they are not going to ride as good and drive as good as a fresh set of rubber that is pliable will. So he may get a bad first impression of these vehicles but he would not be the first person to do that.
All that said I’m not going to tell anybody exactly what to do in this situation except use your own best judgment.
If he had his 13-year-old son in the vehicle and the right front tire blew out and he had a catastrophic accident, I would feel terrible.
I also want to iterate that I’m not judging anybody for encouraging him to drive the vehicle. You can just about bet your bottom dollar that I would do the same thing.
But I’m probably not going to get on here and tell him to do that.
Now this may not be the case with this particular vehicle.
Every spring we see some guy who purchased a boat that’s been sitting in somebody’s yard on the side of the road and he’s got two flat tires.
What happens is when the vehicle is sitting in the grass or on damp earth the rubber absorbs water and the steel belts rust. The tires fail. This is why they sell pads to elevate tires off the ground.
Now my feelings about the thread-
If the vehicle was stored inside, and it has been driven at least some in the last few years the tires are probably perfectly fine for the trip- But they are not going to ride as good and drive as good as a fresh set of rubber that is pliable will. So he may get a bad first impression of these vehicles but he would not be the first person to do that.
All that said I’m not going to tell anybody exactly what to do in this situation except use your own best judgment.
If he had his 13-year-old son in the vehicle and the right front tire blew out and he had a catastrophic accident, I would feel terrible.
I also want to iterate that I’m not judging anybody for encouraging him to drive the vehicle. You can just about bet your bottom dollar that I would do the same thing.
But I’m probably not going to get on here and tell him to do that.
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I thought they named the site that because nothing they sell can make it back home if you tried to drive it?
Nice Jeep! Whatever you do, keep the wheels.