From Staff & Wire Reports

DETROIT -- General Motors, in an unusual split from its Big 3 automaker brethren, passed on the opportunity to join Ford and DaimlerChrysler on the subject of tire aging.

GM, in a statement issued earlier this week, said it would not endorse the other automakers’ position that tires six years old or older should be replaced.

“The fact is that most tires wear out before they age out,” said James Gutting, director of GM’s Tire and Wheel Laboratory in Milford, Mich.

“We recognize that tires do age, and we are participating in studies that are trying to get a better understanding of the issue.” Gutting said. “The customer operating environment for the main aging factors varies greatly, and that makes it difficult to select a specific age when tires should be replaced.”

Alan Adler, GM product safety communications manager, said that all tires used on GM vehicles “must pass an extensive battery of qualifications… including a test that accelerates a tire’s aging process.”

GM’s statement said, “The three main contributors to premature aging are high temperatures, high speed and heavy loads. Where nothing suggests aging to be excessive, we do not recommend replacing tires after a certain number of years.”

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