I'm wondering how thick passenger tire sidewalls are.

my michelin mxv4 tires developed checking cracks early on, when they were still new.

It hasn't gotten much worse over the last 4-5 years. See attached.

I was curious how deep the cracks are, so I stuck a corner of a sheet of paper in some of them, and measured ~1.5-1.7 millimeters deep.

Note that these cracks are closer to the bead.
Judging by tire cross section pictures on google, this part of the tire is a little thicker than mid-sidewall.

I'm wondering if I still have enough sidewall thickness to drive safely.
I drive on the highway occasionally and haven't had any issues yet.

this is a low mileage old backup car.

That said, I'm never buying another Michelin tire for a low mileage car.

 

Read the tire sidewall for the week and year manufacture date. Sometimes tire dealers will sell tires that have sat years on the shelf. Rubber degrades over time even without use or uv exposure. Let us know

 

Here is a picture of what the date stamp looks like. This one was made the 52nd week of 2014.

 

I notice you have a California address. Do you drive out in the Mojave Desert or other parts of the state where it regularly gets up over 100 degrees? Heat is one of a tire's worst enemies, and can put great stress on them. Back in the 1990's, that's where many of the Ford Explorer/Firestone Wilderness notorious tire failures happened....in the desert or on very hot roads.

 

I did not get old tires. They were mfg 40th week of 2011 and I bought them at the end of 2011.



no. I only drive around suburbs of LA. It gets to 100 maybe 1 week a year.


I have Continental tires on my GS, which is also low mileage, and it doesn't have cracks.
I have found a lot of complaints of cracking on Michelins.

 

Have you regularly used any tire dressing? This can sometimes help condition and prolong the life of the sidewall. Other factors have to do with proper air pressure and tires sitting a lot.