Tire Born On date ... how old are your tires

[sickwilly]

Ok, I don't know how long this ling will last, but its very informative: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Its about car tires, but I think even more important for us boaters who trailer.

Basically they talk about the shelf life of a tire and the fact that some tires can sit for many many years and still be sold as new. From this news story you get a sense of how to read the "born on date".

Here is my understanding of how to read the date -- (disclaimer, I aint no tire expert, I just watched the above clip).

Look for some numbers after the tire identification number. The first two numbers are the week the tire was manufactures. The next number, if single is the year in the 90s, If double its the year in the 2000s.

For example:

011 would mean the tire was made in the 1st week (01) of 1991 (1).

279 would mean the tire was made in the 27th week of 1999.

2706 would mean the tire was made in the 27th week of 2006.

I am checking the age of my brand new Maxxis tires this weekend when winterizing.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Tire Born On date ... how old are your tires

Every tire i buy new i check the date code.
I had one of the big chain stores try to put 3 year old Michelins on my truck.
For 190 bucks each i made them order a different set.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Tire Born On date ... how old are your tires

Good post, alot of people don't think about this.

I have had the same tires on my boat since I bought it 8 years ago so I may look into some new ones this spring.

I will check my truck just for grins, I bought those tires from a local place that gets take offs(ton of RV places around here, or were rather)so i am pretty sure they are newer.

Got a set of 16'' Goodyears for like 40 a peice, mounted and balance I think I was still under $200

 

[Randybeall]

Re: Tire Born On date ... how old are your tires

Tire life is the reason for many of the blow outs that happen. Vehicles like church vans, trailers, and antique cars which get intermittant use will get many years use with out wearing out the tread on a tire. Problems occure when the rubber begins to harden, amplified by the effect of standing still in one spot causing a "flat spot" on the tire. You get lots of vibration till the tire warms up and becomes more flexible and the area around the flat spot gets even more flex action causing even more heat. Sometimes to the point of failure. Several years ago in Texas there were several cases of church owned 15 passenger vans having blow outs and deaths were involved. In each case it was found out that even though the tires looked like new they were old and brittle. Think about it and inspect the side walls of your tires for cracking while you check the date. How much would a blow out cost you? Besides, that would be time lost from fishing! Happy Boating.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Tire Born On date ... how old are your tires

I've got a few trailers which I use only locally which still have their original tires from 1984, 1987 and 1989. They never see more than 5 miles of low speed riding with minimal loads. If I were to make a long highway run, I'd most likely swap on a set of new wheels and tires. But for my purposes, the old tires do just fine. They have no cracks, flat spots or other age related issues.
I did have a few issues with car tires not aging well, the tires on my Town Car, which is 5 years old with about 4700 miles on it, started to get lumpy and come apart this summer, even with only around town driving. They were top of the line Michelin tires as well. I put on a set of Cooper tires, which were blems from a local dealer and they only lasted a few months before having belt shift issues.
I just installed a new set of Michelin tires, hopefully they'll last another 5 years or so. By then I may have another 4,000 or so miles on the car.