Remember to check your "Brand New" tires





Here is reference from Tire Rack. I pointed out the manufactured date in the image. 1202 which is the 12th week of the year in 2002.

 

Caveat Emptor. Pay attention to the manufacturing date code! Thanks for posting.

 

I had to run out to the garage to check all my vehicle's tires after watching the video. I have a first release Clubman with 47th week 2007 tires all around. Makes me feel a lot better knowing my tires are relatively safe during my twisty and spirited driving. Thanks for the post!

 

Appreciate the clip...quite interesting and informative.

You may want to edit the annotation you added to the Tire Rack graphic so you don't lead people astray. If the video is correct, 1202 would indicate tires manufactured at the end of March (i.e., the 12th week) and not December...

Edit: Thanks for the fix Rossii

 

Very informative Post!! Thanks for sharing...keep US Mini Owners and other's safe!!

 

good post indeed!

nutshell: 6yrs from manuf date is about time tires expire regardless of whether they were used or not.

last 4 digits on the sidewall shows datecode.

<examples>
0109 = 1st week of 2009
2104 = 21st week of 2004
4802 = 48th week of 2002
129 = 12th week of 1999
154 = 15th week of 1994
.. and so on.

 

I recall several threads about this, but it's good of you to keep spreading the word about tire age.

 

A bit sensationalistic, but it is good to be informed.
Note that the tire tread they showed on the side of the road is a commercial truck tire. They often use retreads, where a new tread is essentially wrapped around the carcass of the tire. That applies to 'bias-ply' tires, not the radials used on modern cars.

 

Wow, that's crazy! I'm totally checking all my tires in the morning ! Thanks for posting this.

 

Yeah, ABC isn't the greatest news source, in terms of complete accuracy. NBC and MSNBC are the top notch news sources in broadcast news.

 

I learned about tire date codes years ago, probably from Tire Rack. I've found it very useful to track the ages of my race tires and my summer performance tires. I've never had a problem with "old" new tires, I don't recall ever having bought a new set of tires that was manufactured more than 10-12 months earlier.

 

I've noticed that several vendors sell tire bags for storage purposes. The sales pitch is that the sealed wrap reduces the amount of outgassing from the tire and purportedly makes them last longer. I'm wondering if the outgassing is essentially the same process described as "drying out" in the video that is identified as the culprit in reduced tire shelf life.

Can anyone put an objective measure on this? How many more years of life could you expect using this practice?

 

My tire tread never lasts long enough for physical tire age to be an issue.

 

I'm sure it can be done, although it would be more of a quasi-experiment. Take the same make and model tire (buy about 40+ of them) from 10 years old until present (4+ from each year). Use some kind of device to run each tire at a constant speed and time it until the tread falls off. Then average the times from each age group and run your statistical analyses (I'd use a one-way ANOVA ).

 

Yeah, I've had the same problem. Is it a MINI thing? Do our cars just eat tires??? Or are we just so "spirited" in our driving that the tires wear faster ?

 

This is why I havent bought the $49 GY GSD3's off of tirerack. It's not that I have anything against tire rack, it just that their is no way I will be buying 5 year old tires... No matter how they are stored.

 

This is a big deal in RV circles. Especially since most campers are rarely used and the tread depth will outlast the tires safe life. Many campers like fifth wheel trailers are very heavy and put the tires at close to their rated capacity. This usually results in an expensive disaster at 60+mph and a ruined vacation.
This is an extreme case but my "never used anymore" 67 Chevelle has (had) tires from 1985 on it. When I moved it in '06 the tread peeled right off one of the front tires. Just backing it out of the garage stall. All that was left were the steel belts. For obvious reasons, it will be getting new rolling stock when I get it ready for the road again...

 

I bought a set of clearance Z211s for track duty that were warehouse stored for five years. No issues.

Alan

 

...gives new meaning to the phrase "peeled out."

 

I bought a set. Alex was up front about the date code on those tires. They have been stored properly & if I use them correctly they will be worn out by next October.

Old tires can be a problem. A friend of mine bought a 86 Suburban with 8,000 miles on it in 2006. A rear tire shed it's tread at 65 mph a month after he'd gotten it. No crash, but a banged up quarter panel.

 

I can find the codes on two cars but on the third it shows "2J2R" Translation? They were made in China.

 

Coming from my motorcycle racing knowledge, I now do this with all vehicle tires. Some "deals" aren't really deals when you look at this info!

 

.....as I am looking to purchase new car "takeoffs". I had been tempted, but did not act, on buying new car takeoffs from a 2005 MINI recently.

I then saw a video speaking to the manufacturers date code issue.

Asked about the date code on these tires and they were manufactured in early '04, and had only about 50 miles put on them. But they're still 5 years old. In the back of the MINI owners manual it also talks about tire age and 6 years.

I'm expecting my tires to last at least 2 years, so I passed on these and am still looking.

 

You are wise man. Plenty of takeoffs out there. Find a newer set & play it safe.

One of the problems with old tires failing is that there is a very good likelihood that when they do it will be a catastrophic failure, not just a flat.

 

I think that John Stossel needs to do an investigation - clearly its yet another govenment industry conspiricy.