How Old Are Your Tyres ?

[Bizarra]

These numbers & regulations apply in Canada. I don't know if they are relevent in our 2 Islands

YOU KNOW THE AGE OF YOUR TIRES?

!!! Check it!

The tires have a life of service and many accidents could be avoided

if the owners had changed their''old''tires.

That is to say, too old to purchase.

The rubber hardens over time and deteriorates easily.

When purchasing, it plans to buy a tire''nine''.

A report shows that some sellers (even department stores) sell tires that are safer.

There is a way to determine the age of a tire.

Look on the tire. It is the manufacturer's name, size and other details and, in the end

you will notice 3 or 4 digits indicate the age of the tire.

= 237 means - manufactured the 23rd week of 1997,

= 463 means - made the 46th week of 1993

= 1402 means - made the 14th week of 2002

= 5107 means - made the 51st week of 2007, etc..

Your tires should not be over six years.

Inform your family and friends because there is no restriction on the sale of tires,

neither Canada nor the United States. However, laws exist in the United Kingdom on this issue.

What do you think, especially now that winter tires are now mandatory in Quebec ...

To know more, here are the new provisions on winter tires.

RIDE SAFE THIS WINTER!

[Karma Supra]

Interesting, especially as tyres are treated so they don't perish in storage, although as soon as they have been fitted/heat cycled all bets are off.

I bought mine about 11 months ago and they are down to 3mm so will be changed in the next month or so :(

275/30/19

[Sagitar]

Mine are all 4408 - on a car purchased new in Sept 09. It's about what I would expect.

I think it is a more serious issue if you are buying replacements. There are several marks on tyres that fitters often seem not to know about.

[cfc1]

There are several marks on tyres that fitters often seem not to know about.

If you want to know what the markings mean then read here

You will get details of the numbers and letters stamped into the tyre and if you look further down you will see the heading "What about dots and stripes?... whats that all about?"

You should find that most tyre fitters will know what they mean, they should at least (if asked) be able to tell you that the dot is the weight mark which should be next to the valve and that the stripes (or at least one of them) tells you what side of the tyre it's **natural track is on, Idealy this stripe should be either on the inside of both tyres or the outside of both tyres... this is to prevent the tyres natural track causing the car to pull slightly to one side.

**Natural track - If a tyre is rolled straight on a perfectly flat surface it will naturally go either left or right, this is because during the manufacturing process tyres aren't symetrical and can be heavier on one side, a little like the "bias" found on a bowling ball (not a 10 pin bowling ball ;))

These numbers & regulations apply in Canada. I don't know if they are relevent in our 2 Islands

Here is what is relevant for the UK (I don't know if Éire will be the same)

As part of the DOT code (G in the tyre marking above), there is a tyre manufacture date stamped on the sidewall. Take a look at yours - there will be a three- or four-digit code. This code denotes when the tyre was manufactured, and as a rule-of-thumb, you should never use tyres more than 6 years old. The rubber in tyres degrades over time, irrespective of whether the tyre is being used or not. When you get a tyre change, if you can, see if the tyre place will allow you to inspect the new tyres first. It's not uncommon for these shops to have stuff in stock which is more than 6 years old. The tyre might look brand new, but it will delaminate or have some other failure within weeks of being put on a vehicle.

Reading the code. The code is pretty simple. The three-digit code was used for tyres manufactured before 2000. So for example 1 7 6 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 6th year of the decade. In this case it means 1986. For tyres manufactured in the 90's, the same code holds true but there is a little triangle after the DOT code. So for this example, a tyre manufactured in the 17th week of 1996 would have the code 176

After 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example 3 0 0 3 means the tyre was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.