How Old Are Your Tires?

Very interesting news clip on tires, I learnt quite a bit from this peice.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

I had no idea the DOT # meant anything

Ahhh the media, don't you love how they blow everything out of proportion to "scare" the general public?

greddy_1700 wrote:

Ahhh the media, don't you love how they blow everything out of proportion to "scare" the general public?

no kidding.

i love how they had footage of a semi's tire on the highway too

OMFG!!! That is the dumbest thing ive ever seen, fear mongering at its finest. Im not doubting that there are truths to that story but wow, there was so much info twisted to make the story go in their favor it makes me sick. I have worked at can tire for the last year doing quick service like tires so I am around this stuff daily. OK where to start....
TRUE tires that sit on the shelf for a long ass time are bad, the rubber deteriorates like anything else over time.
The part when he is talking about the "cryptic code" to show when the tire is made, COME ON its not a code to be cracked its like a vin, a shortened down version of a bunch of info. DOT numbers are usually 12 digits long, broken up into 3 groups of 4 numbers. The last four or in the case of older tires the last 3 numbers that are together tell when the tire was made, exactly like they say. Like 2304, it was made during the 23rd week of 2004. The part about that number being on the inside is bullshit. The majority of tires can be put on either way unless its directional then it has to go a certain way for obvious reasons. The full DOT with the date the tire is made IS only on one side for some reason but it doesn't have to go to the inside. When I do tires I alway put it to the outside unless its directional and I can't.

I think the oldest tire Ive seen where i work was one from 2004 or so and it was some odd ball size that doesnt get sold often, I dont know if there are checks done to have old tires take out of stock or not but 99% of tires I put on cars were made no more then 2 years ago.

The other thing I wanted to add if anyone is still reading this is that tire pressure is a huge deal in how long your tires will last too. When I do checks on customer cars its ridiculous how many are low or too high, I would say more then half of the tires I check have the wrong pressure, either because joe citizen is too lazy to check his tires or just adds a shit load of air and thinks there good. If its too low the tire heats up too much and can blow out and causes uneven wear. If its too high it cause uneven wear and im sure other bad stuff, for example tires have a max pressure labeled on them which you would set to get the max load out of the tire, ive seen a tire with a max pressure of 35 psi set to over 60.

Im gonna stop cause I dont know how much of this makes sense, I will admit i dont know everything but I know a bit. If anyone wants me to explain something again just ask, most of this info you can find on the web so you can look it up yourself too.

My surf came with tires made in 2001. They had maybe 30-40% thread left. Driving on the highway and all of a sudden felt a wobble.



she was gonna blow. Sure , they werent new, but i do think age is a factor when it comes to tire life. This video is a little ... out there, but what ever.

240sxy wrote:

i love how they had footage of a semi's tire on the highway too

lol, the retreaded semi tires that blow ALL the time?

Nisrix, you put things into perspective. Although I'd feel much safer knowing im rolling on newer tires rather then old ones. This may be a stupid question but what is the cause of sidewalls cracking? Would it be getting coated in a chemical that starts to dry the rubber out?

Ive heard that part of the reason is moisture Inside of the tire. What it does i cant remember..

im not really sure why tires crack up, i think its just from the rubber breaking down, its a natural material so is going to eventually break down.

Oh and im glad someone could actually make some sense from my ramble, I was a bit angered by that vid and it was right before I went to bed so I was tired as well.

you are a drunk.

ya, a drunk you let work on your car! DEAL WITH IT!!!! ahahaha

I've never known anyone who's had a problem with old tires. I call BS, my buddy's neighbour was saying he had to top up his tires on his buick cause the max was 44psi and they were only at 30psi. Stupid people tend to make other stupid people believe a lot of things.

There is a lot of debate about tire pressures, though overall if you stay in a general range for the type of vehicle you drive you'll be fine. Cars are usually 32psi, but some car companies have other pressures listed on the driver door jam, some lower and some higher, usually higher on heavy duty trucks so they can carry trailers and what not.

cars are either 30, 32, or 35

trucks can vary from 41, 50, 60, and 80

then semi tires are 100

Haha my tires are rated to 55psi so i run em high real high plus i dont care about eneven wear casue they had alot before my alignment plus im giving myself a bit more negative camber until these tires wear down to the bone, than ill get new ones

I run 38 psi with my current wheels. 34 psi with stockers..

55psi cam? thats ludicris. you're killing your handeling, and tire life. I don't care when you are getting new tires, thats just dumb. My Falkens are rated to 55psi too, but I'm only running 32psi all around. Any more and I find it kills the ride, and casues excessive understeer.
And in response to the tires cracking thing... one thing that casues tires cracking is UV light. Why do you think that most of the tires shines have a UV protectant or something along those lines? its also a ncie excuse to keep your tires looking their nicest. The drastic temperture changes doesnt' help either. Going from +32 and -40 isn't friendly to anything, let alone rubber

Lol i dont run em at 55psi and handling doesnt bother me cause its all useless till i get my fenders rolled.

i run em at like 42 or so

Here this is one of probably many site around the web that has a ton of info relating to tires, http://www.carbibles.com/tire_bible.html. It is also part of a site with all kinds of other car info as well.

i usually have them around 45 psi