Old Tires Dangerous?

[Ferris Leets]

Someone sent this to me and it got me questioning the age of my new tires.  The code on my tire appears to be 2412.  Does anyone here have more info on these codes, because according to the vid. My tire was made in June of 2012, after the world ended.

http://video-cdn.abcnews.com/080509_2020_ross_tires.flv

[roboto65]

Well you are good cause the world ends in on Dec 21st 2012 so they have a couple months left in them 

[Ricky-D]

Although there is a lot of conversation regarding tire manufacturing dates and all that, I think it's a lot of hooey!

The best practice is to keep an eye on the tires all the time. There is no substitute for constant attention.

If you have over a couple thousand miles on a tire it is a good tire. What would you expect to happen that will go by unnoticed?

Hell, I'll wear a tire out in less that a year!

Flaming arrows and burning enemas for all the scare hype put out by pseud-scientists.

If we were to pay attention and react to all the junk put out there,,, we wouldn't even go out the door.

Jus' sayin'

***

[Ferris Leets]

Did you watch the video?  We are talking sudden catastrouphic failure.  Not a slow break down that you can see.  I had a perfectly good tire on my truck that suddenly developed a horrible shimmy, at 10 mph it felt like the tie rods were gone.  At 60 it was not noticeable.  When the mechanic took the tire off he said it looked like sponge cake inside.  I know those tires were about 6 years old.  Replace the whole set even though they looked to have another 30K in them.

[Ricky-D]

Did you watch the video?  We are talking sudden catastrouphic failure.  Not a slow break down that you can see.  I had a perfectly good tire on my truck that suddenly developed a horrible shimmy, at 10 mph it felt like the tie rods were gone.  At 60 it was not noticeable.  When the mechanic took the tire off he said it looked like sponge cake inside.  I know those tires were about 6 years old.  Replace the whole set even though they looked to have another 30K in them.

Yeah, my granny had the same problem. Found out it was only IBS. Best cure was to take her off the road! 

***

[Ricky-D]

How old is too old?

Who determines that?  The manufacturer? The NHTSA?

There must be guidelines all over the place!  Laugh!

Nothing can replace personal inspection and personal awareness.

Anything short of that and that person should not be riding a motorcycle!

***

[Ferris Leets]

According to the video in Europe they "strongly suggest" not using tires that are over 6 years old.  In the video they found tires ranging up to 17 years old still being sold.

[John U.]

I've heard the 6 year rule as well. I think it's valid; I have had a blowout with an older car tire that looked fine. Why take the chance, especially on two wheels when a catastrophic failure can really be a catastrophe.

[Daniel Meyer]

I have used and abused a LOT of tires...OTR rigs, trucks, cars, motorcycles, trailers, etc.

QUALITY is FAR more important than age. Choose a quality brand. Six years? Well sure, I wouldn't want to BUY a "new" tire that was already six years old...but a six year old tire on a car/traler/such wouldn't worry me over much if it was a good brand and passed my visual inspection. 

There are "new" new tires out there that I wouldn't trust for a tire swing.

[roboto65]

LOL Has anyone seen the Worlds Fastest Indian and remember his tires LOL and what he used to cure the problem 

[bigdog99]

i wasnt too worried about the tire, i dont want the front axle.

[Ferris Leets]

I think some of you are missing the point here.  This is not something you can see on the tire.  I have had plys break, bubbles on the sidewalls, loose pieces on the tread.  These are things you can inspect and see.  What this video is talking about is CATASTROPHIC failures that you can not predict.  I inspect my tires regularly, with only 2 on the road I want them to both be at their best.  I do not wear them below the reccomended limits, I watch for anything odd, but this seems like something that can be controled but only by knowing WHEN the tire was made.
     The point I was getting at (besides hoping to spread good info) was HOW CAN I TELL HOW OLD THIS TIRE IS

[Hoser]

The tire has a date code on it somewhere, I don't know the code,or how to read it, but somebody here does.  Hoser

[Ferris Leets]

The tire has a date code on it somewhere, I don't know the code,or how to read it, but somebody here does.  Hoser

     Hoser,
                 Have you read this thread?  That is the point.  I  have this on 2 forums so I may not have explained here. 
What I am looking for is the date code info for my tire.  It is a Falkien and the numbers I got off of it are 2412 which indicate that it was built in June of 2012.  So far nobody has helped me with my question.

[John U.]

I guess that if you are reading the right series of numbers and reading them correctly then the only possible explanation is that the date code was set incorrectly at the time of manufacture. The tire sure didn't time travel to get here prior to it's date of origin.

[Willow]

If you're really giving us the last four digits of the serial number, the tire was manufactured either June of 2012 or September of 1992.  One seems improbable and the other impossible.

Those are U.S. D.O.T. rules.  Is there any possibility the tire was manufactured for use outside the USA?

[Ferris Leets]

At this point I must have the wrong number, I will recheck it tomorrw.  I was questioning if different manufaturers had different systems.  Sounds like the standard is the DOT #

[Willow]

You're looking for the last for digits of the full serial number.  A short number will be on the opposite sidewall.

[Brad]

You're looking for the last for digits of the full serial number.  A short number will be on the opposite sidewall.

You are correct.....in preparation for the change in the law that will require the dot code to be branded on both sides of the tire, tire manufactures have started branding both sides of the tire with the part of the number that doesn't change, which is a part of the mold.  The last 4 digits change weekly, and are branded with a changeable plate.  So when that time comes all of the number will be on both sides.  Before the year 2000 there were only 3 digits at the end of the number so it might be hard to tell between a 1981 and a 1991 tire based on the dot code.  After 2000 with the 4 digit code, first 2 being the week and the second 2 being the year, no question as to when the tire was made.

[Rio Wil]

Look for something like this on the tire...(week 29 of 2008)

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/yy111/wncbridges/?action=view&current=DSC07226.jpg

[valkyriemc]

Look for something like this on the tire...(week 29 of 2008)

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/yy111/wncbridges/?action=view&current=DSC07226.jpg

+1 There it tis....

[Thunderbolt]

then 4 digits like in the pic.  I suspect you may have a different set of numbers on the other side of the tire with the DOT in front.

[Hoser]

The tire has a date code on it somewhere, I don't know the code,or how to read it, but somebody here does.  Hoser

     Hoser,
                 Have you read this thread?  That is the point.  I  have this on 2 forums so I may not have explained here. 
What I am looking for is the date code info for my tire.  It is a Falkien and the numbers I got off of it are 2412 which indicate that it was built in June of 2012.  So far nobody has helped me with my question.

Exactly, as I tried to say, I'm at a loss also. 

[Rio Wil]

Here is the code from my Falken, the other pic was from a Dunlop front tire. So my tire is week 33 /2008. This is imprinted only on one side of the tire.

[Willow]

Here is the code from my Falken, the other pic was from a Dunlop front tire. So my tire is week 33 /2008. This is imprinted only on one side of the tire.

That looks like what we were expecting.

[SPOFF]

I have ridden (briefly) a dirt bike with 39 year old Dunlop Trial Universals on it. No visible dry rot. And if you remember how 40 year old Japanese dirt bikes handle, the tires were the least of its problems.    In the case of bike tires the compound gets as hard as a bowling ball after 4 or 5 years and you don't want to trust them in a corner.  As for tires failing without warning, seems we had a batch of Valkyrie rear tires delaminating about 11 years ago. And those were brand new tires.

And the ABC News clip: take it with a grain of salt. These are the same idiots that put a small bomb in a GM truck gas tank to make it appear to explode in a crash. Their expert witnesses all are lawyers who make millions of dollars a year suing tire makers. All of the vehicles shown are trucks and SUVs. Sure, take a 9 year old truck tire (rated at 85 mph), run it at 110 on the freeway overloaded and underinflated and a few will fail.

[alph]

So, what about the tires made in china?  They don’t have any government regulation they need to follow, and we’re their biggest customers!!  Same reason why they can put lead in your kids school paints, and get away with it.

My wife went to Madison this last weekend, on the way she hit something in the road and blew out both right tires while traveling 70 mph.  She’s not a trained professional driver, and she didn’t have any problem controlling the car.  She then drove 5 miles on the shoulder to get them changed.  The rims made it too!! 

I’ve had a tire separate also, front left on a Toyota corolla, I was 19 yrs old, no problem controlling that situation either.  I seriously question some driver’s ability to control their vehicles. 

[Hoser]

Here is the code from my Falken, the other pic was from a Dunlop front tire. So my tire is week 33 /2008. This is imprinted only on one side of the tire.

That clears it up for me.  My vintage mustang has 12 year old radials, according to that.  Since I only drive it about 500 miles a year, I doubt that I will buy new ones.  My Bridgestones on my valk have been on a year,  they are 3 years old.  I'll be buying it new shoes before Inzane 10.  Got about 12k on them.  Thanks, Rio.    hoser

[Brad]

So, what about the tires made in china?  They don’t have any government regulation they need to follow, and we’re their biggest customers!!  Same reason why they can put lead in your kids school paints, and get away with it.

My wife went to Madison this last weekend, on the way she hit something in the road and blew out both right tires while traveling 70 mph.  She’s not a trained professional driver, and she didn’t have any problem controlling the car.  She then drove 5 miles on the shoulder to get them changed.  The rims made it too!! 

I’ve had a tire separate also, front left on a Toyota corolla, I was 19 yrs old, no problem controlling that situation either.  I seriously question some driver’s ability to control their vehicles. 

Any tires sold in the United States have to conform to DOT standards.  How the government enforces this is a mystery to me.  In my 30 years in the tire business I have only seen two accidents caused by a tire coming apart, and one of those was a trailer.  I have on the other hand seen thousands of dollars in damage to many cars, trucks and trailers from tires coming apart.  When a tread separates from the casing it can take the fender right off the car.  On a travel trailer it can take out the plumbing, wiring and quite a bit of sheet metal.  On cars I have seen the tread wrap around the axle taking out the brake line.  In most of these cases the people were total morons....they admitted that there car was shaking like hell for days and sometimes weeks before the tire failed but they just kept on driving.  On on car the tire was the spare in the trunk (out of sight out of mind) the belt separated and the tread forcefully came off the casing causing a huge outward dent in the trunk.  That was a sweet 71 Ford Mustang.  The problem with tires over 6 years old is that if there is a problem that causes damage to person or property you and your insurance have to take care of it.  The tire manufacturers are only responsible for liability for the first 6 years from date of purchase.  That is date of purchase by the consumer not the date of manufacture.

[Ricky-D]

of your experience and common sense into this argument.

I agree that the problem generally is within the purview of the riders action or inaction, whichever the case.

Broadcasting "worst case scenarios" as being the norm is disingenuous.

***

[fstsix]

Remember this? 6.5 million tires recalled. http://www.usautoinjurylaw.com/cases/tires/failure-firestone.htm