Chuck Schreiber

Came across this link to the 20/20 site. I know tire age has been a topic here before, but wanted to re-visit this. I've got one tire on the 79 which looks almost brand new, but according to this, it was manufatured in 1999, which is a bad thing??!!! Here is the link

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/popup?...=1&start=false

I'm not so caught up in the supposed scam that tire dealers are pulling in regard to old tires. I'm more concerned in the shear fact that most of us push our cars to the limit at times, and some of us do NOT use those cars as daily drivers, which means we could have some pretty old tires on our vehicles. (I.E. my 79 with a 9 year old tire) For you tire experts out there, is there a lot of truth to this? Something to be extrememly worried about?? I know a little bit about dry rot, but have never considered just shear age can lead to tires being very dangerous. (I'm not talking about folks that might have original tires on their vehicles. I see this sometimes with "timecapsule cars" in Hemmings motor news, etc. I can't ever imagine someone actually driving around on origial rubber on a 30 plus year old vehicle, that's absolutely idiotic!!)

Makes sense to me that along with the rest of the rubber on our cars, this is going to happen for sure.

Thoughts???

hacker-pschorr

8-9 year old tire?

No thanks.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Most recent proposals by auto makers / gov safety boards are a 6 year drop dead date. Tread separation being the most common failure reported but actually very few in total numbers.

ew928

Me snow tires were pushing 7 years when I sent them to prop up Mr. Landfill.
Stored inside in summer so little UV exposure.
But you can see the tread starting to develop cracks.

marton

Like people said you would expect to see physical symptoms of age like cracking &/or signs of the rubber perishing; I am talking about the tires of course.

marton

Tom. M

I had a set of original 928 snow rims with original pirelli snow tires that came with my 89GT. Had been used very little and stored in doors. I sold them to a lister who was traveling across the country and wanted snow tires in case he ran into some snow crossing the rockies. He got all the way to Colorado and the car started to shimmy...ended up the tread was starting to separate from the tire. If you looked at the tire's they looked nearly new. I refunded some of his money since he had to buy new tires but that incident opened my eyes to tire age...not just tire wear. I believe tire manufacturers now stamp the manufacture date in the sidewall.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Lifted from Tire Rack...." Tires Manufactured Since 2000

Today, the week and year the tire was manufactured is contained in the last four digits of the serial number, with the 2 digits used to identify the week a tire was manufactured immediately preceding the 2 digits used to identify the year.

Examples of tires manufactured since 2000 with this Tire Identification Code format:

XXXXXXXX 0608
XXXXXXXX 0600 06 - Manufactured during the 06th week of the year
XXXXXXXX 0608 08 - Manufactured during 2008

And

XXXXXXXX 0600
XXXXXXXX 0608 06 - Manufactured during the 06th week of the year
XXXXXXXX 0600 00 - Manufactured during 2000



While the entire Tire Identification Code is required to be branded onto one sidewall of every tire, current rules also require the first digits of the Tire Identification Code (everything but the week and year) must also be branded onto the opposite sidewall. Therefore, it is possible to see a Tire Identification Code that appears incomplete and requires looking at the other sidewall to find the entire Tire Identification Code (the use of a partial Tire Identification Code on the one sidewall reduces the risk of injury to the mold technician that would have to install the weekly date code on the top sidewall portion of a hot tire mold).

Tires Manufactured Before 2000

The Tire Identification Code for tires produced prior to 2000 was based on the assumption that no tire would be in service for ten years. They were required to provided the same information, with the week and year the tire was built contained in the last three digits. The 2 digits used to identify the week a tire was manufactured immediately preceded a single digit used to identify the year.

For example, if the Tire Identification Code on a tire reads:

XXXXXXXX 0680
XXXXXXXX 0600 06 - Manufactured during the 06th week of the year
XXXXXXXX 0680 8 - Manufactured during the 8th year of the decade

While the previous serial number format identified that a tire was built in the 8th year of a decade, there was no universal identifier that confirmed which decade (tires produced in the 1990s may have a small triangle following the Tire Identification Code to identify the decade). The Tire Identification Code format used since 2000 accurately confirms the year.

And finally, hold on to your sales receipts. Most tire manufacturer's warranties cover their tires for four years from the date of purchase, or five years from the week the tires were manufactured. So if you purchase new tires that were manufactured exactly two years ago they will be covered for a total of six years (four years from the date of purchase) as long as you have your receipt. If you lose your receipt, your tires' warranty coverage will end five years from week the tire was produced (resulting in the tire manufacturer's warranty coverage ending only three years from the date of purchase in this example). ...." The above quoted from Tirerack . This may also explain why there are sometimes close out specials on tires that may be getting "cured" a bit too much

ACG

I work in the commercial vehicle (truck) manufacturing industry. One of our major suppliers confirmed the shelf life on their tires is 5 years from the production date.

AO

That's shelf life... not usable life, right? Does that mean that if I install the tires at 4 years and 11 months, I can only drive on them for one month? I think not.

hacker-pschorr

Production Date is the key. If it sat on the shelf for a year, you are down to four the day you buy them.

Where are you buying tires that sit on the shelf that long?

AO

I'm not... just sayin'... Don't get your man-kini in a buch!

Jim bailey - 928 International

Andrew , why are tires black ???

hacker-pschorr

AO

Becasue it's cheaper than makin' white ones?

dprantl

Cause that's the color it is when it comes out of those Malaysian trees

Dan
'91 928GT S/C