How to determine the age of a tire

There have been some recent questions about age of tires, especially on ones that have been sitting around. The purchase date and manufacture date can vary quite a bit. Tires purchased new, but in fact are many years old since date of manufacture have been reported to be a source of blowouts and problems.

There is a fairly easy way to determine the age of the tire. There is a code stamped on the inside of the tire that lists the week of the year and the year of manufacture. I think it is always a good idea to know just how old your tires are, even if they look new or have not had many miles put on them.

The tirerack has a good explanation and pictures of this numbering system.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

 

Good thread !

 

+mille

 

Talking about age of tires .... when are they considered to be replaced even if they only have 5000 miles and look almost brand new ?

 

~7 years is my understanding. After 3 years the rubber really starts to go off and by 5 years its getting hard, at 7 years they should be retired (get it?) regardless how good the tread depth looks.


That is the theory I have always followed but it will vary depending on environmental conditions and use.

 

Mine are 04 .... that means, time to replace them !