A heads up about the tires on your car

**06PearlWRX** · 08-05-2008 12:15 AM

i forget the exact numbers, but its something like within 4 years its lost 50% . i know at the shop i worked at we had to get apprval to work on anything 5+ years old and 10+ we were not supposed to touch. rarely followed this. it depends on more than just age. mostly location and if they were kept outside (sunlight takes the oils right out of a tire hence the cracking and stuff you'll see in a sidewall). its scarier when you see codes that are from the 90's or before the DOT numbers were in their current format.

**SubyDude05** · 08-14-2008 10:00 AM

Man, that is a good read. I guess these tire companies and distributors will do whatever it takes to make a few extra bucks. Bastards...

**StiLimited** · 10-06-2008 09:06 AM

This is a good story, but I have to disagree with the arbitrary number of 6 years. I've raced in tires older than that with never a problem. I bought a used car with tires so bad they were cracking on the side walls. I didn't drive it on the freeway with them, but I drove it around town from shop to shop to get it repaired on them with no problems and then I bought new tires for it. These things looked frankenstein, but they never failed.

Also, do you have any idea how much tire prices will rise if they have to pull all those tires over 6 years old? Can you imagine selling your car, but there is a law that says you can't sell a car with tires over 6 years old? I can.

Also, I have to ask, how many of these failures are caused by low tire pressure? I know of many tires that have failed due to low tire pressure, and they have the new monitoring systems mandated now for all new cars and I bought one off Amazon to put in my sti, so I really think the problem is low tire pressure and not just because the tire is old.

Also, how many of those failed tires are from unknown brands or imported tires?

With all that said, in the story, he indicated he bought them 5 years before and they were 4 years old at the time. 9 year old tires. Okay, but only one blew out. The other 3 were fine. In the video you can see none showed any signs of failure. So if 6 years is the limit, 3 other tires worked fine. Is it not more likely that that one tire was underinflated?

**sangwooT** · 10-22-2008 01:53 AM

beware the full size spare! Most look new and havent seen much action esp on your moms '92 camry

most tire warranties are for 5-6 years after installation..not the DOT born on date.

because of centrifugal force tires in motion want to peel and come apart. if a tire tread peels off the tire carcass then it would not be caused by under inflation. Under inflation/over loading failure would be more overheating and sidewall damage i think..tho an over loaded/under inflated 14 yr old tire would prolly be disaster

another possible scenario that a tread would peel off would be an incorrectly repaired tire.
if you get a tire repaired by patch water might get in the heart of the tire from the outside. The steel belt could rust and rot the tire from the inside causing the peeling effect.
if you get a tire repaired by plug you have about a 50/50 chance of going back to get it repaired again assuming you make it there without under inflation damage.
whats teh solution you ask? plug AND patch your tires but finding a place that does that might be difficult. I know costco does it for sure
:edit: but costco only repairs their own tires

**stallion2** · 12-19-2008 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Slide

Lol....so I email Goodyear asking them why Discount Tire Direct would receive 3.5ish year old tires in a shipment as recently as the beginning of July. Their response? Found it funny because it was almost exactly what the guy in the video said.

3.5 years is kinda sketchy but as long as they didn't have excessive exposure to cold and especially sun they should be fine

**stallion2** · 12-19-2008 05:29 PM

i'm running BFGoodrich traction T/As on stock rims on stock rims and they are awesome for where i live. i need to get some good summer tires for some 18s i'm getting. water evacuation is a must but tear up dry pavement. don't wanna spend more than $180 (unless Goodyear Eagle F1 DGwhich i've been drooling over). have been looking at the Kuhmo MX. any suggestions?

**ScubieSubie** · 12-19-2008 06:20 PM

im checking my tire date on my 08 wrx tom

thx for the video!

**WTypeRogerX** · 12-28-2008 11:54 PM

I checked my summer Hankook RS2s laying in the garage the other day and couldn't find any number resembling what they described. The only thing I know is I bought them in summer '06.

**JoeMomma** · 02-22-2009 09:03 AM

the link isnt loading for me, can some one give me a quick run through of this?

Wrinklechops · 02-22-2009 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Feezor

My tires read "2J 1B" I am not sure what that means.

Did you ever find out what that means?

Wrinklechops · 02-22-2009 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by Weasel 555

watch this all the way through
...It may save some ones life !

ABC News

That's insane and I'm glad I watched this. I'm going to check my tires right now...

**jordan00711** · 03-13-2009 06:52 AM

Great info

**mpg** · 03-13-2009 12:24 PM

It's surprising that this is still known by very few people. IIRC, that ABC story is at least a year old, but this should've been known for a long time.

**mpg** · 03-13-2009 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by Acrdys

link is gone... can i get a new one if someone finds it or like tell me what its about

It's about the shelf life of tires. Even if you buy them brand new, that only means that they've never been used, but they could be years old already. They only have a finite life span and can fail catastrophically if they're merely too old and haven't been used much. In the ABC story, 2 guys died in a minivan where tire failure was the only cause of the accident.