Knowing The Tires Age--Photo by Richard Elliott
You just had new tires put on your vehicle, but how new are they? Actually, they could be a few years old. When you buy new tires, you are probably thinking they were recently manufactured, such as in the past six months. One way to know when the tire was made is to look at the tire for the manufacture date. This is especially important, because a tire tends to start breaking down and becoming brittle after six years. If the tire shop or tire supplier did not rotate their tire stock, first-in, first-out, you could be receiving a tire that is older than what you are expecting. So, look for the DOT (Department of Transportation) number placed on the side of the tire.
The tire pictured above looks new. Look at that beefy tread! However, look at the raised numbers “429″ in the square near the rim. Translated, that means the pictured tire was made on the forty-second week of 1999! This is a DOT code. According the the article, “Tire Code” in Wikipedia.com, “All tires for use in the USA have the DOT code, as required by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
The article “Tire Tech Information/General Tire Information” (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=172) says DOT and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “requires that the Tire Identification Numbers be a combination of the letters DOT, followed by ten, eleven or twelve letters and/or numbers that identify the manufacturing location, tire size and manufacturere’s code, along with the week and year the tire was manufactured.”
For tires manufactured before the year 2000, the DOT code would reflect 3 digits, like the “429″ shown in the photo. This tells when the tire was made. In this case, it was made on the forty-second week of 2009. Thus, it was manufactured in October 2009. Tires constructed from the year 2000 and up will show a four digit DOT numbering, such as 0812, showing that the tire was created on the eight week of 2012–February 2012. Why all this concern over tire code?
According to the Wikipedia article, “Research and tests show that as tires age, they begin to dry out and become potentially dangerous, even if unused.” Since rubber degrades over time, an aged tire’s tread may peel off, especially at high speeds. Many tire manufacturers recommend replacing a tire when it is about six years old. ”Although not law, some tire manufacturers do not suggest using a “new” tire that has been sitting on the shelf for more than six years.”
For you sports enthusiasts towing camping or boat trailers over those hot, summer Mojave Desert roads, be advised that tires on seldom-used trailers are at the greatest risk of failure, due to tire age. Also, for those of you only rotating and replacing the main four tires, check the DOT tire date on your spare! When purchasing new tires, ask your tire shop to check the DOT code, because you want the newest, safest tires on your vehicle!
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