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Are Your Car Tires Too Old? How to Check the Age of Your Car Tires
By JLP | December 4, 2009
My wife was in a safety meeting earlier this week and one of her co-workers mentioned a video they saw about the dangers of driving on old car tires. What’s an old car tire? According to the video, it’s any tire that is older than 6-years old. The video goes on to show how to check the date when your tires were manufactured. It’s pretty easy to figure out once you know the formula.
I took a picture of my car’s tire to use as an example:
The number we want to concentrate on is 3809 at the end of that series of letters and numbers. What this number tells us that the tire was manufactured in the 38th week of 2009 (around the first week of September). Had the number been something like 389, it would have meant that the tire was manufactured in the 38th week of 1999. NOTE: the code will always be numbers…no letters.
So, if tires older than six years old are a problem, then we are looking for tires that end in 03 or older.
What’s the big deal about old tires (even if they are brand new)? Well, over time the rubber dries out and breaks down, which can lead to the tire losing its tread or just falling apart while you’re driving. Very dangerous.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »
December 4th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I have rubber-soled shoes that are older than six years. Are they a safety hazard? Probably not since I don’t walk that fast.
December 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
BE CAREFUL, SAM!
December 6th, 2009 at 12:28 am
Yeah, old rubber is never a good thing…
December 17th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Great post. I had no idea how old my tires were until we were driving up I-5 from San Francisco to Portland and my tire blew! (They were actually just about 10 years old) I think I had them under inflated too (always do the pre-trip check, is what I learned!) The good news out of all that was I got a set of tires for a good price (they are double or triple the price here in Canada!).
September 24th, 2010 at 9:44 am
I think Kwik Fit has some useful info on their website to check the age and health of your tires. Just because they are old, doesnt mean they are duff – it depends on the condition!