Page 1 of 1

Something you may not know about tyres. How old are they?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:09 am
by OzSTi
Last night a club tech meet I learnt something about tyres I didn't know.


Image

The code found on all tyres indicates when the tyre was made. The first two digits are the week of the year, so in this case my tyre was made in the 48th week (about end of Nov.) The last two are the year, so '06 for my tyre.

If it is a three digit code, say '486' plus an arrow symbol, that would be 48th week in 1996. Don't laugh some spare tyres out there will have been made in the 90's. A three digit code and no arrow indicates the '80's!

The letters indicate the who made them and where.

The tyre should be mounted so this code is on the outside of the rim.

Go check yours.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:12 am
by tangcla
hmm, interesting! Thanks - you learn something new every day :D

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:42 am
by sinist4
thanks, this is sum valuable info :D

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:42 am
by Rosso
Yes, very important info there.

Always good to check this if your going for a new set of rubber & the deal sounds too good to be true, might just be the company trying to get rid of old stock.

Happened to me once before, before i found out tyres had a use-by date :evil:

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:57 am
by OzSTi
As the tyres guy said, "If you where to spend a week in bed not moving you'd be quite stiff when you got up, same with the tyre except it can then fail."

The issue of pressure also came up and he said a 3 psi drop from optimal can result in a 30% reduction in tyre life.

Better to err to over inflation than under, especially if loads are high.

38psi+.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:59 am
by 04GT
Sweet now i'mma go check me tyres for their b'days lol

PostPosted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:38 pm
by deucer
Rosso wrote:Happened to me once before, before i found out tyres had a use-by date :evil:


So what's the deal with use by dates for tyres Rosso?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:27 pm
by Mano™
So really u can tell them to change the tyres if they r old stock, casue they said nothing about it :P aaaaaaaaannnnnnddddd u could have an argument ova it, and tell them to change the tyres around the otherway, if the numbers are not on in outside??

OOO i like i like :D hahaha.. wait till people know bout it, then they will b fuk'd from rippin people lol!

PostPosted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:37 pm
by Rosso
deucer wrote:
Rosso wrote:Happened to me once before, before i found out tyres had a use-by date :evil:


So what's the deal with use by dates for tyres Rosso?


Well not so much a use by date, they do have a certain shelf life. i cant remember off the top of my head but i think that if you buy new tyres that are more than 2-3yrs (not 100% on this age) old according to the date made then dont accept em cause they go "off" (something to do with the rubber going hard/stail), not safe for road use.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:42 pm
by deucer
Yeah makes sense. Thanks Rosso.

Cheers,
Deucer.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:09 pm
by ChrisGT
Yes, very interesting, it got me checking my current hoops as I bought them from a place that has the occasional quality issue-but the price was right.
My Falken RT 615s were minted May 2005, I bought them March 2007, so nearly 2 years old :cry:
But I suppose these are a bit of a specilty tyre and not that popular so it's likely they would have been sitting on the shelf for a while.
The original RE050s were minted pretty close to when the car was completed in Japan.
At least armed with this info there may be a bit of negotiation available.