Call me thick if its common knowledge but i didnt know that tyres had a date code of manufacture on them
Well i didnt know that
- Thread starter mmikey82
- Start date
On the tyre is a rectangle with four numbers in, mine was 3113 so the first two numbers are the week in the year and the second two are the year- so mine was week 31, 2013
I did, but only because I had a tyre delaminate on me once and needed the full information to help them work out what had gone wrong.
The following image is for Australia, but our codes are much the same. For anyone in the dark about what's written on their tyres, this may be of help.
:edit: It's always made me laugh that the size markings are a mix of Metric, a percentage, and Imperial. The auto industry is weird.
The following image is for Australia, but our codes are much the same. For anyone in the dark about what's written on their tyres, this may be of help.
:edit: It's always made me laugh that the size markings are a mix of Metric, a percentage, and Imperial. The auto industry is weird.
Tyres have a shelf life of 6 years when not being used the rubber of the tyre starts to degrade, its why you shouldn't drive on very old tyres and your spare should be changed every 6 years as well (this goes for both space saver and normal size).
Oh bugger! So my original alloys which have over £200 worth of new rubber on them will be useless? They are wrapped in polythene and dry stored in the garage, so would they be ok?
I would imagine for the use you're likely to put them through (i.e shows) they should be fine mate.
no idea mate, I have a £600 set of tyres on my wheels and they have done less than 500 mile in 2 years, worst case scenario is they all blow out
The two primary factors in degradation of rubber - vulcanized or not - are oxygen/ozone and UV radiation. If yours have been kept wrapped up and largely in the dark, I suspect you're probably okay.
In your shoes, I'd completely deflate them, then reinflate them to slightly over their normal working pressure. That will show you any cracks (typically most obvious in the sidewalls). It's not a guarantee, but better than nothing.
Incidentally, I love the fact that the acronyms for polymer peroxy radical and polymer hydroperoxide are POO and POOH.
I'm getting tyred of this.
I should probably look at my space saver, and check my brother's wheels. Is tyre life something picked up in MOTs?
I should probably look at my space saver, and check my brother's wheels. Is tyre life something picked up in MOTs?
spare wise it should be but most just seem to look for a spare with road legal tread depth, actually fitted the tyres are considered to have more chance of wearing away rather than aging
But as we know, you're not required by law to carry a spare. Otherwise those goop kits wouldn't be legal.
Just take the spare wheel out, get the test, and make sure you have an alternative approach.