ABC News: Are Your Tires Ticking Time Bombs?

[A34]

Please watch this 9-minute video, check your numbers and share this with others.


http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

[NHCharger]

I've known about this for several years. In 96 I bought a set of tires for my Charger that were on "clearance sale" at the Tire Warehouse. I replaced them in 2005 after coming back from a 500 mile Carlisle trip. Car was loaded with tools and clothing and I was averaging 75 MPH on the highway. The next week I read a report about tire aging and checked the tires to find out they were 13 or 14 years old. Not sure if this is BS or not but I'm not taking a chance with my Chargers.

[Wango Mango]

Thanks for posting this!  I went out & checked my "brand new" T/A Radials on my Challenger & found out the fronts were made in 99 & the rears in 02!  I bought em from Summit Racing.  I can't believe they would sell tires over 9 years old knowing they'd go on a performance car.  I'll be sure and call them tomorrow.  My truck tires from Les Schwab (their brand made by Cooper) were made in June of this year, so I feel good about that.   Anyone have any problems from older "new" tires on their Mopar?

[DixieRestoParts]

I can tell you from experience that even well maintained, garaged tires dry rot after 14 years and aren't safe for high speed driving. You made a wise choice. 

[1FastCharger]

Damn....the video will not load on my PC.


Can someone post the "Cliffnotes" on reading the date codes? Thanks.

[RallyeMike]

Tire age is a big deal in my sport/hobby. They do not allow any tires over 5 years old and 2 yrs old for the fastest cars. The challenge for us all is finding dealers who give you a guarantee on tire age, especially if they have to order the tires into the shop.

[69bronzeT5]

How do you find out when the tires were made??

I plan on buying Nittos...hope they dont do that

[Steve P.]

I found this on the web.



(((((((  Sorry, the pic. didn't work  ))))))    Try this:: http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm 



DETERMINING TIRE DATE CODES

How old are the tires on your vehicle? The date of manufacture is indicated by the last group of digits in the DOT manufacture code on the sidewall of the tire. The number is often stamped in a recessed rectangle. The DOT code tells who manufactured the tire, where it was made and when. The last group of digits in the code is the date code that tells when the tire was made.

Before 2000, the date code had three digits. Since 2000, it has had four. The first two digits are the week of the year (01 = the first week of January). The third digit (for tires made before 2000) is the year (1 = 1991). For most tires made after 2000, the third and fourth digits are the year (04 = 2004).

In the photo above, the date code is 8PY806. The 8PY is a manufacturing shift code, and the date the tire was actually made was 0806, which is the 8th week (08)in the year 2006 (06).

[Steve P.]

I bought em from Summit Racing.  I can't believe they would sell tires over 9 years old knowing they'd go on a performance car.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hey Buzz,  I doubt Summit was holding tire stock for that long. They more than likely sat in a warehouse at BFG or had been sent back from a tire store to one of BFG's tire warehouses till someone from Summit ordered your size in..


This is a common problem with smaller tire stores and corner garages keeping tires.. If the stock does not change for a long time, someone gets stuck with old product. Sometimes it doesn't matter. Other times it could mean your life..


I see people buying NOS stuff from the mid 60's all the time.. Hard parts are no problem in most cases. Anything with a rubber seal or gasket can be big trouble. Example: I bought my 65' Coronet 3 years ago in Vegas. It had all newly installed NOS ball joints, tie rod ends, brake hoses, idler arm and pitman arm. The car was driven less than 300 miles and some of the front rubber was cracking.. It was all new in the box. Just God knows when it was all made... It must all be replaced... 

[69bronzeT5]

Thanks Steve

[tan top]

intresting stuff Guys thanks for posting  ...    .i heard something about this years ago  but forgot all about it 

[Mike DC]

In this hobby, half the cars are liable to be wearing 14yo tires just because the owner himself left them on that long. 


So many of these cars are nicely restored for a ton of money, but then the final result doesn't see 300 miles in a year.

[bull]

I found this on the web.
(((((((  Sorry, the pic. didn't work  ))))))    Try this:: http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm 

They mention something in that article that's been done for years to check tread depth but is now considered incorrect. Tire Rack and other sources now say you're supposed to use a quarter to determine proper tread depth instead of a penny.

"Tread wear can be measured using a penny. Place the penny with Lincoln's head upside down in a groove between the treads. If you can't see the top of Lincoln's lead, the tire is okay and still has some wear left in it. But if the top of Lincoln's head is flush with the tread, the tread depth is 2/32-inch (1.6mm) or less, indicating the tire is worn out and needs to be replaced.

Some experts now say the same test should now be done with a quarter. If the top of Washington's head is flush with the tread when you place a quarter upside down in a groove, the tread depth is 4/32-inch (3.2mm). Though the tire still has some tread wear left, braking, traction and handling are significantly reduced compared to a tire with more tread on it. Because of this, many experts now recommend replacing tires when the tread depth is worn down to 4/32-inch or less."

So basically the penny just became even more useless, if that's possible.

[Mike DC]

2mm of tread depth is better than 1mm of tread.

And 3mm is better than 2. 
And 8 is better than 7. 

And just staying home on the couch is better than risking driving anywhere. 




There's always another notch we can raise our worry level to.  It's good for making our lives more expensive.

 

[69charger2002]

i watched this segment on the news a few weeks ago. went out and checked all my tires too lol. it's great info. i had been told how to check this stuff when i was younger but just forgot.. thankfully the only early 90's and older tires i had were on rollers
trav

[62 Max]

The E-body guys that pay $400 /$500 each for N.O.S. 30+yr old Goodyear F60/15 Polyglass should watch this!

[Old Moparz]

I'm curious now as to how old the tires are that I have on a few cars. The ones on my Satellite I bought new around 1986, on the Scamp I bought them around 1992. Neither car has seen 50 MPH in years, & I don't go too fast with them in the garage & the driveway.     

The Barracuda still has a set of dried out bias plys on it, & the last time the car was driven was in the early 1980's.   

[Wango Mango]

I bought em from Summit Racing.  I can't believe they would sell tires over 9 years old knowing they'd go on a performance car.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hey Buzz,  I doubt Summit was holding tire stock for that long. They more than likely sat in a warehouse at BFG or had been sent back from a tire store to one of BFG's tire warehouses till someone from Summit ordered your size in..


This is a common problem with smaller tire stores and corner garages keeping tires.. If the stock does not change for a long time, someone gets stuck with old product. Sometimes it doesn't matter. Other times it could mean your life..


I see people buying NOS stuff from the mid 60's all the time.. Hard parts are no problem in most cases. Anything with a rubber seal or gasket can be big trouble. Example: I bought my 65' Coronet 3 years ago in Vegas. It had all newly installed NOS ball joints, tie rod ends, brake hoses, idler arm and pitman arm. The car was driven less than 300 miles and some of the front rubber was cracking.. It was all new in the box. Just God knows when it was all made... It must all be replaced... 

Good to hear from you Steve, but whatta bummer you gotta change all the front end bushings.  Same thing for my Challenger & even bought a new upper control arm rubber bumper & that also cracked.  When I replace the front tires on the Chally, I'll call around to see if a vendor can guarantee new mfg dates on the T/A's.  I did that 1300 mile Vanishing Point Revisited trip & had no problems.  No spare either.  Only the space saver w/ fake bottle.   Man, i'd hate to have to use that 38 yr old spare!  Hope your Coronet is running well. 

[bull]

The E-body guys that pay $400 /$500 each for N.O.S. 30+yr old Goodyear F60/15 Polyglass should watch this!

Probably not much of a concern since most of them only roll from the trailer to the parking spot and then back onto the trailer.

[Steve P.]

I see blown up tires all the time here in Florida. Not just along the buzz-way either.. The heat in the road and the sun on the tires and often I think, a lack of maintenance send many cars to the side of the road and into ditches on their rims. Sometimes the tire is in little pieces all over the road and other times you see the orange peel of tread.

About 2 years ago a school friend of my older daughters was killed when a tire came apart at over 50 mph. I am sure there is more to the story, but the investigators still have ALL the tires from the car inside a temp controlled warehouse..

I don't use my trailer tires for more than 3 years and I check them before, during and after every use.  It's just a few minutes of well spent time... 

[gordo1968charger]

news to me!!!!!!!!!
i ll be checking my tyres before i take the charger out again.
i ve had the car nearly 4 years..........so how old were they when they were put on the car?
they could be 8 years old or more.

[moparstuart]

 I had 7 year old BF goodrich radial t/a's on my 69 roadrunner. On the way to St louis (monster mopar) two years ago I had bad blow out .  Tires had less then 10 k miles on them .  Everyone tire guy i called said I need to change them every 5-7 years no matter the miles ? WTF to expensive to do that but I guess too dangerous not to . The other three were really badly checked and cracked .   So i bought 4 new ones in St louis

[69*F5*SE]

Hell, I wish my tires were on my car for driving at this point. But they've been sitting in storage for a good 10 years.  Right now they're just a place to stash my Magnums.

[Wango Mango]

I bought em from Summit Racing.  I can't believe they would sell tires over 9 years old knowing they'd go on a performance car.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Hey Buzz,  I doubt Summit was holding tire stock for that long. They more than likely sat in a warehouse at BFG or had been sent back from a tire store to one of BFG's tire warehouses till someone from Summit ordered your size in..


This is a common problem with smaller tire stores and corner garages keeping tires.. If the stock does not change for a long time, someone gets stuck with old product. Sometimes it doesn't matter. Other times it could mean your life..


I see people buying NOS stuff from the mid 60's all the time.. Hard parts are no problem in most cases. Anything with a rubber seal or gasket can be big trouble. Example: I bought my 65' Coronet 3 years ago in Vegas. It had all newly installed NOS ball joints, tie rod ends, brake hoses, idler arm and pitman arm. The car was driven less than 300 miles and some of the front rubber was cracking.. It was all new in the box. Just God knows when it was all made... It must all be replaced... 

Steve, I called Summit tonite & was told they have no control over tire dates from their supplier, but will exchange 2 new , unused T/A radials I bought last yr for newer dated ones if needed.  Said I could also request new mfg dates on future tire orders from them & they'll check the dates before they ship.   That's a good heads up for all of us, no matter who we buy tires from.  If they want our business, have em check the dates first. 

[Slantback_66]

Wow, This is a timely thread. I was just crusing along HWY 41 at about 75mph when all of the sudden my front tire just exploded! Scared the living S**t out of me. And wouldn't ya know it, the tires on my truck are 8 years old. Time for a new set I guess.

John

[FastbackJon]

Glad you are ok!