Acura604

is it really true that they somewhat 'expire' 6 years after the date stamp?

i.e. the date stamp on one of my tires is 1508...so that means, the tire was manufactured during the 15th week of 2008.

however..when someone buys a used car with original tires, those tires can be super old...

how paranoid are you? is it just a marketing gimmick? or does a tire truly
start to disentegrate after the 6 years?

Jackass

Look at the condition of the tires. The 6 year mark is a good guideline, but is not set in stone. If the car was kept clean and out of the sun, there is a good chance the tires will be just fine at the 6 year mark. But if the car was filthy most of its life and sitting out in the sun, the tires will probably be starting to crack and rot out.

happyboy

I would be more worried if you lived in Texas or somewhere really hot...I had some Dunlop SP8000s that were made in '03 but kept in a warehouse which I purchased 2 years ago and they were fine.....

Acura604

HEY..offtopic.. grew up in Dartmouth, NS..went to Coal Harbour District High... Nova Scotia was awesome!

happyboy

Hey..grew up in Grande Prairie AB.....have been in NS 11 years.

Philly 3gS

Back to the tire questions, it's only a tire manufactures rec to replace for safety issues. If you take care of the tires and don't abuse them then you will not have a problem. As long as they are not dry rotted and have cracks then you are perfectly fine having past it's age mark. I used to work in the tire business so I know. I've gone threw many tires for my stock or aftermarket wheels and never had an issue with dry rot or cracks. Always used tire dressing(original armor all) for many many years. Don't let sales people at the tire shops tell you tire dressing causes the tire to dry rot and crack. It's not true it help protects them. Pretty much take them off the car and give a good visual and give it a feel. They feel hard as a rock them time to go, if not then your ok.

Sorry for the long story. Gotta get my 2cents in

I hate cars

This is one recommendation I would follow. If the tire has been unmounted and it sat in a climate controlled warehouse, I'm sure it would be fine past 6 years. With any recommendation that could have legal consequences it's going to be a bit conservative.

Once a tire is mounted and inflated, moisture is introduced. The tire can degrade from the inside as well as the outside. Some of the older dressings could dry the tire out. I believe Armor All was one of them but they changed the formula. The important thing is they have UV protection.

My BFG Sports were cracking deeply less than 2 years from the date of manufacture as were my friend's Sports. UV and heat have a huge influence.

allin

I thought ozone was the culprit in breaking down the elasticity of the rubber compounds in a tire?

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I've got the old Continental Sport Contacts produced 2004 on the back of one of my cars, great condition, actually like new with no cracks, etc. No time limit on tire age.