Did you know your tires have an expiration date?
The fact is that all tires have an expiration date. Surprisingly, many consumers and sellers of tires do not know about tire expiration dates. An uninformed consumer thinks he or she purchased brand new tires when in reality those tires may have been sitting on the shelf for years. Even though the tires were never used on a vehicle, they are still several years old. Every tire has a birth date—the day it was manufactured—and an expiration date that is six years from that manufacture date. Most automobile manufacturers warn drivers to replace vehicle tires after six years. To wait any longer than that is a gamble with tire integrity and is risky for drivers.
So what can you, as a driver, do to protect yourself? When buying new tires, ask for the newest tires available, and look at the tire’s manufacture date. The manufacture date is part of a Department of Transportation (DOT – Tire Identification Number ) The DOT ( TIN ) is embossed on the side of the tire near the rim (see Figure 1). The letters DOT are followed by a ( TIN ) that is eight to thirteen letters and or numbers that identify where the tire was manufactured, tire size and the manufacturer’s code, along with the week and year the tire was manufactured.
Figure 1. The DOT- TIN number is shown in the red box. With the date in the yellow box
The TIN found on this tire ( Figure 1 ) The numbers in the yellow box are the most important piece of information about a tire. These last four numbers of the DOT- TIN represent the manufacture date of the tire. The last two numbers refer to the year the tire was produced, and the first two identify the week number within that year. The tire shown in ( Figure 1) was manufactured on the 49th week of the year 2021..
The majority of people who take the gamble of keeping outdated tires do so to save money. Driving on outdated tires is risky not only for the driver of the car having those tires but also for other drivers. Take the initiative and change vehicle tires every six years, or sooner, to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation.