Thread: Tire Safety Info

Interesting information on tire safety!

The information says tires age and are should have an expiration date. It says tires over 6 years old are at risk of coming apart...consider this when you're driving fast!!

(I had trouble getting the video to play ever time, so a narrative is posted below if you miss the video.)
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Should Tires Have an Expiration Date?

Bill Cartus received a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger sports car as a high school graduation gift more than 30 years ago. The Birmingham, Ala., resident says he kept the car in tip-top shape.

Four years ago, Cartus and his friend and fellow car enthusiast, Ginger Townsend, were returning home from a car convention in Montana. While driving at highway speeds the Sunbeam's left rear tire separated. Cartus says the car rolled. Townsend suffered permanent brain damage.

What Cartus didn't realize is the age of his tires made them dangerous. He said the tires had good tread, and he had checked them throughout the trip.They had only 4,000 miles on them, but they were 10 years old.
Cartus, 54, says no one told him about the hazard old tires could pose to motorists. "I now know that they deteriorate with age. That information was not given to me. It was not made available," he said.

Townsend's daughter is now suing the company that made the tire.
Cartus's case is just one of many in a series of accidents blamed on old tires.

Industry watcher Sean Kane, who investigates auto safety issues for attorneys, uncovered at least 20 cases in which old tires, some barely used, have disintegrated causing accidents. The cases led to 10 deaths.
"We suspected for some time that the industry has been unwilling to tell the public how serious a problem it is," said Kane, a partner with Arlington, Va.-based Strategic Safety. "Tires as a commodity should have a shelf life or expiration date on them."

Kane isn't the only one concerned about this issue. Last week a British trade association, the Tyre Industry Council, issued the tire industry's first ever warning on the subject, imploring people to refrain from selling tires six years old or older and to not use any tires 10 years old or older.
In addition three major German auto manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, include warnings about using older tires in their owner's manuals. There is also a concern about spare tires, because they sit so long until needed.

Tires Degrade Over Time

Tire experts say tires degrade over time. The oils, chemicals, rubber and bonding all start to come apart as time wears on. If a tire is not used, it only speeds up the process, because there are certain chemicals used to protect the tire that are only activated if the tire is in normal use.
"Gradually it's been apparent there was this problem, but the industry nervously looked the other way, because the tire industry is very, very sensitive to anything that involves danger and their products," said Rex Grogan, a tire consultant who formerly worked for British tire maker Dunlop for 33 years.

Grogan supports the time limits set by the British Tyre Industry Council.
Warning Signs Are Not Always Visible

Often, there is no way to determine if there is anything wrong with a tire by simply looking at it. And tires may spend a substantial amount of time in warehouses and distributors before they even reach stores where they are available to consumers.

It's not easy for consumers to determine the age of a tire. It requires the ability to decipher the last three digits of the Department of Transportation number molded into the tire.

The first two digits correspond to the week of the year the tire was made and the third digit corresponds to the last digit in the year it was made. For example, a DOT number ending in 238 would have been produced in the 23rd week of 1998.

(Note: Tires manufactured in 2000+ will have the last digit preceded by a zero. For example, a DOT number ending in 1205 would have been produced in the 12th week of 2005.)

(Note: Frequently that number is not on the "outside face" of the tire...you may need to look at the back of the tire to find the number.)

Michael Rotondo from Massachusetts just bought a 1993 Isuzu and was shocked to discover that his spare tire was 11 years old. "I think after work today I'm going to stop by the place I bought it and ask them for a new tire," Rotondo told ABCNEWS.

U.S. Manufacturers' Group

The Rubber Manufacturer's Association, which represents U.S. tire makers, is not ready to take the same steps as their counterpart in England. Spokesman Dan Zielinski said: "Tires do vary from company to company and from tires within a company themselves, so it's hard just to pinpoint one particular tire age limit for every tire." He also expressed concern about the idea of expiration dates, stating that an expiration date could give consumers the belief that they could treat a tire in any manner they chose without regard to proper tire safety until the expiration date hit.

As of now the government is looking at the issue of aging tires, but there are no plans to move forward with the idea of expiration dates or warnings.

Copied from ABC News

Good info. Dryrot is VERY common up in Wa, where most people have a set of studded tires that only get used a few thousand miles a year, so they'll have the same set for 10+ years.


Another thing that is horrible for tires is tire shine. It eats away at the sidewalls, and will cause cracks in the tires.

Don't mean to hijack, but it is tire related.
A little over a year ago I got new tires on my truck. I got the same as came on it because it was the best tire wear I've ever gotten on any vehicle. A couple of months later I got a flat. I took it to the shop where i got the tires to have it fixed, and they told me it was the valve stem and I should pop for better valvestems (I figure they should install valvestems adequate for the tires they are selling). A couple of weeks ago I saw something on the news about a valvestem recall. 2 days ago doing 65 down the 405 in heavy traffic the truck starts bouncing more than usual and I start looking in my mirrors to see what's around me so I can move to the right when a guy pulls up on my left and points to the shoulder like a cop. By that time I already knew the problem. I got to the shoulder and changed the tire and threw the flat in the bed. After I got home I reached over and pushed sideways on the valvestem and got a hiss of air. I'm going back to the dealer to get new valvestems. For more info just do an internet search on valvestem recall.

The boss lost 3 tires before they found out it was the valve stems.

If you have a trailer change out the stems for steal, trust me saves much trouble.

Good info thanks guys!

My recent tire problem, with a separation inside the tire, was on my two year old PRO COMP tire. I replaced two of them. Those new ones are on the front.

After getting those new tires and wheels I did have a flat associated with the valve stem being bad. I dont know if it was from airing up and down so often for going in the sand or not, but I had metal ones put in so that hopefully I wont have any problems in the future.

All good advise on this thread....