tyre age

[Alan99UK]

I have a spare in the 2005 passat I bought.

How can I tell how old it is

I looked at youtube and it mentions DOT but I still cant see a date

Thanks

[kambites]

There should be a four digit number somewhere on the tyre which is the week and year of manufacture. I can't see it in any of those pictures.

For example if it said "2715" that would be the 27th week of 2015.

[Alan99UK]

kambites said:

There should be a four digit number somewhere on the tyre which is the week and year of manufacture. I can't see it in any of those pictures.

For example if it said "2715" that would be the 27th week of 2015.

So that is on any tyre ?.. its supposed to be by the DOT but isnt

Will it be surrounded buy a line like some have suggested ?

Thanks

[119]

If you are that worried about it, just get a budget replacement if it’s just a spare.

[kambites]

Have you checked the other side of the tyre? It's sometimes only printed on one side and you seem to be looking at what would be the back of the tyre if it was fitted to the car.

If it's a spare, it's worth noting that age doesn't really damage tyres, or at least not very much. Age is mostly used as a crude metric of the likely hardening due to UV exposure which obviously isn't an issue for a spare which has been sitting underneath a boot carpet. I personally wouldn't have any problem using a 20 year-old spare which had been sitting in the boot that entire time as a low speed "get me home" solution as long as it was holding pressure and there was no obvious damage.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 1st February 17:28

[STO]

Looking at the wheel, I'd say it's never been fitted, so the chances are it's an original tyre.

[Alan99UK]

Thanks..Ill check tomorrow

[mikef]

I recently had K—-F— out to replace a tyre on my daughter’s Fiesta that had a large screw through it. 6 years old (the tyre, not the daughter), but only drives 2,000 miles a year and tyres rotated summer/winter, so probably only around 6,000 miles on the road. The fitter was telling me that I should replace them at that age, despite the low usage.

A quick check suggests that there is no legal age for private vehicles although PSV tyres are limited to 10 years, so kept the others on

Not sure what other folks do in terms of tyre life, providing the sidewalls and tread look good ?

[kambites]

mikef said:

Not sure what other folks do in terms of tyre life, providing the sidewalls and tread look good ?

Lots of cars are used for very low mileages and most people have no idea that tyres "age" so the risk of running old tyres is clearly fairly low or cars would be falling off the road due to delamination or side-wall failure all over the place. That said, tyre failures due to hardening do happen even quite aside from the risk of failure, tyres harden and lose grip as the rubber ages so a ten year-old set of premium tyres could easily have far less grip than a set of brand new "ditch finders".

Ultimately it comes down to how risk-averse you are/she is. The risk of running old tyres is low, but it is not zero. Our cars are both kept in a garage which helps a lot; personally tend to replace tyres at about ten years old if they haven't worn out by that point.

[mikef]

Yes, I was thinking 10 years. The car is now garaged

[johnsmith222]

I fit car tyres as part of my hobby. The date code will likely be on the other side as it's often only printed on one side of the tyre.

I can normally tell if a tyre is too old just from looking at it without seeing any cracks. From what I can see that tyre looks good

[TarquinMX5]

Before 2000 a 3-digit code was used, ie 123, however, you needed to 'guess / estimate' which decade it showed as the first two represented week number, third was the year.

If a number isn't obvious on yours, it's likely an old tyre.

[Sheepshanks]

TarquinMX5 said:

Before 2000 a 3-digit code was used, ie 123, however, you needed to 'guess / estimate' which decade it showed as the first two represented week number, third was the year.

If a number isn't obvious on yours, it's likely an old tyre.

I thought about the 3 digit code too, but it was all numbers.

The 29W appears to be where the DOT code should be. It seems bonkers, but apparently the DOT code can be on the inside face of the tyre.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 1st February 19:59

[kambites]

Sheepshanks said:

The 29W appears to be where the DOT code should be. tIt seems bonkers, but apparently the DOT code can be on the inside face of the tyre.

Many tyres are directional but not sided, so if you're only going to put it on one side of the tyre it's going to be on the inside face of the tyre on one side of the car or the other! No idea why they don't just stamp it into both sides of the tyre mind; cost I guess.

I would guess the 29W in this case is part of the manufacturer serial number thingie and there isn't a date code in that image.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 1st February 19:59

[I am alright Jack]

kambites said:

Sheepshanks said:

The 29W appears to be where the DOT code should be. tIt seems bonkers, but apparently the DOT code can be on the inside face of the tyre.

Many tyres are directional but not sided, so if you're only going to put it on one side of the tyre it's going to be on the inside face of the tyre on one side of the car or the other! No idea why they don't just stamp it into both sides of the tyre mind; cost I guess.

I would guess the 29W in this case is part of the manufacturer serial number thingie and there isn't a date code in that image.

Depends what you mean by sided, they will not be sided as in near/off side but some tyres are not directional but will be stamped inside/outside.

[kambites]

I am alright Jack said:

Depends what you mean by sided, they will not be sided as in near/off side but some tyres are not directional but will be stamped inside/outside.

Yes some are "inside/outside", some are "this direction of rotation is forwards", a very small number are both and actually need different tyres for each side of the car. For the "this direction of rotation is forward", two of your four tyres are going to have the date code on the inside of the tyre (if it's only on one side of the tyre, obviously).

[cuprabob]

I am alright Jack said:

... but some tyres are not directional but will be stamped inside/outside.

Asymmetrical tyres

[Mr Tidy]

cuprabob said:

I am alright Jack said:

... but some tyres are not directional but will be stamped inside/outside.

Asymmetrical tyres

Well you certainly don't want one of those on a spare wheel!

Age never used to be an issue, but rubber compounds must have changed significantly over the years. My sister bought a 2018 Fiat 500 in 2021 just after its first MOT with less than 10K miles and Pirelli run-flats, and it had advisories for all 4 tyres for cracking.

But my daily has Continental run-flats that are still fine despite being 7 years old.

As a "get you home" spare I wouldn't worry about it's age if it has no cracks.

[Alan99UK]

Mr Tidy said:

Well you certainly don't want one of those on a spare wheel!

Age never used to be an issue, but rubber compounds must have changed significantly over the years. My sister bought a 2018 Fiat 500 in 2021 just after its first MOT with less than 10K miles and Pirelli run-flats, and it had advisories for all 4 tyres for cracking.

But my daily has Continental run-flats that are still fine despite being 7 years old.

As a "get you home" spare I wouldn't worry about it's age if it has no cracks.

It would only be as emergency in case of a flat.. I'll probably take out check the pressure and make a decision then

cheers all

[cuprabob]

Mr Tidy said:

cuprabob said:

I am alright Jack said:

... but some tyres are not directional but will be stamped inside/outside.

Asymmetrical tyres

Well you certainly don't want one of those on a spare wheel!

It's not an issue as an Asymmetrical tyre is the same orientation in any position.

It's a directional tyre that you don't want as a spare as that would be going the wrong way on one side of the car.