- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
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- Madison, WI
- My Car
- 1971 Mach 1 w/408C stroker
I just went to a conference and one of the talks was about tire failure. It was mentioned that tires generally have a shelf life of 10 years. I also learnt how to read the sidewall code that refers to age. Here is a link, http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tires-101/tire-basics/about-tires/reading-your-sidewall.page
Basically, you look for the word "DOT" (Dept. of Transportation) and then you have a bunch of letters/numbers. The last four or three (if older than 2000) tell you the week/year when the tire was manufactured such as WWYY (W=week;Y=year). Before 2000 it was only the last digit of the year so you will have to infer the decade.
Looking at the BF Goodrichs in my car, I found the code on the inside wall. Mine were from 2001, which makes sense, because that's when the car was restored. The thread looks like new, which coincides with the paperwork that indicates the car was driven about 5k miles from the time it was restored 12 years ago to when I bought it. My question is, even though the tires look great, should I be concerned about age? Over time they are more likely to delaminate, especially if they have been patched or externally hit something. Right now I don't have new tires in my budget. Maybe in couple years so I can upgrade from 235s to bigger tires.
Basically, you look for the word "DOT" (Dept. of Transportation) and then you have a bunch of letters/numbers. The last four or three (if older than 2000) tell you the week/year when the tire was manufactured such as WWYY (W=week;Y=year). Before 2000 it was only the last digit of the year so you will have to infer the decade.
Looking at the BF Goodrichs in my car, I found the code on the inside wall. Mine were from 2001, which makes sense, because that's when the car was restored. The thread looks like new, which coincides with the paperwork that indicates the car was driven about 5k miles from the time it was restored 12 years ago to when I bought it. My question is, even though the tires look great, should I be concerned about age? Over time they are more likely to delaminate, especially if they have been patched or externally hit something. Right now I don't have new tires in my budget. Maybe in couple years so I can upgrade from 235s to bigger tires.
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