Do tyres have a expiry date?!

[Chumley]

I know this seems to be an odd question but I was told they do?!

[Gerry]

I know this seems to be an odd question but I was told they do?!

Doubt it ! Be like shoes I suppose ,if you dont wear them they dont get worn and I have never heard of them disintergate lol .Think they are averaged for about 30k miles obviously depending on conditions etc .

[Darren]

I know this seems to be an odd question but I was told they do?!

Well there is no official government backed expiry on tyres in both the UK or Spain but I do know for a fact that BIMTA (British Independent Motor Tade Association) and various tyres manufacturers have asked for a mandatory 6 year expiry date on all tyres.

This does not mean that if you walk into a tyre specialist today and bought a tyre that you would be ok as it's all about when the tyre was made not how much use it has had. So if a tyre has a construction date of 2002 and had been sitting in the shop for since then this tyre is not recommended for use.

The problem is that tyres 'dry out' and as a result the tread can come off the tyre completely and is near impossible to control if it happens at high speeds. If you think how difficult it is to control a car which has had a puncture at high speeds that's nothing compared to a complete tyre failure!

So in short yes, it's very important not to be running tyres that are older than six years.

How do you tell when a tyre was manufactured?

There are a whole lot printed on tyres (sometimes on both sides) but generally it will be the last set of numbers in brackets or a circle and will relate to something like this:

304 - 30 (Week 30) of 1994
1204 - 12 (Week 12) of 2004

Hope this helps!

[Gerry]

Well there is no official government backed expiry on tyres in both the UK or Spain but I do know for a fact that BIMTA (British Independent Motor Tade Association) and various tyres manufacturers have asked for a mandatory 6 year expiry date on all tyres.

This does not mean that if you walk into a tyre specialist today and bought a tyre that you would be ok as it's all about when the tyre was made not how much use it has had. So if a tyre has a construction date of 2002 and had been sitting in the shop for since then this tyre is not recommended for use.

The problem is that tyres 'dry out' and as a result the tread can come off the tyre completely and is near impossible to control if it happens at high speeds. If you think how difficult it is to control a car which has had a puncture at high speeds that's nothing compared to a complete tyre failure!

So in short yes, it's very important not to be running tyres that are older than six years.

How do you tell when a tyre was manufactured?

There are a whole lot printed on tyres (sometimes on both sides) but generally it will be the last set of numbers in brackets or a circle and will relate to something like this:

304 - 30 (Week 30) of 1994
1204 - 12 (Week 12) of 2004

Hope this helps!

Bang goes my theory then lol

[Darren]

On a side note I've actually heard of the odd ITV station refusing to pass cars based on the tyre age (not the tread)

Also if you want new tyres in Spain just ask "Qué año fue el de neumáticos fabricados" which via google means "in what year was the tyre manufactured" and they should be able to tell you, if not walk away to someone who does.

[Darren]

Bang goes my theory then lol

Also don't forget your spare tyre as that could be 15+ years old!

Done a bit of Googling and found this worrying video from the states about the subject:

Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard? - ABC News