Tips & Techniques: Tires - Limited Life!

We all know that food products such as meat, milk, bread and other items found in your local supermarket have a limited useful life. These products typically have a 'Sell By" date on their packaging so we can ensure the product's remaining useful shelf life is adequate to meet your requirements.

You may not be aware that the tires that you purchase for your vehicles also have a limited useful life. According to sources such as SaferCar.gov, "some vehicle manufacturers recommend that tires be replaced every six years regardless of use. In addition, a number of tire manufacturers cite 10 years as the maximum service life for tires. "

According to TireLitigation.com, "Many U.S. and foreign tire companies are now warning consumers in Europe and Asia to discard even new appearing tires that are five or six years from the date of manufacture. This is because the rubber and other components in tires break down over time, making older tires potentially dangerous even if they look brand new. Although manufacturers do not give similar warnings in the United States, this is likely to change as lawmakers and watchdog groups including trial lawyers put additional pressure on tire companies to follow the same safety guidelines that are applied overseas."

So how do you determine the age of your vehicles' tires? When scheduling your next service appointment at Bernardi Honda, ask to have the age of your tires checked at no cost. Don't forget to have your spare tire checked. Even if never used, it may be dangerous to use! Bring a copy of this page with you and receive a 10% discount on purchased tires (Code I-T).

If you want to check your tires, you need only look at the "Department of Transportation (DOT) code" that the federal government requires to be on all tires that are sold in the U.S. The DOT code is found on the axle side of your tires, as is illustrated below.

The DOT code on tires manufactured latter than 1999 has the format DOTPPxxxxxWWYY - such as DOTMBL9ABC0301 as in the illustration.

• PP represents the plant where the tire was manufactured - in the case of the example it is "MB" which, according to Tire Litigation's table represents The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Martha Ave., Plant No. 2 Akron, OH 44316
• WW represents the week in which the tire was manufactured. In this case, week number "03".
• YY represents the year in which the tire was manufactured. In this case, year "01" or week 3 of 2001.
  
  Tires manufactured before 2000 have a similar coding system but the year is a single digit and there is a small triangle following the DOT code.
  
  
  
  
  
  Tire image: http://www.1010tires.com