Expiry Date on Tyres

Gob smaked is being polite!

i personally have not heard of it, although it could be true.

Back in the early 70s, when I was working on a station, we had old Jeep tyres from WW2, which were never used, we put them on an old willy's, and they went forever. They were quite hard, I admit, but did not suffer stakes and rocks through them........ quite indestructable really.

I suppose that with the laminating of tyres, age could be an issue, but it's not like they stamp the tyre with like a use by date.

Interesting to say the least.

If you get responses on the forum saying that it's a load of crap, call the MANUFACTURER, and tell them that you will name the brand on the forum, that'll change their tune........

Its true , tyres have a use by date but it's like best before on food, they can still last well past their use by date.

I had a bad experience with tyre seperation. The Bridgestone tyre on the rear wheel seperated and caused $1,000.00 damage to the rear panel on the Ford XF station wagon. The tread seperated completely except for a bit of wire which still connected the tread to the tyre. The tread at speed kept smashing into the wheel well and outside the wheel wheel causing a lot of damage. We were travelling at 110 kph and in the short time it took to stop the damage was done. A mate at a local tyre shop said he had seen this paticular tyre seperate before and was getting a bad reputation. So I took it to Bridgestone who sent it to their lab who then wrote back to me to say the tyre was fine and it was my fault for under inflating the tyre.
We had just refuelled an hour before it happened at Newman and I checked the tyre pressures which were fine. The tempeture was 40' plus so if anything the pressure would have been up - not down. Ever since I dont think the new tyre warranties are worth the paper they are written on! We were lucky as the petrol tank throat was in the same wheel well and the tank was full so we came close to a major fire from the friction/sparks caused by the thrashing tyre/wire. It came close to cutting the through the steel pipe. Also people have been hurt where the thrashing tyre tears through the wheel well and backseat getting to the passengers behind.

What brand of tyre was it Mitch.

Mitch & others, if that was the case that tyres had a 'use by date' and they could seperate / disintergrate after 5 years then they would have a duty of care to advise the public of the safety risk. How many times have has the tyre dealer warned you of the risks of exceeding the 'Use By Date' when you bought new tyres??? Never, they are only interested in flogging their products. Tell the dealer you want it in writing then watch them try to 'wriggle' out of the hole they have just dug for themselves. Worth pursuing this issue.

Mitch,
I had to take a tyre back because had a bubble on the tread and side wall. The first thing that they asked me was how old the tyre was. Not sure but it is the current tread pattern. 2-7-02 was the numbers that he looked at and said that the tyre was 2years old. Filled out the paper work and am waiting for some kind of response. The tyre was only half worn so I don't expect much from the manufactor.

Wayne

Mitch.
Most vehicle owners hand books state that "tyres more than 6 years old should not be used" Check your hand book before you embaress yourself. From your discription of the fialures it sounds like over inflation, its common for drivers to over inflate when the vehicle is overloaded because the tyres are bulging a bit but this is normal and is not a problem. The tyre and rim association hand book recomend a maximum of 310 kpa on any pasenger vehicle fitted with radial tyres. Eric.

My question is this...how do we the consumer know how old a new tyre is when it is fitted.? How do we know if a tyre with a 5 yr "useable" life isn't already 3 yrs old??? If I buy a grocery item for instance, I can check the use by date a make a call on whether or not I think I can use it all by then. Often times I make a choice between different brands based on the use-by date.

On a different subject, back in the 80's when I was a teenager on a family trip from Nth Qld to Melbourne, we copped 3 blow-outs in the space of 100km's somewhere in NSW. Now these were brand new steel radials fitted to the family sedan only days before we left on our trip. The first blow-out was replaced in the very next town but the subsequent 2 blow outs saw Mum and us two kids stranded on the side of the road miles from nowhere for a couple of hours whilst Dad hitched a lift into the next town. Cut a long story short, the local tyre dealer came to our rescue and Dad had the remaining original tyres plus the buggared tyres replaced with a different brand altogether. Once back home, he contacted the head office of the tyre company concerned and was basically told "bad luck". He started a letter writing campaign but eventually only got a full refund after threatening to take the story to the media.

Actually, we had a bit of bad luck when it came to tyres on that particular vehicle. Several years later Dad had new tyres fitted only to have one come flying off on the way home. It was a hairy moment indeed as we were cruising along the highway at about 110k's when it happened. Needless to say the car suffered some major damage and even though the tyre dealer accepted liability (the fitter had failed to tighten the studs) and had the car repaired, it was never the same after that.

:o) Melissa

manafactures warranty is 5 years from build date. ultra violet light is the main cause of rubber breakdown. Caravans have a lot of trouble because of higher presures to carry the loading of the van. Heat is another cause of tyre failure, wrong pressures, wrong tyre for task it is doing, eg M/T,A/t tyre travelling high speed on hot bitumen long distances high temps
Cheer
Charlie Milton