TheMitch

I bought my new-to-me 1992 coupe just 2 months ago, and of course I checked out the tires - they looked great. However, after reading a lot on these forums about tire age, I decided to check my tire date codes. What I found was that the tires, with only 5,000 miles on them, are actually more than 15 years old (April 1999).

With a road trip coming up this weekend (400 miles round trip), I decided better to be safe than sorry. So, a quick call to my local Discount Tire, and one hour and $650 later, I'm riding around on new Nitto 555s.

Lesson learned: Next time I buy an infrequently-driven car (Corvette or otherwise), check the date code on the tires irrespective of how good they look. I think I got a good deal on my car, but I almost certainly could have negotiated a few hundred less if I'd used the tire age as leverage.

Tommycourt

Ok, please help this idiot try to figure out how they date the tires. I have looked and found the size which is 17" but I not sure where the date of manufacture is. I hate going to a tire guy and he says" man them are old, step into my shop and have I got a deal for you@" My tires at present are only 50% worn.
Tommy

Tommycourt

Ok, please help this idiot try to figure out how they date the tires. I have looked and found the size which is 17" but I not sure where the date of manufacture is. I hate going to a tire guy and he says" man them are old, step into my shop and have I got a deal for you@" My tires at present are only 50% worn.
Tommy

fpnmf

[QUOTE=Tommycourt;1587314787]Ok, please help this idiot try to figure out how they date the tires.


Here ya go!!

http://www.tirebuyer.com/education/h...s#.U7yG7PldVOM


Craig

Larry/car

The condition of the tire and how the car is stored plays a major part in road ability of a tire. A five year old tire sitting out in the weather might we in worse condition then the 15 year old tires previously mentioned. I have cut apart 23 year old tires that spend all their life indoors with less than 5,000 miles. Those tires were in excellent condition and could of been used for quite some time. The number of years old is a general safe recommendation for average cared for tires. I recommend tire inspections after ten years. (weather checking, cracks in tread area, playability of rubber).

jv9999

While they might appear to be in excellent condition, the rubber loses it's elasticity as it ages. My '87 had some excellent looking 14 y/o Michelins on it when I got it, but all they were good for was doing donuts. Old rubber doesn't stick and is dangerous to drive on.

TheMitch

[QUOTE=fpnmf;1587314825] That's the same website I used. For what it's worth, mine only had a 3 digit date code (169), but the preceding 3 numbers were 11 so it was a bit confusing. Everything after 2000 has a four digit date code.

maddogwyatt

[QUOTE=TheMitch;1587316154][QUOTE=fpnmf;1587314825]

I've recently checked my spare. It had obviously never been on the road, but was made in week 26 of 1992 it must have already been a few months old when it was put in the car at the factory!! Sure hurt to throw away an unused tyre

GKK

Thanks, for the info!...

My tires were made in the 20th week of 2013...

TheMitch

Damn. I didn't even check my spare. I'm willing to bet that it's about as old as yours was, too, and has probably never been on asphalt.

DGXR

[QUOTE=maddogwyatt;1587320110][QUOTE=TheMitch;1587316154]Did you just throw away your spare, or did you replace it? I first wanted to replace mine and I looked for new tires in the size of the C4 spare and they just aren't made anymore. I'd have to replace the whole wheel/tire assembly with something from a Firebird or some other Pontiac model people talk about.

Tommycourt

Ok, this old lame brain went out and my DOT ending 4 numbers were 1907 therefore I guess they are saying the 19th week of 2007. So far they are about 50% worn so I will be looking for some new tires after the first of the year as I don't drive that many miles. This must be another one of our fine government regulations which is going to protect ourselves FROM ourselves. Oh how I wish we had more government intervention. Next they will tell the people of New York how much soda pop they can drink!

hdrydr1051

I bought an 85 coupe with 53K in Jan of this year, my first vette. Saw your posting and decided to check my "new looking" 225/50 ZR16 Michelin's. Date was 001. Also found some dry rot cracking where tred meets the side wall on all 4 tires. Needless to say $600 later I feel much safer now. The PO also had the saw blades facing the wrong way on the old tires so I had that corrected too.

rocco16

I wouldn't worry too much about an old spare; hardened rubber on a spare is not critical.
You generally are not;
A. asking for max performance from your car when it has a donut on it.
B. relying on the one tire overmuch when you have three other (full-sized) tires carrying the load, figuratively and literally.
C. probably ever even going to have it on the ground.
D. going to rely on it for more than a handful of miles if you do use it.

Larrye

Good advice on tire age. Had my 9 year old tires replaced this week on the '85 I bought in 2012 with BF Goodrich G Force Sport Comp 2's in the original 255/50-16 size. PO had installed 245/50-16.

maddogwyatt

[QUOTE=DGXR;1587322071][QUOTE=maddogwyatt;1587320110]I went online and found 2 makes. Can't remember the other one, but the Continental CST17 is available in 155 width - dimensions are exactly the same as the original. I'm in the UK, but I imagine Continental sell in the States. I managed to persuade my tyre fitter that leaving the original valve in the wheel was NOT a good idea!!

maddogwyatt

I agree, but for the cost -£66 or $113 - I wasn't going to risk it

trebor99

Got burned on this too. Bought a '96 Coupe and allowed for the fact it had a good set of rubber in my purchase price. Found out later the tires were over 15yrs old. Yikes! What moron leaves tires on a car for 15 years?

N227GB

I read on another marque forum a while back about someone who keeps a 30+ year set of tires on rims for concourse judging. Of course, he trailers it in...

0corvettemods1

after 8 yrs they need to go!