68notray

I always thought garaged cars were immune to the "old tire" warnings. I'll be checking my other cars - I've got this same tire on every one.

Les

You'd think Tire Rack would have some type of inventory tracking so this couldn't happen, or at least somebody would check as they got pulled for shipment.

ddawson

Can you get a shot of the DOT then numbers? 4 numbers tell you the week and date.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=11

jb78L-82

14th week of 2002 appears correct. I would doubt that was the reason for the failure sitting on a rim having never been driven on as long as there was no dry rot on the tire which you would have noticed. As stated earlier by an earlier poster, it looks like some damage may have been inflicted on the tire bead during install. Either way I would be pissed that they sent you a 16 year old tire as "new".

Tire rack has been around since the early 80's..bought my first set of Goodyear GT tires from them in 1983 for the 78 C3....

427Hotrod

I've run BFG's for years and have never had an issue with them. Not a performance tire....but trust me...they've seen some ridiculous short bursts of speed on my car.. Never had a dry rotting issue...but admittedly they sit in the garage/shop most of the time. I just pulled some 275/60's off the rear of mine that were 10 years old and still had decent tread. As they age they get harder and just spin. Hardly even leave a black mark. But that same set of tires held 1140 RWHP on the dyno!

I've bought a lot of tires from Tire Rack and I've noticed they often list the age of the tires on the notes under the price. I was ordering some "Y" (186 MPH) rated tires for my car and noticed some old ones were available....but since I was actually planning to run those speeds I kept looking for another tire.

They've been good to deal with for me....it will be interesting to hear their response on this one.

JIM

cv67

Youd think a garage queen would be exempt..guess not
Have a couple cars here with tires all 4-7 yrs old which are garaged or outside all rotting (Pirellis, Contis) yet my Dunlops arent...still gonna replace them all.

HUSKEE73

68,check the tire DOT code on the white letter side,it will start with the DOT stamping then numbers.i checked mine after your post and found that the blackwall side had different numbers than the whitewall side,the whitewall side seems to be the only one that starts with DOT.

OldCarBum

What about your spare tire? Nobody ever checks their spare! Could the person who mounted your tires on the rims possibly mounted the new tire on your spare and it tucked up under your car and mounted your spare on the axle? Just a thought???????

BKbroiler

I think 515 is the date code on that tire. 5th week, 2015.

TWINRAY

That tire took a heck of a lot of lead on it to balance it. Do the other tires have the same amount? While not a Corvette, I have a problem with one of my BFG's on my Nissan that my mechanic attributes to a manufacturing defect causing a pull called Tire Conicity. Coinsidentially, that tire has a ton of weight on it for a 185 x 60 x14 tire. I just bought 4 Bridgestone 235 x 75 x 15's for my Jeep and those tires needed less weight to balance them than the BFG's.

TWINRAY

I don't think tires nowadays are made with real rubber. I've had problems with dry rot cracking with Michelins, Dunlops and Pirelli's recently. Not garaged, the sunlight ozone kills them. Tires garaged in a dark environment live a long time. I bought the tires for my GARAGED '69 in 2002 and there are no signs of dry rot or cracking, they are Dunlop GT Qualifiers. Yes, they will be replaced before next driving season. Car just came off a resto that I started in 2008.

jb78L-82

I have a set of BFG Comp TA ZR's on my 94 mustang gt manufactured in 2001 with zero dry rot but garaged under a car cover 99.99% of the time. Replacement Cooper RS3-S's ultra high performance summer only tires have been waiting to be put on but have not had time for it yet...Was planning on the switch this summer but will get to them before Xmas....Tires not in the weather and especially not exposed to sunlight will last a VERY LONG time............

leadfoot4

That's what I'm hoping!! I put about 1500 miles a year on my C-5, and when I store the car for the winter, I pull the "good" wheels and tires, and put the worn, OE tires and OE wheels on it, and the good ones go into the basement.

HeadsU.P.

You are correct. Thats somebody being lazy. If that much wt needs to be added, the proper way is to let the air back out, rotate the tire 180* on the rim and start over.

revitup

Some tire safety studies disagree.
http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tires...-in-six-years/

TWINRAY

This is what the Giants at Costco put on my 185 x 60 x14 BFG tire on my Nissan. In 3k miles, this pos is self destructing and has developed a pull. LAZYNESS. To freakin LAZY to remount and rebalance or to CALL THE TIRE DEFECTIVE.

jb78L-82

I'm very familiar with tire industry recommendations....there is a lot more there than what was written. Ill leave it at that.............

Don't buy cheap tires...............all tires are not round, black and roll................

TWINRAY

That's bull $hit. Expiration dates started with the Firestone tire fiasco. Manufacturing procedures have changed. God only knows what $hit goes into tires today. Tires never sidewall cracked previously. Yeah, maybe if they were 30 years old. Now, you're lucky to get 4-5 years out of a tire.

revitup

Manufacturing procedures most likely HAVE changed. Tires probably are NOT as good as they once were. Be safe. Don't drive on old tires.

leadfoot4

Probably true, but keep in mind, tires 30-40 years ago weren't even speed rated...........and a 427/435 equipped C-3, rolled out on basic F-70-15s, as standard equipment.........