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I found a set of rims and tires that are a good price, but I'm not sure what type of tires they are. The seller doesn't know much about them because they came on a car he bought.
All I know is that they're Toyo Proxes, and I want to make sure they are street tires, not drag radials or something. Can you guys tell me anything based on these pictures?
See if you can get a date code on the tires as they may be too old to be a safe tire
The date code of the tires needs to be your primary concern. If your link is correct the reviews are all dated in 2007 so I'd think the tires maybe need to be removed from the package to arrive at a realistic $$$ value. Maybe the seller is aware and it's easier to "play dumb"!
If they're local check first hand. All of the tire information you need is on the sidewall. Tread wear etc is all displayed on the tire sidewall!
Get a couple snapshots of the sidewall of the tire with the TPC information shown.
The date code of the tires needs to be your primary concern. If your link is correct the reviews are all dated in 2007 so I'd think the tires maybe need to be removed from the package to arrive at a realistic $$$ value. Maybe the seller is aware and it's easier to "play dumb"!
If they're local check first hand. All of the tire information you need is on the sidewall. Tread wear etc is all displayed on the tire sidewall!
Get a couple snapshots of the sidewall of the tire with the TPC information shown.
Try this to work out the age;
"The chronological age of any tyre can be found on the tyre sidewall by examining the characters following the symbol "DOT".
For tyres manufactured after the year 1999, the last four numbers identify the date of manufacture of the tyre to the nearest week. The first two of these four numbers identify the week of manufacture (which range from "01" to "52"). The last two numbers identify the year of manufacture (e.g., a tyre with the information "DOT XXXXXX2703” was manufactured in the 27th week of 2003).
For tyres manufactured prior to the year 2000, three numbers instead of four indicate the date of manufacture.
Also, during the early 1990’s, Continental added a triangle (◄) to the end of the character string to distinguish a tyre built in the 1990’s from previous decades.
(e.g., a tyre with the information "DOT XXXXXX274◄” was manufactured in the 27th week of 1994)."
The tires were made in the second week of 2006. Eight and a half years old sounds pretty old to me.
I hear old tires can experience tread separation and other unpleasant things?
I replaced the tires on my 88 verte even though they still had good tread on them. My reasoning is they were 7 yrs. old. Here in Az the sun will eat up anything plastic or rubber.
Your climate is a little more forgiving but having tires that old, I would suggest replacing them. I am sure you didn't want to hear this but safety outweighs all other options.
Tommy
I replaced the tires on my 88 verte even though they still had good tread on them. My reasoning is they were 7 yrs. old. Here in Az the sun will eat up anything plastic or rubber.
Your climate is a little more forgiving but having tires that old, I would suggest replacing them. I am sure you didn't want to hear this but safety outweighs all other options.
Tommy
Thanks for the advice, Tommy. I was afraid that was the case.
The rims really aren't worth it to me without the tires, so I guess I'll put that money toward the engine.
Yep, don't trust old tires.
One of the people in our recent caravan to the National Corvette Museum was running on a set of "New" Old tires that had been in storage for a long time. They still had the brand new little rubber whiskers on them! Between Dallas and Little Rock the right rear tire shed it's tread and smacked a big hole in the rear fender of his '66 convertible!
Last edited by Klondike; Oct 9, 2014 at 02:47 AM.
Reason: correction
Yep, don't trust old tires.
One of the people in our recent caravan to the National Corvette Museum was running on a set of "New" Old tires that had been in storage for a long time. They still had the brand new little rubber whiskers on them! Between Dallas and Little Rock the right rear tire shed it's tread and smacked a big hole in the rear fender of his '66 convertible!
Ouch, that's rough.
Thanks to you guys I won't be making that mistake.
Are all used tires unsafe or are they fine if they are fairly new?
Thanks guys. And thanks Wyatt for the detailed information on the date codes on tires.
How old do they have to be before they shouldn't be put on a car?
My friend is the manager of a tyre shop, and he reckons 7yrs max. I've just replaced the spare on my '93. It held air, and had never been on the road, but was made in June 1992!!
My friend is the manager of a tyre shop, and he reckons 7yrs max. I've just replaced the spare on my '93. It held air, and had never been on the road, but was made in June 1992!!
Thanks Wyatt, it's good to know the max safe age.
I hadn't thought about my spare; I'm sure it's overdue for replacement.
Tire Type?
