I’ve discovered something I didn’t know about tyres. I’d always assumed they needed replacing when they reached the minimum tread depth. Yesterday evening I discovered they also have a time life. Prior to 2000 this was 10 years and since then it’s six years. The clock starts ticking from the month of manufacture. This means you might purchase a new tyre which has been sitting on the shelf for years thus leaving you with a minimal residual life. Obviously this is something to remember when purchasing new tyres!
The date of manufacture is on the tyre, usually after the letters ‘DOT’. It’s in the format of four numbers. The first two are the week of manufacture during the year (01 to 52) and the last two are the year. With this information I checked the four used tyres I had intended keeping for the trailer.
4911 (49th week of 2011)
4111 (41st week of 2011)
2 @ 0215 (2nd week of 2015)
The first two tyres expired towards the end of 2017 and the latter two will expire in 2021. I doubt a tyre reaches six years and then immediately fails. Therefore I’ll stick with my original plan and keep the two tyres made in late 2011 as my trailer spares.
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