Rim and Tyre Standards

Some light humour to begin

Being British is about driving a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then on the way home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab, to sit on a Swedish sofa and watch American TV shows on a Chinese TV. And most of all be suspicious of anything foreign. Oh and.... Only in Britain... Can you get a pizza to your home faster than an ambulance. Only in Britain do banks leave both doors open and chain pens to the counter. Where supermarkets make sick people walk to the back of the store to get their prescriptions whilst healthy people get their fags at the front. Brits are indeed funny people!

Today I purchased two new tyres for the camper trailer.  They are the same size (265/75R16) as the six outback tyres I purchased in 2018.  However they are from a different manufacturer.

I’d not previously heard of ROVELO.  The tyres are manufactured in China.  That doesn’t particularly matter as China is just a capable of producing a quality tyre compared to western manufacturers.  The tyres have a good All Terrain (AT) tread pattern and will go on the trailer, which is quite light compared to the 4WD. 

What was important to me was the DOT (Date of Manufacture).  The DOT is stamped on the tyre and consists of four numerals.  In the photo below you can see the number is 4320.

This means the tyre was made in the 43rd week of 2020.   Why is this important?  Like most western countries, Australia has a “Tyre and Rim Association” which annually produces a “Standards Manual”.  The members of the association are the manufacturers and sellers of tyres and rims.  Their manual states tyres be replaced every six years (ie, the tyre has a life of six years from date of manufacture).  Users of the manual include Transport Authorities, Government Bodies and Road & Traffic Authorities.  Essentially the association has produced a standard which has been adopted by relevant government authorities.  Unlike a government department, the association doesn’t not provide a copy of the manual in the public domain.  It has to be purchased.  The Australian Association is so small it’s unlikely they conduct any testing on tyres to establish a safe standard.  It’s more likely they accept the standards established by larger associations such as the USA and EU. 

It’s therefore quite probably that the tyres on vehicles which complete low annual mileage will reach the end of their “life” well before the tread is worn.  It’s for this reason I’ve ensured the tyres purchased today have plenty of life left in them.  However it does raise the question about the number of people who don’t know about the DOT date and purchase unused tyres which may be years old.  Consider also where the vehicle owner might stand with an insurance claim.  If a contributing factor to damage or an accident might be tyres would the insurer deny the claim on the bases the tyres were older than six years?  I suspect the answer might be YES!

Finally, I’m somewhat suspicious of the Tyre and Rim Association.  There might be a conflict of interest as the manufacturers and retailers have a vested interest in the turnover of tyres.