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How Old Are Your Tires?

Some products age with grace, like a fine wine tempered by time. Others? Not so much. Just like a rubber band becomes brittle and easier to break as the years move forward, so do tires lose their effectiveness. That’s why some automotive manufacturers now recommend replacing your tires, regardless of how much tread remains, at six years of age.

You can locate the manufacturing week and year for your tire by looking at the sidewall. Look for DOT followed by 10-12 characters. The last four will be the week (first two digits) of the year the tire was manufactured and the next two will indicate the year. For example 1214 would be the twelfth week of 2014. If you only see three numbers at the end, this means your tire was made before 2000. You shouldn’t be driving on them still, but if you’re interested in know when they were made, here’s how to read them. The first two numbers will be the week, and the last digit the year. So 156 would be the fifteenth week of 1996 presumably. The problem with tires manufactured before 2000 is that they didn’t distinguish between decades so 156 could mean the tire was made in 1996 or 1986, etc.

If it’s time for new tires, Western Tire & Auto in Florissant, MO is here to help. We have a wide selection of tires for sale from leading brands at fair prices. Come see us today or get started online. Remember to keep track of your tire age and always practice good tire maintenance like regular air pressure checks and rotations.

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