How old can tires safely be run?
- Thread starter DaveSwan
- Start date
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2021
- Messages
- 3,588
How are you certain of the age of the tires? Date stamp on the sidewall?
7 years age industry standard
Unused? Stored indoors? Very much the same as factory fresh.
Should have no trouble at all with those. I bought some 6 year old unmounted snow tires that the local dealer had in the back of the storage room. They were like new and had no problems with them for the 3 years I ran them.
Yes, 6 or 7 years. On the tire it states DOT then two numbers. DOT 1022 would be a production date of October 2022.
The first 2 numbers are the week of manufacture not the month.
when you get to the upper range of the age be careful when it's cold/icy....but in Atlanta, it should be manageable.
Long version: Barry's Tire Tech: DOT Codes
Short version: As of April 2025, plant codes - the first digits in the code - go from 2 to 3 digits long, making the usual DOT code 13 digits long.
The last 4 digits are in a week/week/year/year code. So 1022 is the 10th week of 2022.
Short version: As of April 2025, plant codes - the first digits in the code - go from 2 to 3 digits long, making the usual DOT code 13 digits long.
The last 4 digits are in a week/week/year/year code. So 1022 is the 10th week of 2022.
There's way more safety factor in tires than we give them credit for. The tire industry recommendation to be throwing away tires at 7 years is incredibly wasteful IMO. It really depends on many factors, primarily how they were stored, heat, and UV exposure. Also it's really the steel and kevlar inside tires that does most of the mechanical holding together of things. If there's a significant enough discount I would not hesitate to buy old stock tires that are a few years old.
I agree with nobb. I always have a " new, stocked,stored" set of 4 tires for my 3 vehicles. You just wait for a sale online somewhere, then snatch them up. Put the tires in a plastic bag, get most of the air out, and seal the bag. Store them indoors where there is little temperature variation, and completely dark. They will last forever like that. Just pulled a spare set to install on one of my cars, opened the bag, still smelled like new rubber after 5 years. It's the sun, road salt, high and low temps from driving, and dirt that kills tires. I'd say UV rays are the worst offender out of them all. My 03' Toyota Solara still has the original full size spare in the trunk. Looks brand new after 22 yrs. No dry rot, or cracking near the bead. Even the valve stem is still soft and pliable. So, store them correctly, and they will last a very long time. I don't know anybody who throws out their "doughnut" spare tire every 7 years.
