tire question

[Robert2468]

THANK YOU EVERYONE! for your great help.

as usual, daughter's Forester. OK,Honda dealer said it is time for tires.

I read about tires. the tire says DOT PE 22916

I THINK that means the tire was made in 2016.

Is that true? car is 2017, likely original tires. I want to replace them.

any comments?

best regards,

Bob

 

[supton]

Date code is 4 digits.

https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/how-do-i-determine-the-age-of-my-tires

 

[atikovi]

Are the treads worn out, or are they scaring you into buying new tires just because of the date code? And what's a Honda dealer have to do with a Subaru?

 

[supton]

On my ipad so not easy to snip and paste pictures. Looks like you look for a string that starts with “DOT” and then use the last 4 numbers. Your findings is too short, but might be the shorter version used on one sidewall; 29th week of 2016, so looks like you are correct. 7 year old tires, in use for 6, so likely hardening up, but I’d say replacement depends on needs, locality and what depth is left, along with if they have any funny wear.

Tire Date Code: Reading a Tire's Manufacture Date | Goodyear Tires

The Department of Transportation uses the DOT Code to help determine the manufacture date of your tires. Learn how to read them and how they’re used for tire registrations.

www.goodyear.com

 

[FowVay]

If the first two digits after the DOT label are "PE" then that is an India manufactured tire, likely a brand known as MRF. This wouldn't be an original tire from Subaru and likely some cheap brand installed by a dealer who wanted to maximize profit and minimize quality.

The date code will be written as four digits - the first two are the week of the year and the last two are the year. Example: 3223 is the 32nd week of 2023 (today ). This is usually molded into only one side of the tire and is after the complete DOT number. If you don't see this on the side facing outward then crawl under the car and look at the inside face of the tire.

Shop around for tires. Local stores such as Discount Tire, Sam's Club, BJ's or Costco are generally reliable sources for tires. WalMart is not a bad place either and you have nationwide warranty coverage if needed. Local tire shops can be excellent sources for replacement but you have to know what you're buying and the value of the purchase. You simply can't trust people to be honest and professional anymore.

 

[Robert2468]

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! the PE is the number, India tire???? ugh!

tread looks ok, but I am scaring myself that the tire is 7 years old, in use for 6. she carries 2 little kids around, I want total safety.

Thank you FowVay. I never would have known. can you recommend any tire? I was thinking of Michelin cross climate all season. live in Mass. hot summer, snow winter.

best regards,

Bob

 

[supton]

tread looks ok, but I am scaring myself that the tire is 7 years old, in use for 6. she carries 2 little kids around, I want total safety.

No such thing as "total" safety. But I get it, couple decades and I'll likely be there.

You don't say what area of the country. CapriRacer would point out that tire life can vary across the country, with sunny & hot areas being harder on tires than us in the Northeast. 7 years is getting up there for the sunny areas... and not young elsewhere. But if she isn't an aggressive driver I'd be running them, at least until they are down to 4/32's. At that point I'd replace, or if there was any sketchy driving feelings (like it gets squirmy in the rain).

If she drives in snow country... and you want safety... find a set of winter tires. Just saying.

 

[skyactiv]

Do me a favor Robert2468. If The Tire Rack ASAP tire service is available in your area, have them come out to her and have a set of Vredestein HiTrac all-seasons installed and come back to review the tires and install experience.

 

[oil pan 4]

I'm still running tires from 2009. Those need to be replaced.

 

[ElectroMechanoMan]

If they don’t show signs of weather checking or dry rot, they should be OK. Generally speaking, a tire over 5 years old could be considered end of life. If the tread is worn close to the bars, I’d replace them. We quit replacing tires in the bike shop that customers bought themselves because a lot of the “ good deal” tires brought in would be 2-5 years old and we were liable for the installation. We finally refused to install any tire that we didn’t sell.

 

[Dave9]

On vehicles I've had where the tires aged out rather than a treadwear replacement, usually they start to leak at the sidewalls, dry rot cracks you won't see until they lose enough air to have the sidewalls bulge out and when that happens, they start losing air a lot faster.

The issue to me is that I have to admit that I don't check the state of my tires every time I go for a drive. If I know I have a slow leak I would, but there's always the chance I don't notice the leak, get in and drive. If it were my daily driver, I'd more easily notice the handling difference from a low tire but if not my daily driver, I'm not so sure I would, depending on how low the tire was.

 

[someonesomewhere]

No such thing as "total" safety. But I get it, couple decades and I'll likely be there.

You don't say what area of the country. CapriRacer would point out that tire life can vary across the country, with sunny & hot areas being harder on tires than us in the Northeast. 7 years is getting up there for the sunny areas... and not young elsewhere. But if she isn't an aggressive driver I'd be running them, at least until they are down to 4/32's. At that point I'd replace, or if there was any sketchy driving feelings (like it gets squirmy in the rain).

If she drives in snow country... and you want safety... find a set of winter tires. Just saying.

Massachusetts according to the post you quoted. Not sure exactly how much winter weather they get up there, or if he's in city or rural.

OP, what kind of driving does she normally do? Highway, interstate, all country roads? How well do they take care of the roads in the winter? How much winter precip on a yearly avg?

 

[IndyIan]

How much depth left? I wouldn't replace on age alone, but if they are old and start to lose wet traction, and are near the wear bars, I start looking for a deal then.
Our original subaru tires are down to 3-4/32 and with tires from 2017 so this is their last summer. I have no issue slowing down for heavy rain to avoid hydroplaning but the wife's idea of slowing down is like 5%

 

[Petr]

Old tires tend to have longer stopping distances in dry, in wet it is usually much worse.
State-of-the-art tires are amazing even in wet. Depending on the weather in your location, it might be wise to get rid of the old ones before they are really worn.
If you want high safety look for UHP tires rather than for touring tires. Premium brands have tires that behave predictably and provide some warning before they reach their limit, therefore with tires the differences are there - you often get what you pay for.

Johnatan has amazing in-depth tire reviews and tests and one can learn a lot from his videos and reviews: https://www.tyrereviews.com/

 

[JimPghPA]

It would be very wise to find a tire shop that has a hunter alignment machine that aligns all four wheels. And of course have it aligned by that machine as soon as the new tires are put on or right before. Money well spent. By the time you've worn out a set of tires there's a high likelihood that it is in need of an alignment.

 

[IndyIan]

Old tires tend to have longer stopping distances in dry, in wet it is usually much worse.
State-of-the-art tires are amazing even in wet. Depending on the weather in your location, it might be wise to get rid of the old ones before they are really worn.
If you want high safety look for UHP tires rather than for touring tires. Premium brands have tires that behave predictably and provide some warning before they reach their limit, therefore with tires the differences are there - you often get what you pay for.

Johnatan has amazing in-depth tire reviews and tests and one can learn a lot from his videos and reviews: https://www.tyrereviews.com/

Yeah, true summer tires are miles ahead of any common all seasons I've ever used for wet and dry grip in the summer or above 50F. They wear a bit faster, probably age out faster but I've never had them last long enough to find out.
For an SUV they would cause more chance of rollover though, so going too grippy introduces a risk. I watched my buddy spin my Focus wagon on only BFG sportcomp 2's at autocross at 40-45 mph, and even with decent shocks it was on two wheels for a longish moment! Bad shocks would've had it rollover I'm pretty sure, as would any grippier tires.

 

[Shel_B]

Johnatan has amazing in-depth tire reviews and tests and one can learn a lot from his videos and reviews: https://www.tyrereviews.com/

Thanks for posting the link.

 

[Petr]

For an SUV they would cause more chance of rollover though, so going too grippy introduces a risk. I watched my buddy spin my Focus wagon on only BFG sportcomp 2's at autocross at 40-45 mph, and even with decent shocks it was on two wheels for a longish moment! Bad shocks would've had it rollover I'm pretty sure, as would any grippier tires.

Forester has a low center of gravity and as long as the shocks are in a good state and the ESP/VSC is not switched off, the risk of rollover due to sticky tires is quite negligible. Rollover is usually a problem with SUVs with a high center of gravity and soft and worn suspension, or underinflated tires where the rim hits the pavement. The lateral forces caused by UHP tires are not sufficient to cause a rollover for most of the SUVs usual.
Additionally, most of the rollovers are caused by a hit into an obstacle (another car or curb or pothole).

Subaru Forester 2019 - impressive Moose test results:

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I will drive on tires nearing the expiration date for a while. For the rest of the family, I go on and get new tires. Once tires get to about 2/3 of their advertised life span, I start looking even if they still look good.

 

[LDB]

Old tires tend to have longer stopping distances in dry, in wet it is usually much worse.
State-of-the-art tires are amazing even in wet. Depending on the weather in your location, it might be wise to get rid of the old ones before they are really worn.
If you want high safety look for UHP tires rather than for touring tires. Premium brands have tires that behave predictably and provide some warning before they reach their limit, therefore with tires the differences are there - you often get what you pay for.

Johnatan has amazing in-depth tire reviews and tests and one can learn a lot from his videos and reviews: https://www.tyrereviews.com/

Interesting website. Quite different results than Tire Rack reports on some tires.