Typical Tire Freshness Expectation

[Patrick0525]

Just received my SimpleTire General RT43 and three tires had a date code 3318 and one was 3118. That puts the birthdate to be 20 and 22 weeks old.

Is that a typical expectation for new purchased tires?
99% consumers don't know or care about their tires date code? Just a little OCD tonite.

 

[Nick1994]

Sounds great to me.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Anything under 1 year is fine by me.

 

[mclasser]

Originally Posted by Nick1994
Sounds great to me.

+1

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

Those are really new. Who cares if they were made at different times?

 

[Patrick0525]

@FordBroncoVWJeta I would have preferred different date code. If my car was a server, you would strategically select hard drives with different date codes to minimize potential lot (date code) manufacturing defects and simultaneous failure of two or more hard drives.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I just bought True Contacts on 31st. Three had 3218. One had 1918. This is a high volume shop with 39 more shops in area. I don't like this thread since it made me look at the dates on one is different.

 

[danez_yoda]

Thats fresh. Old tires have sat on the shelf for years. That's part of the upside of buying a popular tire. They don't stay on the shelf long.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

That's only a few months old. That is not bad at all

 

[Patrick0525]

@Monkeyman In the best situation, you want 4 different date codes. If there was ever a recall, (God forbid) you don't want all four tires to be recalled. That would be catastrophic.

 

[Patrick0525]

Tire recall lists.
https://recallinfo.ustires.org/TireRecallSearch/ListRecalls/36

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Originally Posted by Patrick0525
@Monkeyman In the best situation, you want 4 different date codes. If there was ever a recall, (God forbid) you don't want all four tires to be recalled. That would be catastrophic.

I think I will keep track where that 1918 tire is placed after rotations and ensure it hits the road hazard first.

 

[MNgopher]

Why in the best situation would I want to just have one tire recalled? So I can have 1 new tire and three used tires? Which axle do I put the non-worn tire on? The non-driven axle to avoid differential wear?

If I have an AWD vehicle, do I get to pay for three new tires to go with the one recalled tire (many AWD systems have specifications for how much of a different tire size is allowed - and it isn't very much in most cases).

Some examples of why having only 1 tire recalled would not be a great result.

In all the miles I've piled on vehicles over the years, I've never had one tire recalled. Very, very low on the list of things I worry about when I get new tires.

Your tires are all less than a year old. Relax, and enjoy them.

 

[hpb]

Have to agree with MNgopher on the recall scenario...

 

[benjy]

unless mounted + setting outside in various weather conditions tyres a few years old are not an issue, batteries on the other hand differ a LOT, newer is much better

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by Patrick0525
@Monkeyman In the best situation, you want 4 different date codes. If there was ever a recall, (God forbid) you don't want all four tires to be recalled. That would be catastrophic.


Why would it be catastrophic? You would drive in and get 4 new tires. It's not like they suddenly blow up because there's a recall.

99.999% of people have no idea about date codes on tires. I'm one of them.

Drive more, worry less.

 

[SureshR]

Originally Posted by benjy
unless mounted + setting outside in various weather conditions tyres a few years old are not an issue, batteries on the other hand differ a LOT, newer is much better


True enough.

NTSB paper - https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Documents/2014_Tire_Safety_SYM_Panel_4b_Kane.pdf - mostly talking about failures where some genius mounted a ten year old spare tire lying unused in his garage on his car and had the tread fall apart within a few months, leading to rollovers and severe injury.

There's a local tire store here in Chennai, India that's operating since the 1980s - they keep their tires in a warehouse with a dehumidifier and thermostat to control humidity and temperature. Even keeping tires in a closed space would be much better value than letting them lie out in the open over several months.

The store had a couple of posters from Michelin declaring that research says old tires are just as good as new ones over a guaranteed shelf life (3+ years), that I saw when picking up some Primacy SUV 235/65r17 tires.

Ah here - this one. http://michelin.com.ng/why-is-dot-important/

 

[HomeArise]

Age of tires matters even if they are kept under perfect conditions.

 

[Sayjac]

Clicked mostly to read the comments. DT store said normally within ~ 6 months, ones I've had ordered into the store have been ~3 months. Reading here and elsewhere, seems up to a year acceptable. Personal preference for same date or very close. Topic dates seem fine to me. As for dates comparison to a "server",

lost me.

 

[CapriRacer]

I feel obligated to point out that the tire industry thinks that any tire within 6 years of production is acceptable to sell as "New". That is: Sell without discount or notification of the age of the tire. Please note that I am not in agreement with this position, especially since I don't have any evidence that it is true (or untrue!). What I am reporting is the consensus.

I can't vouch for other tire manufacturers, but the one I worked for tested freshly made tires against properly stored 3 year old tires and couldn't find a difference. They have adopted the policy of disposing of tires approaching the 3 year mark by selling at a discount, and scraping any that reach 3 years old. Please note that what tire wholesalers and tire retailers do once the tires leave the tire manufacturer's warehouse is out of control of the tire manufacturer.