Warning about tires... CBS video

[ejp2fast]

Very interesting about tires, and how to decode the year manufactured...

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

[krbballer]

I saw a lot of wrecked ford explorers in that video. Was the point that all the old explorer accidents were really caused by old tires sold on new vehicles?

[MONSOON]

Yeah there were alot of SUVs in that video. But I think more the point was that retailers here in the US are selling OLD tires as new. In other words the tire may appear brand new, but it was actually manufactured as long ago as 12 years. That doesnt exactly make it a "new" tire. And it doesnt matter what you drive if you have a tire shred apart like that. You are going to be ALL over the road. I know because I had one on my 93 Festiva shred apart and it was all I could do to keep it between the lines.

[bhazard]

Well my fronts are from 03 and rear I dont know, the space for the date code is blank.

GF's car has late 05's though. Not bad for being from a used tire shop last year.

[Mike McKown]

At one time, Explorer was in the top five selling vehicles. Naturally and expectedly, you should see more of them in the salvage yards than many models.

The Firestone/Explorer tire problem wasn't caused by old tires. If you'll remember, they narrowed the source of the suspect tires to a plant in Ill.

As far as I know, not one single tire manufacturer has stepped up to put a time limit on how long tires are safe. I don't think there's been any proof shown that time is a factor, yet. There is proof that poor manufacturing practices can contribute to tire failure.

[Seth]

i just bought new tires for the capri (cause im going to put them on the festiva and im currently driving the capri), i went out and checked the ones i jsut bought and theyre from 06. if it was any older id take them back and be like i want a refund these arent new. but im ok with 06.

[krbballer]

The two tires I just bought (155 80 12's) off of tires-easy.com were actually nearly brand new! 1608!

[ejp2fast]

i checked mine when i got home, all my tires are different, one '02, '04 and one rear is '94.. yeah, SUV's were the prominent problem vehicles due to high center of gravity...
now i know to make sure check new tires to see if they were made recently..

[David88]

That is good info. Thanks! I need to be looking for my wifes car. I got home this morning from work (nights) and noticed she had a flat on the left rear. A closer look revealed a knife through the sidewall. UUUUR!! I hate living in the city....street parking... anyway Inever new about the date code. I will be looking. Should be interesting to see what I find.

[V8Festiva]

Thank you for posting this. I am e-mailing a link to this story to all my family and people I know.

Dean

Raleigh, NC

[jglutz]

Federal law...for recall purposes...requires that all manufacturers trace new tires by VIN or owner/address. The retailor feeds this information back to the manufacturer. When the retailor feeds this info back...register your tires...the information includes the lot code/DOM. You should ask for this info.

This report is a little on the scar tactics side because it does not address this scenario:
Grandma buys a car and drives it to the store and church once a week for a bunch of years. about 1K miles per year Has state mandated safety inspection every year and passes with flying colors. She kicks the bucket and the the new car owner now has a car with tire ready to catostrophically fail.

For those of you who have read your car owner's manual....an aftermarket service manual...or a factory service manual....information on how to decode the tire information is there. For those who buy snow tires...there are two types...those with M&S (mud and snow) rating and those with a S&I (snow and ice) rating....there's a big difference. Don't expect the retailor to help you...he's going to do what's best for him, not you.

Many good tires have numerous additives to prolong tire life other than tread wear....many less expensive tire do not...you get what you pay for.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!!!