How do you know if your tires are rotten?

[Shelley]

I've seen lots of comments about tires rotting from the inside out while a trailer is sitting and since mine has been sitting for 2 yrs now....the tires look ok from the outside but how would I tell if I have a problem?

[james kent]

The usual things to look for on your tires are uneven or excessive treadwear, road rash such as scraped or cuts in the sidewalls and severe cracking of the sides often caused by UV rays from sitting in the sun too much. Rotting from the inside-out is a new one to me.

[Bruce H]

I've seen lots of comments about tires rotting from the inside out while a trailer is sitting and since mine has been sitting for 2 yrs now....the tires look ok from the outside but how would I tell if I have a problem?

You look at the date code stamped or molded on the side of each tire. It will generally be a four digit number number like 1606 or 3801. This indicates the week and year of manufacture ie 1606 = the sixteenth week of 2006 or 3801 = the 38th week of 2001. If your tires are five or more years old they are dry rotted no matter how good they look.

[Alf S.]

I've seen lots of comments about tires rotting from the inside out while a trailer is sitting and since mine has been sitting for 2 yrs now....the tires look ok from the outside but how would I tell if I have a problem?

Hi: Shelley... Last summer before we tugged off to Bolerama I decided to have a good look at the tires on our '77 Boler. The previous owner told us he had put new tires on it and we are 3rd. owners. His new tires had 500 miles on them. I found very mild cracking along the ridge ( Scuff Guard) edge of the sidewalls. I replaced them immediately with a set of Goodyear Radial ST Marathons. Now I find them to have been a year old when they were installed. Seems you can't win in either the tire game or the GAS game.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Darwin Maring]

Never heard of a tire going bad from the inside out.

I consider a tire bad when it looks like what James said. Many Cracks, cuts, skufs and ofcourse if it looses air all the time.

[brian m.]

My previous tires looked fine at first. Upon closer examination I noticed a slight bulge on the inside sidewall. The tread was fine, the rubber looked okay, but the tire was definitely going bad.

[Benny K]

Quite a few years ago I found my pickup truck tires were disenegrating on the inside casing after about four years use and had all four changed under the new vehicle warranty.....this was when I had a flat from a nail and was getting a patch put on the inside in about 1994......so you never know what`s going on inside your tires......I suppose these were faulty tires, since I`ve used 12 year old tires on my 13' Boler to go to both east and west, (twice), coasts with absolutly no problems.. ...Benny

[Joe Z]

Up until last night when i saw this report i thought a new tire in my trunk was perfectly fine....was i ever wrong as the video link will show......tires should never be used that are more than six years old says the report and this may explain why alot of our tires are letting go. It doesn't go by the date you bought it but by a date code stamped on the side of the tire (which could be as much as 10 years old when you buy it.
Code Decifer Example: 3203 means the tire was made in the 32nd week of 2003 ........ 415 means the tire was made the 41st week of 1995.
This same report was on 20/20 last night and all the European countries already use this info....but not us??? I wonder why?
Joe

This 20/20 report was the best:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4822250&page=1

MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24390155/

[Maggie S.]

Advise Please!

I just got new tires put on last Saturday and by the code they were made the 47th week of 2006. Not horror story old, but not fresh from the factory either.

Should I call up the tire store and complain? Would they replace with newer?

What is the consumer to do once you left the store?

Maggie

[Chester Taje]

Advise Please!

I just got new tires put on last Saturday and by the code they were made the 47th week of 2006. Not horror story old, but not fresh from the factory either.

Should I call up the tire store and complain? Would they replace with newer?

What is the consumer to do once you left the store?

Maggie

I think you are reasonably ok. If they were 6 years or more old, then according to that news story i would be concerned.

[Joe Z]

Maggie..... As far as I know there is no law in the US about selling older tires (not yet anyway). being there about 1-1/2 years old you still have about 4-1/2 years of safe travels.... I wouldn't bother but next time i buy tires i will be sure to check the dates before they mount them. I just bought a new truck and those tires where about 1 year old when i made the purchase....this date code thing is great for consumers and bad for the manufacturer.
Joe

[Donna D.]

FYI a picture that may help.

You are absolutely correct Joe. 1999 and older have three digits, 2000 and new are four digits. I'm going to edit the original post... just in case no one reads any further!

[Joe Z]

FYI a picture that may help. BTW, I've read the year code is only two digits for tires manufacturered prior to the year 2000.

Donna..... i really looked into this the last couple of days and any tire manufactured in the 90's has three digits.... lets say the number is 432. the 43 is the number of weeks and the 2 is for 92'.
Tires manufactured 2000 and above have four digits like in your chart
That chart you supplied helped me with the rest of the numbers...thanks
Joe

Update: Just wanted to add that if you can't find the code at the end of the D.O.T. line on the outside of the tire you will have to crawl under the vehicle and it will be on the inside of the tire at the end of the D.O.T. line.... I checked quite a few vehicles today and alot of them where on the inside only.

[Donna D.]

You are absolutely correct Joe. 1999 and older have three digits, 2000 and new are four digits. I'm going to edit the original post... just in case no one reads any further!