Buyer Beware of Tire Wear

The tire code is very important

Rear Driver’s Side

Many people don’t put a lot of stock into a tire purchase, but after this entry, I hope that I can bring better awareness to a very important issue. Back in recent memory, you may remember the scandal with Firestone tires and Ford Explorers. Without getting into too much detail, there was a serious issue with tire pressure which were partly to blame for many accidents. Due to this issue, both Firestone & Ford had to do much damage control to repair their brand, which one may argue that can never be totally repaired.

However, now I want to bring your attention to a recent issue with tire retailers instead of manufacturers. We can all agree that purchasing a good set of tires are one of the most important decisions you can make. What many people may not be aware of is the fact that responsible tire retailers will sell you tires that are brand new or fairly new. However, it has been reported on ABC’s 20/20 on May 8th, 2008 that some retailers have sold tires that are way too old to still be on the market. Due to excess inventories, some irresponsible retailers have been selling tires that can be as old as six years or more. What ends up happening is that we the consumers will assume that the tires will age after we buy them. Although the tires were never used, it is misleading because age is a serious risk factor on tires no matter if they have never been put on a vehicle or not. BE WARE!! Let me give you an example to illustrate better.

If I purchase tires today, I will assume that I have 50,000 miles or 4 years before I have to think about replacing them because the manufacturer will have a suggested time period in which tires perform at optimal levels. However, if I am buying a tire that is already 3 years old at the date of purchase, I really only have one year of use before I should be worrying about the effectiveness of my tires. This is very misleading & quite frankly disturbing since tires are so important. The key is then for us to protect ourselves and our families.

What you should do is to take a look at the tire and read the inscription on them. The most important piece of information that all tires will have is the week & year that it was made. The code on tires are difficult to understand because there are a series of numbers and letters.

Above you will see a picture of my driver’s side rear tire. It reads….

DOT 7DHD DBJ 0307

Pay attention to the last 4 numbers that lay separate from the first combination. That represents the third week of the 2007th year that the tire was issued by the manufacturer.

Here is what I want you to do and let me know through your comments what the results are. Think about when you purchased your current set of tires. What is the age difference between the date you bought them and the actual age that you found out? Make sure to do it for all four tires. Do not assume that they will all have the same age. Post your comments at the end of this post and as always, your feedback is certainly appreciated.