# Tyre age - word of warning



## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

Our van went for its MOT this morning and would have passed with flying colours had it not been for the 2-3mm crack round the full circumference on the inside wall of the rear tyres. Whilst checking pressures I usually do a visual check but have never thought to check the inside wall of the tyre assuming, wrongly in this case, that the outside wall would give an indication of the health of the tyre as a whole. Despite there being a good 7-8mm of tread on them they are the tyres which were on when we bought the van in 2011 so have been on a while under our ownership.

Please have a good look at your tyres next chance you get as this situation could have gone a completely different direction and I could be writing this from hospital or worse. I'm getting them changed on Saturday and will try and remember to update with photos.

Thanks for reading. Drive safe


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Just had a similar experience, though fortunately a couple of weeks before the MOT is due. We'd taken the van to a local mechanic to fix a brake issue and he discovered that one of the rear tyres was unroadworthy, but this only showed on the inside edge. He's waiting for a new one to arrive. He's also going put the the unused spare on the other side, so we'll have two 'new' back tyres.


Chris


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well I don’t understand 
On a Mot they gives a warning that tyres are under strain

And we change them

Sandra


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## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

aldra - They have warned us and we are changing them. Where I take it is just an MOT centre so they couldn't fix it but were able to advise and point me in the direction of a local mobile fitter.


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

ChrisandJohn said:


> He's waiting for a new one to arrive. He's also going put the the unused spare on the other side, so we'll have two 'new' back tyres.
> 
> Chris


Mmh! How old is this unused spare ?

In my mind you won't have two new tyres but a new one and an old one

If it was me I would just get two new identical tyres of same age on that rear axle and leave the spare where it is


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

I'm really surprised that a 2-3mm crack round the full circumference on the inside wall of the rear tyres is an advisory rather than a fail. Can a vehicle with such tyres really be considered roadworthy at that point?


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## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

jiwawa said:


> I'm really surprised that a 2-3mm crack round the full circumference on the inside wall of the rear tyres is an advisory rather than a fail. Can a vehicle with such tyres really be considered roadworthy at that point?


Sorry misunderstanding. It was a fail with a warning not to drive far before the replacement and retest


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Did you buy the van new in 2011 and what age are the tyres, there will be a DOT code on them with 4 number and a circle around them.

Eg, 2108 will signify the tyres were manufactured in the 21st week of 2008.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Having worked as a tyre maker/finisher for Michelin, any defect on the sidewall of a tyre should not be ignored, you're only millimetres from a catastrophe.

Terry


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## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

coppo said:


> Did you buy the van new in 2011 and what age are the tyres, there will be a DOT code on them with 4 number and a circle around them.
> 
> Eg, 2108 will signify the tyres were manufactured in the 21st week of 2008.


Its a 2004 plate. Its in storage atm so can't give you the date. TBH it doesn't really matter what the date is as there is no alternative to replacing them so further examination doesn't make sense


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## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

The point of the OP is that I was under the impression that my cursory glance when checking pressures was enough. It clearly wasn't. I was just trying to encourage others to have a look beyond the surface and check the parts which are not visible


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

commuter said:


> Its a 2004 plate. Its in storage atm so can't give you the date. TBH it doesn't really matter what the date is as there is no alternative to replacing them so further examination doesn't make sense


Yes I fully understand although they could be 2004, 2003 or even 2002 date code on them so could be up to 16 years old.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

The yearly service we have also does a tyre check

Not a tyre expert but he was concerned 

Took it to the tyre replacement centre

Checked and said no problem 

Albert orders the tyres on line ,he prefers continentals, goes with the recommendation of the weight upgrading on our van, recommended by S V Tech 

Delivered to the garage and fitted , balanced and we are good to go 

Well we would be if we went :grin2:

Sandra


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Is it me or do tyres not seem to “last” so long these days??

Sis in law has a 4 year old car, last time I visited when walking up the drive I spotted cracks in the bottom of the tyre tread on the OSR wheel. Checked the other three, all the same! Bit disconcerting as most tyre manufacturers say their tyres are (usually) good for at least five years (and that I suspect is a VERY conservative figure on their part) 

Had similar issue with caravan tyres but to be fair the caravan was/is 4 years old but the date stamp on the tyres makes them 6 years old! Clearly the caravan manufacturer either had them in storage a long time, or the caravan had been in stock somewhere a long time OR the makers got a deal on some tyres that had been in storage a fair while. They are NOT standard car tyres, they have a MUCH higher load rating, something like 800 Kg per tyre (caravan MAM is 1500kg so that’s 750kg per tyre!) and should be run at 60+psi. That sort of tyre on a car would be very uncomfortable indeed! 

Andy


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## commuter (Jul 13, 2011)

coppo said:


> Yes I fully understand although they could be 2004, 2003 or even 2002 date code on them so could be up to 16 years old.


The date code on the tyres was 2009 so they were well past their use by date. Taking a trip down to southern Germany in the next few weeks so very glad to have had all 4 tyres changed. Thanks for all the comments


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## Pat-H (Oct 30, 2009)

We replaced our 11 year old tyres but even at the last MOT they found nothing to notify us about. With a 2K Scotland trip due we decided to replace them anyway.

But I check inside and outside anyway.


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