Tyre use by date

[Postie Bob]

My Beddy has good tread on all tyres and look in good nick .
However , Ive been told that  tyres have a `use by date` no matter how good they look .
She hasn,t been driven for around 6-7 yrs so should I be a bit concerned?  I would hate to have `em blow on my first test drive .

[BusyKiwi]

only concerned at high speeds (150 + )

if the tyres are still on the rims, let all the air out and see if there are cracks between the treads - you'll see it best where the tyre starts to flatten out at the bottom.
Also cracks on the side walls when inflated, both are bad and should not use for highway driving.

If they are 6-7 years old then probably not good for race track, so keep the van off the track

[rossie]

Dig your finger nail in them, if you cant there to hard  and can or will slide around in the wet. When like that they make great burn out tyres

[Gordon]

Look for the manufacture date code on the tyre. Its normally a 4 digit number embossed on the tyre wall. in a square or rectangular outline. The first two digits are the week of manufacture and the last two digits are the year. I once toured a tyre manufacturing plant and they told us that the tyre starts to age from its manufacture date even if it is sitting in storage. When fitting new tyres to my vehicles I always make a point of checking the manufacture date before the tyre is fitted to my rim. You would be surprised how "old" some "new" tyres already are.

[maicoletta]

Agreed Gordon!

I work for Bridgestone, and it's amazing how many customers come in after seeing other fittng shops with old, under/over inflated tyres, or incorrectly balanced on he rim.

We recommend 5years as a lifespan from manufacture. Make sure there's no cracks in the side wall.

That being said, 15 years ago i got an old fiesta back on the road in the uk. It had been sitting on old flat tyres for 14 years, still sailed thru an MOT  (equivalent of roadworthy), then I drove on them for the next year til it was stolen. The things you do when you're 18 hey!!?

[Gordon]

Hi Maicoletta,
Bridgestone ... now you are talking ! I've been running Potenzas on my daily driver for about 13 years now and won't use anything else. Mostly S02's and 3's and more recently the S001's. There is no better tyre in my opinion. Good mileage and plenty of grip in both the wet and dry. Done a fair bit of club racing on the semi slick range too. Sad to say I can't get the sizes I need for my Bedford otherwise she would be running Bridgestone shoes too.

[Rogue Trooper]

Yep I run the Potenza RE002's on the WRX. Sticks like s*it to a blanket. Absolutely love 'em.

[BusyKiwi]

I used to be a big bridgestone fan but now switched to TOYO

[Rogue Trooper]

I went the other way. Had Toyo's on the MR2 for a while and they were good compared to what I had before but then they stopped making them in the size I needed so the guy at Firestone recommended the Potenza's and told me that if they weren't better he would give me my money back. Well I never went back for my money and now using them with AWD is just magic.

[maicoletta]

Good to hear the feed back!

Yeah, the S001s are where it's at, got them on my daily driver.

Would love to set them on the Bed, but she'll chew em' up in no time with all that fricking steering parking in st kilda!!