Do tyres expire?
While tyres don’t technically expire, they should be replaced if worn or if they are over 10 years old. To determine a tyre’s age, check the manufacturing date or the ‘birth date’. Tyres should be removed once they reach ten years of age, regardless of appearance, mileage or actual wear. However, most tyres will need replacing before they reach the ten-year mark. That’s why it’s important to keep a close eye on the condition of your tyres. Tyres that are older than the recommended ten-year mark have an increased risk of forming cracks beneath the surface, causing the tyre to fail under load.
How do you tell your tyres age?
Tyres manufactured after the year 2000, have the tyre’s ‘birth date’ stamped on its outer sidewall. This number follows a standard, straightforward format of the week and year represented as a 4-digit number (WWYY). Tyres manufactured before 2000, should probably be changed for newer tyres as they are definitely older than 10 years old!
To find the date code, scan the tyre sidewall in a clockwise direction, and locate a series of letters and numbers within a raised rectangular box. The 4-digit number within the box are the numbers you need – the date code!
In the image above, the date code is “3224.” Breaking this down indicates that the tyre was manufactured in the 32nd week of the year, in the year 2024. As such, we can deduce that the tyre was manufactured between 5th August 2024 and 11th August 2024.
