Tyres over 10 years old

[Lord Voltermore]

A  recent topic on the mk 3 Forum raised the issue of tyres over 10 years old.   Which may apply to some low mileage owners. Including the spare tyre.

This a UK  MOT fail  but only on cars with 8 or more seats. (presumably  fewer deaths than this is considered acceptable if a tyre blows out on the motorway  ) 

I Attach a screen shot from the  mot testers manual, including how to read the date code on tyres   (sometimes this code is only on one tyre wall - possibly the less visible inner wall  ,but worth the extra effort of checking, IMO. )

[Kremmen]

Yep, even spacesaver tyres kept in the dark can degrade

I think it's 6 years in the US

[Bazzzer]

I actually had a tyre blow on a motorway - luckily it was the M50!

The car did almost a 360 spin before finishing up on the hard shoulder.
It couldn't be moved as the detached tread had become wrapped around the axle.

I suspect this (undated) tyre was very old and had spent most of its life in the dark,
as it had been the spare until a couple of months earlier.

[TonyTorque]

Hi,
You can read the age on the sidewall: look for the DOT code, the last four digits are the week and year it was made. So 2314 would be week 23 of 2014.
Over ten years old I'd replace them whatever the tread depth, as the rubber hardens and grip in the wet suffers, even if they look fine. Check the spare as well, it's often the oldest tyre on the car.

[TnTkr]

I actually had a tyre blow on a motorway - luckily it was the M50!

The car did almost a 360 spin before finishing up on the hard shoulder.
It couldn't be moved as the detached tread had become wrapped around the axle.

I suspect this (undated) tyre was very old and had spent most of its life in the dark,
as it had been the spare until a couple of months earlier.

I'd be interested in knowing how old the tyres were, and if they were radial or steel belt tyres, and if there were cracks on the rubber before sudden failure.

[Bazzzer]

If I remember rightly, the car had travelled only 1500 miles in the 20 years before I got it (2007), so I expect the tyre had been on all that time. I remember it didn't have the 4 digit date code.  The incident happened in 2008, I think I had used the spare for 2-3 months before it blew.  There was lots of wire (see the first photo) so I guess it was a steel radial. If it was cracked I hadn't realised.

[Kremmen]

Never skimp on tyres and brakes