I am currently looking for a set of T bird tires and I found a set . The last digits on the side wall are C245784 Can any one tell me the age of these tires Thanks Tom
That set of numbers is related to the age, i.e. manufacturing date of the tire. You need to look for and find a letter & number combination code starting with “DOT” and then read the last four digits which will tell you the week and year they were manufactured. For example: DOT M3X6 00AX 4421, which is the code on one of the tires on my daily driver truck and tells they were manufactured during 44th week of the year ‘21, i.e. meaning they are about three and half years old. This code is usually only on one side of the tire. Prior to year 2000 the code showed only three digits, i.e. the week (= two digits) & the year (one digit), which was eventually deemed unclear as the last digit for the year didn’t specify the decade. For example, before year 2000 the last three digits in the manufacturing code might’ve said …. 367, which could’ve meant tire was made during the 36th week in ‘97, ‘87, ‘77, etc. And before too many here start making all kinds of unfounded claims, this coding was created not only to protect consumers, but also to limit liabilities of tire manufacturers and insurance companies in cases of people driving and causing/having accidents with tires deemed past their “use before”, i.e. safe life expectancy (generally 6 years starting on their Date Of Manufacturing. This ^ is also why any reputable & self respecting tire dealer/shop may not want to mount or install tires that are more than 6 years old, as they could possibly be dragged into and/or held liable in case of any lawsuit resulting from an accident involving those tires. None of this will of course prevent rhinestone rebels to drive with tires that are too old to be safe. They’re too busy acting cool at their keyboards to concern themselves with road safety.
I apologize for missing a word in my first sentence (see edited version below), which obviously changes its context completely. Note to self: Avoid making written comments or statements under the influence of strong medication, etc., especially on serious or technical subjects.
Damn, that's a dangerous keyboard you're driving! If they're bias ply tires, which is likely since they're for a T bird and might be reproductions, then they might last a bit longer than steel belted radials, which occasionally like to explode when they get a bit old. but yeah, find the date code. If there isn't one, or it's only 3 digits, then they're probably too old to use!
If your tires are more than six years old, your car will lose control, flip end over end and burst into flames. You will not die, but you and your children will be horribly burnt and live many years in horrendous pain and misery. And God will kill a kitten.
Now, there’s an excellent and worthwhile way to address this topic and I can only assume it’s based on extensive experience. World sure needs more expertise like this.
Ah geeze not this again, you woke the tire Karen, he was really “tired” after checking all the date codes at his local car show, then reporting them to the tire police.
I’m wondering just how many threads are on this board about “Are these tires too old”? This has got to be the third one since last month
Gee willykers didn’t some of ya drive on may pops back when you were full of stuff for producing more people? Personally I tried to keep good tires on my stuff and only had two blow outs in my driving career. Some of my friends drove on stuff until the cords were hanging out or they popped. One friend it seemed like every time I rode with him he had a blow out. No problem he always had at least two maypops mounted up and ready to go stashed in the trunk. The tire police would’ve had a freaking heart attack dealing with this guy. Dan
The Jalopy Journal
