I’ve looked all over for the date code on my Coker Classics. I couldn’t find anything on the outside of the tire that resembled a 4 digit date code, but I had a wheel off yesterday and noticed some things stamped on the inside of the tire, and was wondering if either of these could be the date code. I believe it’s a 4 digit code- the week and then two digit year. There was a post on here a week or two ago discussing date codes and tire age, but now I can’t find it. Could either of these be the date code?
Damn, I was hoping that wasn’t it. I got them probably around 2010, so I knew they were getting old, but didn’t know they were that old. Thanks
They were brand new, but I got them from a friend so who knows how long they were sitting in his garage before I ended up with them
If they're steel belted radials, I'd get some new tires. If they're bias ply, I'd keep driving on them.
Please use caution. In the past few years we've had four tires on three different cars delaminate while just sitting here in the shop, simply inflated to normal tire pressure. We've heard of many more from members of local car clubs whose tires shredded apart on routine drives. Nobody got hurt, but in a couple of cases the cars were badly8 damaged by tire debris. You just can't tell by appearance or tread or even the date what's going on inside that tire carcass. This is a Michelin with less than 500 miles on it, but it was 25 years old. It blew while sitting in our shop. Please be careful if you decide to drive on those.
Those tires that blew up....were they all steel belted radials? Just curious. (yes, it's happened to me, but only radials)
One was steel belted, I know. I think it was from Sears (that sure dates it). The Michelin in the photo isn't, but I'm not sure of the other oddball brand tires that blew. I haven't seen any customers that still have any old bias ply tires on the ground, but several have ancient bias spares that I wouldn't dare use. That tire in the photo was from a 1953 MG Arnolt drophead coupe. The car is probably worth in excess of a quarter mil, but the owner was reluctant to spend less than a grand on proper tires....I don't get it sometimes.
Interesting. I drove my 53 MG (just a normal one) around a little while on the bias tires that were on it when I got it, they were from the 1960s as best I could tell, but they were pretty lumpy from sitting flat for decades. They didn't blow up. I wouldn't drive much on 50 year old bias tires, but I'd be OK with 25 year old bias tires if they hadn't sat flat. I get nervous when radials are over 12 years old, and usually replace them when they're about 7-8, unless they're on a trailer, then even sooner.
My Firestone 500 story: Little town in the mountains, 50 miles to nearest hospital. I am ambulance driver since I lived closest to the fire house. Two little crap cars hit head on below town. We had two injured, one had the dash push his leg bone out his behind..... had to put him on a backboard which had to hurt. Ambulance was a 59 Oldsmobile. Two patients and a medic in the back. I am doing about 75mph in the ambulance on a two lane blacktop, river on the left and mountains on the right. Patient was screaming. Right front tire blew and tread came up over hood and started pounding the hood and fender. Got it to a stop without going off the road, lucky. Patient somehow shut up and didnt make a peep until another ambulance arrived to get him. Tires were both out of date AND subject to recall.
Those 500's were a nasty tire. Had 2 on my Seville blow out on vacation while in Florida back in the late 70's.
Gee wiz the tires on my 51 Tudor were brand new and had never made the first full rotation since pop bought and installed them from Coker 15 years ago. I ended up buying a new set a few months ago and they are still in the wrapper waiting for the disc brake conversion to come so I can install them. I promised my wife that we would drive the car and start enjoying it like dad wanted to do before Covid.
This one's a little strange for a tire that failed while sitting. Delaminated, and also has a hole coming out, plus what appear to be two deep cuts near the bead:
looks to me like it sat flat for a while, hence the holes near the bead. I've seen that happen in just a couple years on steel belted radials.
I just removed 2 tires with 2013 date codes from my truck. I've seen enough to not want to take chances. They had 2300 miles on them and looked like new. The truck was stored inside all of the time. It's painful to do but it seems to be necessary in today's world. I grew up with bias ply and really old tires. Some blew out when being used but I don't remember age being a factor. Something has changed in manufacturing, I think.
Rubber quality is highly variable. Has anyone else noticed that the stock vacuum caps on engines last decades, but the ones you get in the parts store packs last about a year or two? I put on a new shifter boot on a VW transaxle a year ago, it's already split, with a couple hundred miles on it.
I never paid attention to the date code on my tires. I sold the whitewall tires from my Avatar roadster to a guy to be used on a roller. The tires looked good to me until he showed me a large crack on the inner wall of one of the rear tires. What the hell, the tires were on my roadster since it's build in the late 1950's. After learning about date codes, I bought new tires, but I shudder every time that I think of how fast that I sometimes drove my roadster.
I had that happen, new pair of tire on front (no clue of a date code) some 15 years or so ago. Drove the truck near daily for 3/4 years. Had it parked under my carport for 2-3 weeks while it needed something, and one of the front tires looked very much like yours. I don’t recall if the manufacturer or the “style/name” of the tires. But it was Tiger Paw.
Maybe because I’m getting some years on me, but I don’t like walking at night, so I don’t try to stretch that last bit of gas in the tank. Nor will I think “tread looks good, can’t see cracks/etc, pile in let’s go” on older tires. Many will disagree because they’ve “been there and done it”. But I guess I’m a chicken shit.
I just put 4 new tires on the ot Vette I bought last month. They were 8 years old according to the date code, but had no wear on them at all, they looked new. The car sat from 2015 to just recently in storage of some kind. Oil change sticker showed 500 miles since it was changed, so I’m thinking they put on new tires, serviced it, then parked it. I didn’t trust the tires at that age even though I couldn’t find any cracks, one blowout could destroy the fiberglass car. If they were on a steel body, I’d probably ran them a while. As is, I’m going to put them on a lightweight trailer, should last a while on that.
Back when the Firestone 500 issues, along with the Ford Pinto gas tank fiasco were in the news, the common joke among industrial salesmen (who were provided company cars) was "You know you're in trouble when your new company car is a Pinto with Firestone 500 tires!"
I can tell you about old tires and 75 MPH! They looked perfect, never run flat, always had proper air pressure, perfect balance and were running as smooth as ever just before the fecal matter hit the fan!
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