Tire Date of MICHELIN Tire Manufacture Question

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi All,

I'm wondering about the date of manufacture of my tires based up on the tire data can it be so that manufacture date was 25th week of 2000?

The Tire information is as follows;-

MICHELIN P185/70R14 XA4 M+S TUBELESS MADE IN ITALY

DOT HDF9 D3NX 250

The tires look good and have plenty of thread, however. if they are in deed 14 years old I am concerned about safer.

I've checked the Technical Manual Re: Date of Manufacture, however, my tire spec numbers don't seam to match. I be interested in your opinion out there.

Thanks in advance!  

[Jordan]

RD, the date of manufacture should be 4 digits, the first two being the week of the year (01 to 52) and the last two being the year.  So for the 25th week of 2000, it should read 25 00.  I assume the DOT means they have met US DOT regs for tires.  I had a really old pair of Continentals that were made in Germany that did not have a date code.  I don't know when it was mandatory to have the date code on tires.

[jameshoward]

Ultimately, condition is most important. More so than date. You can have tyres that are quite new that bulge, deform and crack, and older tyres that are still in good condition. My tyres are 12 years old and in great condition; no cracks, cuts or bulges.  Look at the condition and go from there.

[scoot]

Here's a link.   A 3 digit date code such as yours, "250"
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

A 3 digit date code is used prior to 2000 (according to this link) which would mean your tires were manufactured in week 25 of 1990. 

According to this link:
http://www.barrystiretech.com/dotcoding.html
tires from the year 2000 used both 3 digit and 4 digit date codes, so let's hope yours are week 25 of 2000.

Depending on what source you check, tires have a "useful life" of 6 to 10 years.  Heat and sunlight will decrease safe life.

In contrast to what the previous poster says, I don't think that 14 year old tires are "safe".

[jameshoward]

Scoot,

If you read what I wrote you'd see that I am merely saying that a 14 year old tyre could be safe. Similarly, a much newer tyre could be unsafe. A tyre that has been on a car that has been properly stored and which has seen little use is unlikely to have deteriorated to the extent that it becomes unsafe.

I'd love to see the science behind this and your presumption that they are unsafe. Yes,you can find plenty of stuff on the net that talks about age. I had a discussion with the development guys at bridgestone on this subject. It was interesting but the main point was use and storage. Tyres don't breakdown very quickly at all just by existing.

[scoot]

If you read what I wrote you'd see that I am merely saying that a 14 year old tyre could be safe. Similarly, a much newer tyre could be unsafe. A tyre that has been on a car that has been properly stored and which has seen little use is unlikely to have deteriorated to the extent that it becomes unsafe.

I'm suggesting that tire makers and car manufacturers are saying it's not safe.

I'd love to see the science behind this and your presumption that they are unsafe. Yes,you can find plenty of stuff on the net that talks about age. I had a discussion with the development guys at bridgestone on this subject. It was interesting but the main point was use and storage. Tyres don't breakdown very quickly at all just by existing.

google "are old tires unsafe" and you will get lots of discussion on the topic.   That is the limit of my research.  I agree that storage is a big factor, as is climate and exposure.  I also don't think that the typical consumer is a good judge of the condition of a tire.  Sure, the obvious stuff would be visible but a professional inspection would be much more reassuring.   FWIW MB recommends replacing tires after 3 years....  But then again, MB probably recommends buying the tires are the authorized MB dealership..

[Cees Klumper]

With something as critical as safety I don't take chances. I replaced the tires I had bought new in 2000 with new ones after 10 years, even though they had plenty of tread left, looked great and had been stored properly (I think, but as Scott says how can I really tell). Did the same with my small trailer last summer. You see so many trailers and caravans stranded by the side of the road with flat tires due to them being used relatively little, so the owner thinks the tires are still ok, when they're not. 10 to 12 years is my max.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Thank you everyone for your help and posts.

The tires are indeed 14 years old and I will change them to new ones come spring 2015.

The car, prior to my purchace has spend her time for zirka 20 (1993 to 2013) years in a heated and air-conditioned collectors garage along with 18 other American cars from the 50s and 60s during all that time the car has seen less then 4,000 highway miles. for 4 to 5 years (2009 to 2013) prior to my purchace only to local car shows and back into the garage. The tires look indeed brand new, still I will change them in the spring. I do agree the tires are indeed the onme item between us and the road that need to be in tip top shape.

I will search the forum on "Tires" and see what deals you fellows here on the North American continet have found. I might even have my son in law find some in the UK, he is still in London UK till March 2015 perhaps he can find a nice set for me and bring them back with his furniture. I somehow think, however that tires in the UK may be more expensive then tires here in North America.

Thank you again everyone! 

[Garry]

I agree with Cees, the age of a tire is fairly critical and like all elastomerics, if it is not kept stored in the dark then there will be some breakdown in the rubber irrespective of it being used and how many miles it has done. That is why you also need to look at the ‘new’ tire before they put it on to make sure that it has not already been sitting in a store or warehouse for a year or two which comes straight off the life of the tire. Ten years is the max I would be keeping a ‘new’ tire on a Pagoda.  There is just  too much at stake if one comes apart whilst driving and potential for damage to the car.

Garry.

[scoot]

I will search the forum on "Tires" and see what deals you fellows here on the North American continet have found. I might even have my son in law find some in the UK, he is still in London UK till March 2015 perhaps he can find a nice set for me and bring them back with his furniture. I somehow think, however that tires in the UK may be more expensive then tires here in North America.

My limited understanding is that tires are cheaper (even European tires) in the US than they are in the EU.  If you want to go with the original 185/14 size you have only a few choices and those depend on if you want whitewall or blackwall.  For blackwall I like Vhrendenstein (sp).