Tire Safety

[GTRoy]

Do you Know how old your tires are ? Does it matter ? Look at this video to find out. Your Opel tires may not wear out but may still be unsafe. The life you save may be your own. Short ad shows first.
Go to htpp://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

[Sparky73]

ABC News

Just fixing the link.

[West Coast GT]

Thanks Roy for the info.

I just assumed that when I buy new tires I am, indeed, buying new tires. Wow, what a wrong assumption. Just checked the tires I purchased last September and they were recently from the factory - again, thanks.

[Dale .D]

Good info. I'll be asking for the date of my new tires fron now on.Last year when I bought my 71 gt it had the second set of it tires still on .1976 from JC Penny.Got some faties on now!

[namba209]

Here's the one thing they didn't say on the video, which may not require the change of tires. Cases in point: The 98 motorhome sits is storage for a lot of the time, with only 55K on the odo. Two years ago, I had to replace 7 original Michelin tires on it during our trip from "Hell". I didn't have to replace the front two, they were done a year earlier. The monza has tires on it that are possibly 10 years or more old, They are of the "Winston" brand that went out of business a long time ago, and they just "keep on keeping on" The rears are getting close to smooth again, got watch out for those "Banzai Starts" . IMHO if you drive the vehicle almost daily, they should go the distance regardless of the age, it's the ozone and UV rays from sitting that does them in. Then again maybe I'm just lucky, or there is a difference between 20K lbs on 8 wheels versus 2800 lbs on 4.

[Dennis Texas]

Originally Posted by GTRoy Do you Know how old your tires are ? Does it matter ? Look at this video to find out. Your Opel tires may not wear out but may still be unsafe. The life you save may be your own. Short ad shows first. Go to htpp://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Just want to add to check your spares, most spare tires in opel's are not steel belted and are old on top of that. Check your spare make sure it matches what you have on the car only thing worse than having a flat in the middle of no where is to have a car wrecked in the middle of no where do to a assumed good spare. Don't mix radial and bias belted tires. Happy motoring ...

[West Coast GT]

Thanks again to GTRoy for bringing this problem to our attention.
Because there's no telling how long the video clip will be maintained at CBS News, I'm posting an abbreviated instruction to finding out when your tires were manufactured. Again, six years seems to be the expected shelf life of a new tire. and old "new" tires are still being sold long after their shelf life has expired.

Find "DOT" on the sidewall, follow the text string to the end. There should be a code such as "414", which in this case means the tire was manufactured in the 41st week of 1994.
A code of 4202 equates to 42nd week of 2002.

OK, I'm off to the tire shop for some new tires for my convertible (non-Opel). I'll not be accepting anything older than 6 months old.

[DennisGardiner]

All of this information is available online at places like:
Tire Tech Information - Determining the Age of a Tire
Tire Safety, Brochure (DOT HS 809 361 October 2001)

This news report does not come as a surprise to me, but then I have known about the tire date codes since the 1980s when I worked at Unocal 76.

So, have I ever had a tire separation at high speed? YES Three times!

May dad last year at 80 mph in a truck going through Nevada, nothing happened. (left front tire)
But the fender was damaged.

3-4 years ago on a 1999 Ford F250,... tire blew,... nothing happened.
Left rear tire. Gil saw this one happen.

8 years ago to Gil on I-5, doing about 80 mph, nothing but a bent fender.

About 10 years ago, on 12-14 year old Michelins on my Buick Regal.
Right front tire.
The car did not careen out of control on the 580 heading to San Francisco at 70 mph.
Just a big bang, (and I mean big bang)!! Tire shrapnel every where flying through the air. Nothing happened.

And lastly on my Kadett around 1991 at 55 mph, going home.
Right front tire. Nothing happened.

Maybe I'm lucky, but in 2005 I replaced the tires on my Targa, as they were 12 years old. Now they are 3 years old, and have only 800 miles on them.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by DennisGardiner So, have I ever had a tire separation at high speed? YES Three times! ...nothing happened. (left front tire) But the fender was damaged. ... nothing happened. Left rear tire. Gil saw this one happen. ..., nothing but a bent fender. Just a big bang, (and I mean big bang)!! Tire shrapnel every where flying through the air. Nothing happened. Right front tire. Nothing happened. Maybe I'm lucky,..

Probably, but maybe some of it has to do with "YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE"!

Harold

[73Manta72gt]

I have had it happen twice both times the thread peeled off the wheel and damaged the fenders, but the tire didn't lose inflation.

[DennisGardiner]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr Probably, but maybe some of it has to do with "YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE"! Harold

I like to think so,... although I have scared a few passengers in my day.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by DennisGardiner I like to think so,... although I have scared a few passengers in my day.

Hey, that's alright I've even scared me a few times.

Harold