Do you know your vehicle's tires have an expiration date?
That's right. Even if there's plenty of tread left, the tires on your vehicle should be replaced after 5 years.
So, how do you know how old your tires are? It's stamped (not molded) into the sidewall of each tire as a 4-digit number:
- First 2 digits indicate week of manufacture
- Last 2 digits are year of manufacture
In the picture above, the tire shown was manufactured during the THIRD week of 2018.
In this picture, the green highlight is on P 245. The 'P' shows this tire is for a passenger vehicle (LT would mean light truck). The 245 is the width of the tread in millimetres. In the orange highlight, 45 stands for the aspect ratio, which means the height of the sidewall is 45% of the tread width, or 110mm. The 'R' shows this is a radial tire and '19' stands for the size rim in inches this tire fits on. The '102H' designates the load and maximum speed ratings.
There are also MONTHLY visual inspections you can use to check the condition of your tires.
- Check the air pressure when the tires are cold and adjust the pressure to what the vehicle manufacturer suggests. There's usually a label in one of the front door jambs, or you can look in the Owner's Manual. Use a quality tire pressure gauge with a dial or digital readout.
- Look at your tires to see if there's any damage to the sidewalls or foreign objects in the tread area.
- Any bulging on the sidewall may be a sign of broken or separated radial cords meaning the tire should be replaced.
- Small cracks around the sidewalls may be caused by 'dry rot', a result of infrared, fungus (yes, fungus) or ozone damage.
- Tread wear indicators in the tread show when the tires are considered worn out. The minimum legal depth for tire tread is 1.6mm (2/32-inch). To maintain the best performance and handling, tires should be replaced when the tread depth is 3mm (4/32-inch), or when the vehicle handling deterioates and stopping distance becomes longer than normal. Use a tire depth gauge to accurately measure remaining tread depth.
Make sure you check for tire wear by looking at the tread of each of your tires. The tire shown has more than 3mm (4/32-inch) of tread remaining.
