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Tyre date markings - concrete

Just had the caravan serviced in the hope of some use this year. The chap said the tyres should be replace as they are nearly out of date. There is lots of tread on them and no visible damage, so am at a loss.

Is it the tyre manufacturers way of generating business or is there some credence to these dates?

If anyone has experience of this I would welcome comments. Also if the tyres do need replacing can anyone recommend a company that will replace them on my drive?

I had a set of tyres on SWMBO's car for 15 years or so without any problems. She only did about 1-2k miles a year anyway but the tyres never caused a problem.

Cheers Concrete

Tyre date markings - Steveieb

In my experience it’s the budget Chinese ditchfinders that run into problems with age. They appear to last forever wear wise but have a habit of splitting their tread , when deep cracks appear.

Tyre date markings - nellyjak

I think tyres degrade imperceptibly over the years and I certainly don't let tyres go further than 5/6 years of service..no matter how good they might appear visually.

Often, tread depth is still good...but there can be sidewall cracking/crazing and hidden cracking within the tread.

I wouldn't want to be driving on 15 year old tyres tbh.........to me, and I may be more anal than others, that's a risk I would never take.

There's a few "on my drive" tyre fitting outlets but I've never used them so can't offer a recommendation.

Tyre date markings - daveyjp

Tyres degrade and rubber hardens over the years.

I had my Forester tyres replaced because the walls were cracking after 5 years.

What can ulitmately happen can have tragic consequences.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23320526

Tyre date markings - RT

Just had the caravan serviced in the hope of some use this year. The chap said the tyres should be replace as they are nearly out of date. There is lots of tread on them and no visible damage, so am at a loss.

Is it the tyre manufacturers way of generating business or is there some credence to these dates?

If anyone has experience of this I would welcome comments. Also if the tyres do need replacing can anyone recommend a company that will replace them on my drive?

I had a set of tyres on SWMBO's car for 15 years or so without any problems. She only did about 1-2k miles a year anyway but the tyres never caused a problem.

Cheers Concrete

The manufacturing date is stamped on tyres used for cars, caravans and other trailers - there has long been a recommendation from the Caravan Club that caravan tyres should be changed after 5 years use, or within 7 years of manufacture - other recommendations are available, Michelin suggest 10 years from manufacture.

It should be noted that caravan manufacturers fit tyres only slightly above the required load rating while car makers are much more generous and leave a big safety margin.

Ring around local tyre fitters, not the fastfits, some of them may have a mobile service - but beware, some still suggest that caravan tyres don't need balancing, but they do otherwise the structure will shake itself to bits. I use Trade Tyres, Lichfield

Edited by RT on 02/02/2021 at 12:10

Tyre date markings - Andrew-T

Tyres kept out of sunlight will deteriorate several times more slowly than not. Caravans tend to live outdoors. Also they may be static for months on end and may develop flat spots, especially if they lose pressure. Yours may be good - or not.

Tyre date markings - RT

Tyres kept out of sunlight will deteriorate several times more slowly than not. Caravans tend to live outdoors. Also they may be static for months on end and may develop flat spots, especially if they lose pressure. Yours may be good - or not.

Cars live outdoors and spend most of their time parked.

Tyre date markings - Avant

Indeed - which is why the same applies to all vehicle tyres. I'd have thought that a burst sidewall is far more dangerous than a nail in the tread.

I'm no expert but my suggestion to Convrete would be that although the caravan tyres may be perfectly OK for now, you can't be certain when and how far they will deteriorate - so best not to take the risk.

Tyre date markings - concrete

Thank you chaps. Some good comments. I think I will play safe and have new tyres fitted including the spare which has not been used. Black Circles don't offer caravan tyres it seems but I will trawl around and find someone who can supply and fit.

I agree that safety first is best, they tyre tread is your only contact with the ground after all.

Cheers Concrete

Tyre date markings - edlithgow

I've seen it suggested that little used tyres (as on boat trailers or caravans) suffer cracking more quickly, because use forces a protective wax out of the tyre compound to coat the surface.

I stretched my car tyres to, IIRC, 12 years (and those were 12 Taiwan years, which are probably more punishing than 12 UK years) before I got a bit of a swelling in the tread area of one of them and replaced the set.

I probably wouldn't push it that far again.

Japanese tyre manufacturers association recommends 10 years max, IIRC.

Tyre date markings - John F

Let's not be ageist about tyres. Like people, they can deteriorate with age with hardening of the tread and not quite so much grip on reality. But a bit of surface cracking is immaterial. I put new Goodyear tyres on my TR7 in 1988 at 45,000 miles and, although their tread was well above the legal limit, I changed them in 2011 at 65,000. They are coming up to ten years old but have only done 6000 miles. I do not plan to change them soon.

The point about exposure to light is a good one. The TR7 is mostly in the dark. I once had a small boat which lived on a trailer by a reservoir, along an east/west axis. The south facing tyre was all cracked and crumbly but the north facing one looked as good as new.

If the OP is worried about the unlikely event of a blow-out, he should inflate them to at or just above the maximum pressure indicated on the sidewall and look for bulges. I suspect most caravan blowouts are from carelessly neglected low pressured tyres getting too hot on a sunny M5.

Tyre date markings - thecloser

I have an 08 Mazda6 2 litre hatchback which I bought in '10 with 9000 miles on the clock. It is by some distance the best car that I have owned. It was fitted with 4 alloy wheels and had an alloy spare. I have changed the tyres as and when necessary (it's now done 77000 miles) and ,fortunately have not needed to use the spare which resides in the boot with its original tyre (which I top up rather less frequently than I should - about once a year). In the (hopefully unlikely) event of it being needed is it likely to be serviceable?

Tyre date markings - Andrew-T

In the (hopefully unlikely) event of it being needed is it likely to be serviceable?

In a word, yes. It's spent its life in the dark, and you have topped up the pressure occasionally. The spare in my equally-old Pug has done the same and still looks as good as new. I used it for the second time last month to take one of the other wheels to ATS for treatment.

Tyre date markings - skidpan

When I was racing the championship I entered one year was sponsored by Uniroyal, they had just acquired the FAST brand (Formula and Sports Tyres) and were obviously wanting some column inches in the specialist press.

The club AGM was attended by the MD (ex Avon tyres) who gave a presentation and one of the subjects discussed was do tyres really age when they are stored correctly (temp and dark). His explanation was when tyres are used they obviously flex and this keeps the rubber nice and subtle. Let a tyre stand too long and its not just the fact its older, a person with no exercise results in stiffness etc, with a tyre this lack of use can result in cracking when its used. He was particularly keen to advise us to check our transporter tyres as well as the track tyres for cracking.

So were FAST tyres any good. Simple answer was there were better buys. The majority used Avons which were undoubtedly the best but being a tight git I used an American brand called Hoosier (1/2 the rice of Avons) which were actually great. i also got a sponsorship deal based on results which made me a bit of money after winning my class.

Hoosier took over the championship sponsorship after FAST disappeared.

Tyre date markings - Andrew-T

His explanation was when tyres are used they obviously flex and this keeps the rubber nice and subtle. Let a tyre stand too long and its not just the fact its older, a person with no exercise results in stiffness etc, with a tyre this lack of use can result in cracking when its used.

You must mean supple, Skidpan, there's nothing subtle about a racing tyre ... :-) Joking apart, of course all tyres age with exposure to air, but I would guess that a 10-year-old tyre kept in the dark will be in a similar state to a 2-year-old one on a vehicle. As an ex-photochemist I know that UV triggers slow oxidation of hydrocarbons.

Tyre date markings - edlithgow

A case could perhaps be made for the whitewall, which ought to reflect more sunlight?

IIRC the main crack propagation mechanism is supposed to be ozone snipping of the hydrocarbon chains in the bottom of the crack, where they are under tension. Possibly UV can shine into the crack and promote local ozone formation? Otherwise one would think UV couldn't penetrate very far into a black tyre.

Based on that, a very little other published info (mostly on castor oil), and of course my general interest in snake,(or rather vegetable) oil solutions. I tried sunflower oil as a tyre treatment when my last set was already showing surface cracking and was 7 or 8 years old, reasoning that it might fill in the cracks, and would react sacrificially with any ozone, since sunflower oil oxidises quite readily.

The cracks disappeared, but it dramatically softened a hard radiator hose so I stopped doing it after a few treatments. I don't know if this treatment hastened the tyre failure at 12 years, but it seems quite likely.

Commercially available Aerospace 303 protectant is supposed to offer a UV barrier and is recommended for rubber dinghies and such.

Edited by edlithgow on 03/02/2021 at 01:54

Tyre date markings - Andrew-T

<< Cars live outdoors and spend most of their time parked. >>

But they usually turn a wheel (all of them) every few days - caravans may not move for months. Not good for tyres which slowly lose pressure.

Tyre date markings - Bromptonaut

<< Cars live outdoors and spend most of their time parked. >>

But they usually turn a wheel (all of them) every few days - caravans may not move for months. Not good for tyres which slowly lose pressure.

That exactly, my caravan has not moved since October. Will be March at least before it can come out and play.

If the club(s) recommend 5-7 years that would be good enough for me.

Tyre date markings - blindspot

coming very soon. tyres over ten tears old illegal on front axle .commercial vehicles

Tyre date markings - John F

I think the comparison of the alleged longevity benefits of tyre use with the proven benefits of excercising old bodies is a false analogy. However, if I had a caravan I would either move it occasionally or put it on blocks to prevent possible flat-spotting and distortion. As for aging, there must be thousands of well cared for 20plus year old cars like our Focus with a perfectly serviceable original spacesaver spare tyre.

Tyre date markings - badbusdriver

coming very soon. tyres over ten tears old illegal on front axle .commercial vehicles

I've no problem with that, but why only the front?.

Tyre date markings - RT

coming very soon. tyres over ten tears old illegal on front axle .commercial vehicles

I've no problem with that, but why only the front?.

Most commercial vehicles have twin rear wheels so less of an issue with a single tyre failure.

Tyre date markings - Engineer Andy

As someone who has experienced three potentially dangerous moments in the wet with legal (3-4mm of tread and no cracking) tyres, the age of the tyre can make a huge difference to the level of grip available, especially in poor weather conditions such as rain - and not even heavy rain or much standing water either. Cooler external temperatures makes such issues even worse. From memory, all of my 'incidents happened in Autumn, so not during really cold periods.

And for both sets of tyres (one set resulted in two very similar incidents within a short space of time) were under 10 years old, around the 6-7 year mark.

What may also make a decent amount of difference is the variation in grip between the tyres on your car and those on the caravan. Whether this makes as much difference as putting a new set of tyres on the rear axle of a FWD car rather than the front is another matter, but I'd suspect it must make some difference, especially when cornering and/or braking.

If you're doing low mileage generally, or at least with the caravan, I'd advocate fitting tyres to it that the manufacturers state are long-lasting in terms of years, not (just) mileage. It's the reason why I fitted CC+s to my car, becasue Michelin have indicated they should be good for 10 years, rather than the 6 which seemed to be the norm for most mainstream tyre manufacturers, even if few rarely said so publicly.

What I'd also do for a rarely used vehicle like a caravan is to somehow (not sure a product is available or you follow the Heath-Robinson approach) cover up the caravan's tyres when it's on the driverway, so sun damage is minimised.

Tyre date markings - edlithgow

I think the 6 year thing mostly comes from the car makers, who have nothing much to lose. Tyre manufacturers endorsements I've seen have been reluctant and partial, probably because they don't want to get stuck with limited life inventory.

People here in Taiwan (where the sun is of course more intense) sometimes use bits of cardboard or plywood as tyre covers, I've done that, but not consistently I'm afraid.

They tend to blow away unless firmly tied to the wheel which is a bit of a hassle. OK for a trailer but a nuisance for a vehicle in even infrequent use.

Strong magnets, maybe? (I don't have alloy wheels)

Edited by edlithgow on 04/02/2021 at 04:24

Tyre date markings - bathtub tom

If youve ever ridden a motorbike on old tyres in the wet you'll soon learn about how rubber hardens with age.

Tyre date markings - edlithgow

I don't think I've ever ridden a motorbike on anything else, so I've yet to learn how rubber softens with youth.

Tyre date markings - Engineer Andy

If youve ever ridden a motorbike on old tyres in the wet you'll soon learn about how rubber hardens with age.

Indeed, and as the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986 showed, rubber doesn't work very well when it gets cold and is far less compliant.

People have to realise that just because a tyre is not cracked, it doesn't mean it's perfectly fine.

I do also agree that a fixed 'lifetime' isn't the way forward either - I just have used those I've been given as a general guide to when to expect issues to start arising, so I can monitor how the car behaves in the cold, wet, snow and ice.

Tyre date markings - Engineer Andy

I think the 6 year thing mostly comes from the car makers, who have nothing much to lose. Tyre manufacturers endorsements I've seen have been reluctant and partial, probably because they don't want to get stuck with limited life inventory.

People here in Taiwan (where the sun is of course more intense) sometimes use bits of cardboard or plywood as tyre covers, I've done that, but not consistently I'm afraid.

They tend to blow away unless firmly tied to the wheel which is a bit of a hassle. OK for a trailer but a nuisance for a vehicle in even infrequent use.

Strong magnets, maybe? (I don't have alloy wheels)

I'm wondering if fitting snow socks to them when not in use might be worthwhile? Or some other cover tied to the back of the wheel, etc with the elasticated roof rack fixings?

Tyre date markings - badbusdriver

Most commercial vehicles have twin rear wheels so less of an issue with a single tyre failure.

A commercial vehicle starts from something like a Fiesta or Corsa van and goes right up to the biggest trucks. Twin rear wheels only become commonplace on vehicles with a GVW of more than 3.5t, so there are significantly more commercial vehicles with single rather than twin rear wheels.

If blindspot meant LGV (large goods vehicle, which used to be called HGV for heavy goods vehicle), then that does make more sense with regards to what you said, as there are virtually none with single rear wheels.

Still doesn't make much sense in my mind though. If you take a 12 tonne (GVW) lorry as an example, unladen, with a basic dropside body, that will weigh around 6 tonnes unladen, split between the two axles. Put the 6 tonnes of payload in the back, and while the front axle will bear some of that, most of it is being supported by the rear axle. So there is going to be a fairly equal amount of strain on all 6 tyres on a hard working truck.