King Al’s Greatest Hits – Car tires age even if never used

As I got a flat tire on my car yesterday, I thought it would be appropriate to refer my reader (readers?) to my previous entry which links to the ABC News story that explains that many “new” tires are really over 10 years old and that you shouldn’t be driving on tires over 6 years old.

This was not part of the news story or my original entry, but in addition to checking the tire pressure on your tires regularly, you need to periodically check the tire pressure on your spare tire – it’s not gonna do you much good if it is flat.

Car tires age even if they are never used

There was a news story on ABC News that reported on the largely unknown fact that car tires deteriorate even if they are never used, and that auto manufacturers have recommended that tires over 6 years old not be used (though of course tire manufacturers are strongly against this.) It also reports how you can tell when your tire was manufactured – the last group of symbols is something like “0604”, which means that it was made in the 6th week of 2004.

I always wondered why I saw so many tire treads on the freeway. I didn’t think that there could possibly be that many defective tires. I guess I know why now.

Everyone should check their tires at their first opportunity.