Old man winter is at our door again and he is promising an extra chilly season this year. That’s right folks, it’s time to pull out the thick sweaters, slap on the always-sexy thermal underwear, and start scratching your heads for potential Christmas gift ideas. It also means that it’s time to put on those winter tires. If it happens to be one of those lovely years where last year’s tires won’t cut it, then you are no doubt cursing at the price you’re going to have to pay for these winter essentials.
Keen shoppers will no doubt pay close attention to the different prices that competing tire retailers will offer but did you know that there is actually something more important that you should be paying attention to? Tires have a kind of expiration date. If a tire-despite being brand new-sits on the shelf for over six years before it is sold, there is a chance that the thread on the tire will pop off while you are driving at high speeds. This phenomenon has claimed many lives already. Yet this hasn’t stopped many retailers from selling tires that are over ten years old to customers-sometimes fully aware of the danger!
How do you protect yourselves? Here’s the trick;
Tire manufacturers have a code imprinted on every tire (for internal purposes) that indicates the week and year that each tire is made. Just follow the long code along your tire to the end until you see four circled digits. For example, it can read [32 08] which means that the tire was produced on the 32nd week of 2008. Be sure to remember this when purchasing your tires. It is a matter of life and death!
