How to Determine the Age of a Car Tire
Tires are an important component of a vehicle that directly contacts the road. Without tires, vehicles cannot move or change locations. But did you know how to check the age of a car tire?
Let alone checking it, many vehicle owners are just now learning this fact. They assume that the age of a tire can be seen from the tread or pattern on its surface.
How to Determine the Age of a Car Tire
This assumption is not entirely wrong, as the tread significantly affects the effectiveness and performance of the tire. However, knowing the age of the tire is equally important.
Why is Tire Age Important?
The main reason for knowing the age of a car tire is its validity period. Yes, it turns out that car tires can also expire. According to information from the Indonesian Tire Manufacturers Association or APBI, the average lifespan of a car tire is 3 to 5 years.
Beyond that, the performance of the car tire will decline. Usually, this aligns with the wear of the tread on the tire surface. However, of course, this condition will not occur on a tire that is still new, right?
A tire that has never been used will certainly have its tread intact, but its performance will still decline. Moreover, the rubber material used to make the tire may have already become brittle and its flexibility may have decreased.
How to Check the Age of a Car Tire
This is where knowing the age of the tire becomes important before buying a new one. There's no need to worry, as checking the age of a tire is very easy. You only need about 5 minutes to perform this check.
Look at the side of the tire, where the production code is displayed.
The code consists of 4 digits.
The first two digits indicate the production week, while the next two digits represent the year of manufacture.
For example, if the code on the tire shows 3321. This means the tire was produced in the 33rd week, which is in August (assuming one month consists of 4 weeks). The number 21 indicates the year of manufacture, which is 2021.
Based on this number, the tire was likely produced between August 8 and August 14, 2021. As of the publication of this article (February 2022), the tire is not yet a year old.
Signs That a Tire Needs to be Replaced
In addition to paying attention to the validity period as described above, there are other signs that can serve as an alarm for replacing tires. For safety reasons, pay attention to the following signs:
- The tire has been used for more than 40,000 kilometers.
- The thickness of the tire tread has reached the Tread Wear Indicator or TWI limit. There are two TWI indicators on the tire, one on the side in the form of a triangle and one in the middle as a bump.
- The center of the tire is bald, even though the tread on the sides is still thick.
- The tire has a bulge, which is very prone to bursting on the road. This condition not only endangers the driver but also those nearby.
- The tire has cracks due to frequent exposure to heat on the road.
- It has frequently leaked, resulting in patches here and there.
- The tread on the tire appears to be lifted, commonly known as heel to wear. This usually occurs because the driver often drives over damaged roads at high speeds.
- There are scratches from hitting hard or sharp objects, such as potholes, curbs, and others.
From the explanations above, it can be concluded that the habits of the driver also greatly affect the condition of the tires. Get more interesting information and tips on the following website.
Here, you can make an appointment for service or tire replacement. Everything is guaranteed to be original and the tires are still new. One more thing, your beloved car will be handled by experienced and competent mechanics in their field.
