How You Can Tell How Old Your Tires Are

Did you know that there is a way to tell how old your tires are? It is something that I just learned today and it is pretty cool.  Thanks to the Victoria Police Department Facebook page and Lisa from Wholesale Tire. Take a look at the picture below and I will break it down.

You can find this arrangement of numbers on any tire. Just look at the last four digits.  In this case 4 2 1 9. This means that this tire was manufactured in the 42nd week of 2019. Simple enough. While we are at it let's go over some basic tire safety to ensure you stay safe on the road.

Your tires are the only part of the car that has direct contact with the road. Tires affect pretty much everything. Vehicle handling, ride, braking, and safety. Tires must have the correct air pressure, tread depth, balance and the wheels of the vehicle must be properly aligned and there are a lot of steps to makes sure these things happen.

UNDER INFLATION: This is probably the most common reason for tire wear.  The low tire pressure will create wear primarily on both edges of the tire tread, with less wear in the center.

CHECK YOUR TREAD: Insert a quarter into a tread groove with the top of Washington’s head facing down. If the top of his head is not visible, your are fine for continued use. If you can see above the top of Washington’s head, it is time to start shopping for new tires.

CHECK YOUR PSI: Recommended tire pressures are for cold tires. Therefore, tire pressure should be checked at ambient temperature before the vehicle has been driven. Checking tire pressure on a car that has warm tires can result in a pressure reading of up to 5 psi higher than the recommended pressure.