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Post Info TOPIC: Tired Tyres - its more than tread depth
Paul and Pam on Tour


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Tired Tyres - its more than tread depth
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Checking over my poptop just prior to commencing a trip down south a few months ago I was happy with the condition of the wheel bearings, springs, and tyres, well the inspection of the tyres involved taking each one off and checking the tread depth and the wall condition, on both sides, somewhat surprised I was therefore to find one suddenly go flat and I couldnt find a puncture...close examination revealed that the inside sidewall had cracked completly through, fortuantly I discovered the flat when the van was safely onsite in a carvan park.....dissappointed that I didnt see the cracking before leaving home I checked the others and found them all to be faulty.

Checking the date stamp on each tyre (see photos) I note that they are not yet 6 years old!! Depending on who you talk to, tyres have a life expectancy of anywhere between 6 to eight years so I have no idea why these ones went like this....they are Australian made and the pressures have always been monitored and they have been rotated regulary. They have mostly been on bitumen too.

The moral of my story is to not be fooled by the tread depth on a tyre, look really closely at the walls, any sign of tiny cracking and the tyre is suspect, if you are unsure get a professional to have a look....a good trip can be wrecked with a blow out.

 



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Paul and Pam on Tour
vk6tnc


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I never new about the use by date for tyres until last year. I got a "professional" tyre dealer to put the seven year old never been used spare on the back of my Suzuki Jimny and purchased a new identical tyre to match.

Two months later the tread separated from the old spare and caused $4,500 worth of damage to the bumper, tail lights and rear guard.

An expensive lesson learnt....

I wonder how many people who drive their "classic" car on a sunday only, know about this ???

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 Cheers, Chris...


"The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished" - Benjamin Franklin
Paul and Pam on Tour


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Yes!!...also Chris, I am told that exposure to sunlight can hasten the demise of rubber tyres, my tyres, including the one in my photos had sat on the spare holder without a cover so this is probably why it they had a relativly short life. One other thing, some people have writted to me telling me they unable to find a date stamp....by law, all tyres manufactured since 2000 are required to be date stamped in the method I have pointed out in my posting, prior to that different manufactures used diferent codes or none at all... So if your tyres are unstamped its probably time to spend some of the pension. Additionally most US made tyres (or 'tires' 'cos they cant spell he he) are gauranteed for just five years.
More info to anyone interested here;
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

Paul, Brisbane

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Paul and Pam on Tour
Grams


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Thank you for the information Paul, I didn't know this either.

With one of our older vans, we decided to travel to NSW on a weeks trip. We pulled into a CP (one of those undercover and with ensuite on the side, what a brilliant idea), Les was outside having a cuppa and just happened to look at the back of the van and the tyres...one looked funny. He took it off to have a better look and it had a huge bulge on the inside wall. Thank heavens we were near town and he went and got it replaced, then took the van back to the tyre place to have them check the others and the spare. I always think how lucky we are that nothing happened while we were on the road.



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Grams and Poppy

2003 Toyota Landcruiser Prado Grande

1999 Jayco Starcraft 15ft Pop Top 

 
Gerty Dancer


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I learned this information on this forum a year or more ago... you learn heaps from the experienced people on here, thank you all.

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Cheers,  Gerty. ... at home

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rockylizard


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Gday...

A word of caution - tyres marked with a THREE DIGIT date of manufacture were manufactured BEFORE 2000.

Tyres manufactured AFTER 2000 have a FOUR DIGIT number -

See this - http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx

Therefore the tyre referred by Paul and Pam on tour, shown in the photos, was actually manufactured in 1997 c

Cheers - John

 



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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter
Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Paul and Pam on Tour


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Thanks John....that actually makes sense...the van is a 1997 model!!....I guess I did get good use out of the tyres after all..lol.

PS, do they actually make any tyres in Australia today??

 

Paul.



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Paul and Pam on Tour
rockylizard


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Gday...

I am fairly confident there are no tyres manufacturered in Australia these days.

I am willing to be corrected, but I don't think Japan makes tyres anymore these days either - they have opened factories in China.

cheers - John



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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter
Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
miroku12g


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Paul & Pam,
you answered your own question really, "They are Australian made" first mistake ???

Miroku 12g

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Dave, Maz, Zac, & now Buster
Paul and Pam on Tour


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Miroku....sorry, I dont get you....what question did I answer?

Paul



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Paul and Pam on Tour
rickpeppy


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There are no tyre manf in Aust any more,bridgestone was one of the last and that was about 8 years ago,experts have told me that be wary of a tyre over 5 years old and more so if it is a spare that has never been on the road.

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