shelf life for car tyres (sat on the shelf waiting to be sold)

[Paul the 6th]

My mate has bought some michelin pilot cup sport tyres for his e36 M3 - they were quite discounted and from ebay, but can't deduce when they were manufactured or how long they've been sat around longing to be shredded.

Just wondering if anyone on here knows what sort of shelf life car tyres have and if there are any ways of working out whether a tyre has had it?

Does this help ?

http://www.northstaffstyreandbattery...n_trent_5.html

[Fallout]

I think car tyres all have a date of manufacture stamped on them. Look for a stamp which ends in 3 or 4 digits. That's supposed to indicate week and year of manufacture. Not quite sure how you read it, but it's something like FTLL0304 indicated the 3rd week in 2004, or perhaps AARD236 indicates the 23rd week in 2006. Personally if the rubber doesn't seem to be overly dry or cracking, I'd use em, though belting around the ring in an M3 might not be a good idea in tyres with an unknown history.

Edit: Ahh, looks like the link above has a better explanation.

[Paul the 6th]

faboo cheers lads its for this M3 http://youtu.be/eH_7iaFDiAU?t=6m41s (red one)

[Fallout]

Well I didn't know you could copy links with a start time. Coolness! Tis a cool vid too squire.

The date on the tyre is written in format of month/year.

So a tyre made this month would be 0213. Just look on the tyre to find it, its fairly easy to find.

[Sid Squid]

Where and how were they stored; wrapped/open, temperature, moisture, exposure to daylight (UV) ?

The date is useful, but far from the only important factor.

Now you know how to tell, do you know the date of manufacture?

[Paul the 6th]

The tyres are in the boot of his M3, which is in bits in my neighbours garage while it's getting stripped and fitted with uprated suspension/bucket seats etc.. I've passed the link on to him so he can check for himself, but as for how the tyres have been stored I think he'll be lucky to find out - the tyres are from eBay, possibly a business seller so could well be old stock which has been shifted through such avenues for a reason such as being perished or whatnot. We shall see

[Littlepeahead]

Tyres for my car are hard to get. My spare was old but a better match to anything I could get new and the local Tyre dealer said usually 7 years is the limit for an unused tyre. However, as Sid said, you have to take into account loads of other factors and in my case he had a good look at the spare and declared it fit for use, so I guess the answer is to get them checked if in doubt.

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[NTECUK]

Exposure to uv light and load will affect its life in service.
In the boot or on a rack it's got an easy life