How do I know how old my tires are?

How long have those tires been stacked in the back of your garage or pilled in the corner of your basement? What about the ones on your camper, trailer or recreation vehicle? While tread wear needs to be considered when determining if the tire is safe, so does its age, as it can go bad over time and its rubber can get hard and brittle from lack of use. So how do you know when your tires were manufactured?

“I think it’s a great question, especially in Canada where you have both winter tires and all-season tires,” said Russell Shepherd, technical communications director with Michelin North America. He said telling the age of a tire is actually pretty easy. Each tire has an identification number on its sidewall that features a series of letters and numbers that contains useful information for the manufacturer and the tire owner.

While the actual code is lengthy, it is only the last four numbers that really matter. For example, a series ending in 4215 would tell you that tire was produced during the 42nd week of 2015 and is approximately five-and-a-half years old. Shepherd said the code on older tires might only end with three numbers. This was due to the millennium, when calendars switched from 1999 to 2000, so the first few years of the 2000s were represented by a single digit. “That was just making sure it was really clear when the tire was manufactured,” he said.

Shepherd said the Canadian government does not currently have regulations regarding the age of tires, but Michelin recommends its tires are good for 10 years from the date it is manufactured. “If you are looking at a tire, and it is less than 10 years old, we recommend that you regularly service the tire and have it inspected by a professional,” he said. “Within a 10-year time period [of being manufactured], it is a good tire.”