Got this in a email earlier this week, finally decided what the heck, I'll see what it's about. You *WILL* go out and check your tires after you see this video, I guarantee it. An investigation by ABC news. Runs just under 10 minutes.

here

eric: I made this a sticky, in the interest of possibly saving someone untold grief. If you feel it's not sticky-worthy, unsticky it.

I feel very sorry for those that lost their loved ones, like the first guy in the video. But that video was totally one sided, looking to place blame solely on manufacturers and tire dealers without any corroborating evidence.

The first guy who lost his son said his tire was actually 4 years old when it was bought new. The video also said that the tire was therefore 9 years old when his son crashed. That means they used the tire for 5 years. How did they maintain the tire? Were they religious with the pressure? Rotation? Overloading? Alignments?

How new, unused tires are stored is equally important, probably more so, than the age. Are they kept in a cool, dry place away from an ozone source like a furnace, and sunlight? The video showed nothing whatsoever about storage condition affecting tires. It also showed no evidence of when these "deadly" new old tires failed once they were put in service. I could understand if they all failed immediately upon being put in service. It was totally skewed.

I'll take a brand new 10 year old tire, which was stored properly, any day of the week over a one year old new tire that's been sitting on some outdoor rack at a Jiffy Lube in the elements.

I'm all for hammering manufacturer negligence, but that video, all by itself without any other data, is another example of our media caring less and less about fair and impartial reporting. That reporter wouldn't even let the rubber manufacturer rep. get a word in.

I'm done now. Sorry. (Steps off soapbox)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Whew, my tires were born on the 17th week of the year 2008...

Thanks for the info

There is actually a formula (persay) to reading when the tire was manufactured.  I believe it tells the month and year.  I was shown this once by a tire shop.  If I can get that info I will post it.

I work for a TOYOTA SCION dealership and there is another piece of the puzzle that hasn't been mentioned here....

There are some folks who REFUSE to pay anything other than DISCOUNT prices for their tires. They get a quote from me of $112 for a FRESH responsibly stored tire and then argue that they saw the same tire at their local warehouse club for $22 less!!

Old sayings are usually steeped in some truth, and in this case the saying, "you get what you pay for" probably is applicable.

However, I do agree whole heartedly with the above poster that tire pressure, rotation, and multiple other factors could have played into this tragedy and many other misfortunes.

That is actually IN the video and shown repeatedly.
It is the last digits of the DOT code.  It is either a 3 or 4 digit number in what looks like a stamped box.  It is designed (in the mold) to be changed weekly, so it is fairly easy to remove and replace creating the "box" in the code area.
The first 2 are the week of the year (1 to 52) and the last one (199_) or 2 (20__) indicates year of manufacture.

They CAN be on either side of the tire (depending on how mounted) and is fairly easy to find once you know what to look for.  Like ANY coded info, it is easy once you know the code and a mystery if you don't know the meaning/format of the code.

I don't know -- I agree the expose' wasn't balanced.  I've always had multiple vehicles available to me and so I've always worn tires very slowly.  I've never once had a tire failure for any reason other than road debris or a maintenance issue.

I've not only never had a tread separate from the casing, but I've never before heard of it happening on a non-retreaded tire -- except the one situation which the film director was using to "illustrate" their point on the expose'.  Big rigs have regularly used retreads for many years (those big tires are very expensive.  They are the source of the treads you find heaped by the side of the road.  I'm not sure it's even possible to buy retreads anymore for passenger type vehicles -- though at one time decades ago it definitely was.

I'm inclined to agree that if tires are stored in the sun, they will be weakened (just like the tires on my bicycle).  However, if protected from damaging UV and high temps, I can't imagine why there would be a problem.  An interesting film, but anything but conclusive.