[Sree73]

Originally Posted by avimal

Note sure if this is the right thread to post this query.
I am getting a set of tyres which has manufacturing date of 10 month back.

Is it ok to buy these tyres? will it be a compromise in quality?
I am not able to find these tyres easily any where else.

As a practice, do not buy tyres which are more than 3-4 months old. 5 years is actually the tyre life for most of the tyres and it is ideal to change the tyres after 5 years even if they have run less KMs.

When you are buying 10 month old tyres, actually you lost almost 20% of the tyre life as far as time period is concerned.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by avimal

I am getting a set of tyres which has manufacturing date of 10 month back.

Is it ok to buy these tyres? will it be a compromise in quality?
I am not able to find these tyres easily any where else.

Don't know which size & brand that you are looking for, if your choice isn't easily available please go ahead with these 10 month old tyres.

About buying slightly older tyres, please read this post of 'Nikhilb2008' about acceptability of old tyres.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by Sree73

As a practice, do not buy tyres which are more than 3-4 months old. .

Sree,

3 to 4 months is a very strict line.
It's like demonetizing the tires that are more than 4 months old.

Kindly consider the following
1. 60% of tires are imported in India.
2. Import shipment lead time is 30 days (manufacturer to destination port)
3. India port to distributor transit time 15 to 30 days
4. Mostly likely a distributor would be operating on 30 days inventory. (import case)

So, 3 months are gone in transit itself.

In addition to the above, there are several other challenges in our country.
a) FIFO(First In First Out) maintenance in warehouses.
b) Volatile & fluctuating market trend for automobiles.
c) Have stock of tires with sizes varying from 12" to 19".

IMO, more than manufacturing date, the condition & storage of tires at dealer warehouse is more critical.

A 3 months old tire exposed to sun and water would be in worse condition compared a 12 months old tire kept under shade and away from water.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Sree,

3 to 4 months is a very strict line.
It's like demonetizing the tires that are more than 4 months old.

Kindly consider the following
1. 60% of tires are imported in India.
2. Import shipment lead time is 30 days (manufacturer to destination port)
3. India port to distributor transit time 15 to 30 days
4. Mostly likely a distributor would be operating on 30 days inventory. (import case)

So, 3 months are gone in transit itself.

Rajesh, Nothing wrong in buying a tyre which is an year old (Manufactured an year before). I was talking about the majority cases as far as passenger radial market is concerned.

And I have doubts on the the figures you have quoted. (60% of tyres are imported)

I'm talking about passenger car radial segment. Domestic production in passenger car tyre is about 40 million units per year. Out of this 3-4 million units are exported.
As far as import is concerned, It's around 1-1.5 million units in an year. That's only 3-5% of passenger radial market in India. So, a 3 months transit of tyres are applicable to a small portion of tyres. If you are very specific to imported tyres, no issues in buying a tyre which is less than an year.

When 95% of passenger radial is from the domestic production, it's perfectly fine with going for a tyre which is less than 3-4 month old.

[mrpitt]

I faced a similar situation when purchasing my tyres. At the time I wanted them, they were the only ones in Hyderabad that were ready to purchase in that size. It's been a year and about 16000 kms and honestly I don't think a newer tyre when purchased, would make any significant difference. It also depends on how the tyres are stored as mentioned earlier.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by Sree73

As a practice, do not buy tyres which are more than 3-4 months old. 5 years is actually the tyre life for most of the tyres and it is ideal to change the tyres after 5 years even if they have run less KMs.

My first Innova had a set of Bridgestone tyres mounted on fancy BBS rims, a hardly 10,000 kilometers ran set of 4 tyres it was. While selling the car, I simply put on the older set with stick V variant rims and sold the car. It was all in 2011.
In 2015, I bought another Innova. I simply ran to my store room where all 4 tyres were kept with air filled at 35 psi on the day of preserving them all separated with plastic sheets placed between the tyres which were kept one on another. Placed them in the boot and approached the puncture guy (The air pressure went down to 20-25 psi in all though, but none was deflated). He removed them from rims, sanded the rim walls (Because I insisted, absolutely no leakage anywhere), cleaned them and put the tyres back. The BBS set was on the car. Same evening drove all the way from Delhi to Lucknow and returned next night. The car did over 20k kms on the same set and got sold to it's new owner (Third owner) in early 2016. Not a single puncture happened during the ownership and the car is still on the same set. This is rubber, not a biodegradable item after all.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by Sree73

Rajesh, Nothing wrong in buying a tyre which is an year old (Manufactured an year before). I was talking about the majority cases as far as passenger radial market is concerned.

And I have doubts on the the figures you have quoted. (60% of tyres are imported)

I'm talking about passenger car radial segment. Domestic production in passenger car tyre is about 40 million units per year. Out of this 3-4 million units are exported.
As far as import is concerned, It's around 1-1.5 million units in an year. That's only 3-5% of passenger radial market in India. So, a 3 months transit of tyres are applicable to a small portion of tyres. If you are very specific to imported tyres, no issues in buying a tyre which is less than an year.

When 95% of passenger radial is from the domestic production, it's perfectly fine with going for a tyre which is less than 3-4 month old.

Sree,

Agree with most of the facts posted.

But, practically in our country, it is difficult for a tire dealer to have all stock less than 4 months old.
Would be great, if you could share your industry experience on this.

Secondly, here at team-bhp, mostly the suggested tires are the imported ones and with an advice of not accepting tires older than 4 months could mislead a lot of readers. (T-bhp is like an automotive bible).

I second your suggestion to get the latest stock but getting tires from a dealer who stocks them in good conditions is also important.

Hope you understand.


Cheers

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by VKumar

This is rubber, not a biodegradable item after all.

Hi Kumar,

Tyre is not bio-degradable. But, it is definitely degradable. There is a big difference between the two.

Industry average / consensus of tyre life is 50000 KM / 5 Years. This does not mean that the tyre will not function beyond these limits. It will definitely work. But, the statistical likelihood of a problem occurring increases noticeably with age. The issue is that most of the people will not be able to assess the structural stability of the tyres.

If the tyre crosses these limits and one needs to use them beyond, professional advice is very much needed. If the tyre is inspected by a tyre professional and certifies good to use, no issues. If we are not in a position to get it inspected, it is better to replace them.

After all, tyres are one of the highly important part in a vehicle as far as safety is concerned. The life of driver / passenger / and others on road is far more important than set of old tyres.

Originally Posted by kpzen

But, practically in our country, it is difficult for a tire dealer to have all stock less than 4 months old.
Would be great, if you could share your industry experience on this.

Secondly, here at team-bhp, mostly the suggested tires are the imported ones and with an advise of not accepting tires older than 4 months could mislead a lot of readers. (T-bhp is like an automotive bible).

I second your suggestion to get the latest stock but getting tires from a dealer who stocks them in good conditions is also important.

Hi Rajesh,

I'm not suggesting a blanket refusal of tyres which are more than 3-4 months old. It's perfectly OK to buy tyres which are 1-2 years old. If one has sufficient mileage in an year, then the tyre will meet it's mileage life before the age catches up. But, if a person is using the car say 8-10K KMs an year and when he buys a tyre which is an year old, for all practical purpose, the tyre life is already consumed by 20% at the purchase itself.

As an informed group here, my suggestion is to try and get tyres which are new. (Say below 3-4 months or 6 month max).

Yes, you are right. Many stockists/dealers will be having more than 4 months old tyres. No safety risk in buying those tyres. But, try to get the latest stock. That's all.

Storage of a tyre is equally important for the lifespan as the proper usage.
Rather, stored tyre degrades faster than a tyre which is in use even if the storage is proper. Tyre ageing is basically an issue of oxidation. As rubber is exposed to oxygen it dries out and becomes stiffer, leading to cracking. (Even though anti oxidants are added in the rubber, it delays the oxidation effect to some extend only.)

When a tyre is driven, the pressure and flexing motion circulate the internal oils through the rubber. These oils lubricate the internal rubber and keep it from drying and stiffening. So tyres that are used less/stored for longer period are often more vulnerable to ageing effects.

[curios]

Guys have decided to finally change all 5 tyres on my Chevy Spark after dragging my feet for well over a year. Being quoted Rs.3,600 per tyre with a post budget rate hike.

Three questions here before I proceed:

1. What do the coloured bands/lines on a new tyre mean, and does a tyre need to have the manufacturing spikes for one to be sure they are brand new?

2. When buying, what all do I insist on -- balancing with weights, alignment, new valves, nitrogen filling, old tyre buyback etc? How important is it to get new valves?

3. Do dealers pay these days for old tyres, and how much? Mine are Apollo Accelere with date markers of 5108 and 5208 (8 years exactly), and have done 25,000 kms only now. None of the tyre dealers I checked with mentioned buyback, saying something like "come and we'll see".

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by curios

1. What do the coloured bands/lines on a new tyre mean, and does a tyre need to have the manufacturing spikes for one to be sure they are brand new?

Coloured bands on tyre tread aren't meant for end-user, their usage is during manufacturing process. For an end-user, coloured dot(s) on tyre sidewall matters. Yellow dot on sidewall indicate lightest spot on tyre & usually valve stem is mounted close to this spot in order to minimize balancing weights.

2. When buying, what all do I insist on -- balancing with weights, alignment, new valves, nitrogen filling, old tyre buyback etc?

Please ask tyre operator to fill correct tyre pressure before balancing. Wheel alignment is must for avoiding uneven tyre wear. Replacing valves is always preferred, nitrogen filling isn't a must. In my opinion, nitrogen doesn't add much value.

3. Do dealers pay these days for old tyres, and how much?

For old tyres, tyre size needs to be in demand in used tyre market(mostly tour operators). Don't expect much/anything for 8 year old tyre.

[rajivtelang]

Need an expert opinion for replacing tyres on my santro. The oems are goodyear and completed 31k kms in 4 years. There is enough tread on the tyres. My problem is that the tyres have undergone multiple punctures at least 4 to 5 total. Also they are hard as per the service person at hyundai.
I was experiencing wobble a while ago and service centre just rotated the tyres. In your opinion what should I do here? Go ahead and replace them but I use this car mainly in Bangalore city only and of course want to keep the car for at least 3 more years. Do not want to replace tyres after 6 years and sell a car with nice new tyres

[Trojan]

Hi Guys,

My Dec 2014, Aria 4x4 has clocked 45K kms so far on stock Bridgestone duelers.
The rear right tyre suffered a cut during a recent drive to Rajmachi. The cut is between the treads and is big enough (2-3 cms Diameter), though there is no air leakage at the moment but am worried as I feel this might become the cause of future punctures while driving through bad roads.

The rest of the tyres themselves are pretty good (enough tread depth) to last another 8k-10k kms.

I am ok to replace the the rear 2 tyres and thats where the dilemma lies. I would prefer switching to A/T tyres instead of the H/T which the car came shod with.

Is it advisable to have a differing tyre set-up at the back Vs the front? What can be the possible issues/consequences in case something like this is done.

If all the tyres were kaput would have gone ahead and changed all of them, but feel really bad to dispose good tyres.

Experts please help!

Cheers!
Trojan

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Trojan

I am ok to replace the the rear 2 tyres and thats where the dilemma lies. I would prefer switching to A/T tyres instead of the H/T which the car came shod with.

Simply put, if your next set of tyres is going to be A/T tyres, why not buy 1 A/T tyre & use it as spare tyre. Your current spare tyre (hoping it's in good shape) should move to rear right. Use this setup till you buy entire set of A/T tyres.

Is it advisable to have a differing tyre set-up at the back Vs the front?

This isn't advisable due to different grip levels.
However, I have used different tread pattern on same axle for around 10k Kms (Innova, Bridgestone B390 & AR10) and I hadn't faced any major issues. Innova being a MPV, my cornering speeds were also less.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Simply put, if your next set of tyres is going to be A/T tyres, why not buy 1 A/T tyre & use it as spare tyre. Your current spare tyre (hoping it's in good shape) should move to rear right. Use this setup till you buy entire set of A/T tyres.

Thanks Sukiwa,

The spare tyre was repaired once by the previous owner due to a major damage and I prefer using it only as stop gap to reach a repair shop.

Originally Posted by sukiwa

This isn't advisable due to different grip levels.
However, I have used different tread pattern on same axle for around 10k Kms (Innova, Bridgestone B390 & AR10) and I hadn't faced any major issues. Innova being a MPV, my cornering speeds were also less.

What I had in mind was to move the rear left tyre as a spare and get 2 new A/T tyres for the rear, but tread patterns would differ. Though our drives are pretty stable due to young kids so no corner carving is done as such. Now what can be a possible solution to this beats me, looks like its going to be a hit on planet M. Also attaching the rear right tyre pic for reference to the damage.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Trojan

What I had in mind was to move the rear left tyre as a spare and get 2 new A/T tyres for the rear, but tread patterns would differ.

Would still prefer changing all 4/5 tyres as a set. However, you are better judge of your vitamin M situation.
Are you really sure of using A/T tyres on Aria OR is your off-road usage more than paved roads?