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If there’s one detail that people ignore most about their car, it’s the age of their tires. Age of tires is an important aspect of every car if you’re expecting to stay safe. Because of this, the car repair experts at Kearny Mesa Automotive have some ways that you can check tire age to reveal whether or not you need to replace your car’s wheels.

Keep an Eye On Your Tires

Did you know that once tires reach a certain milestone (literally), it’s time for a change? Driving can become more of a hazard each time you set foot on the gas pedal if your tires are outdated. But why? The rubber compounds that make up a tire include elastic and spring, and when the tire is old and ready for replacement, the elasticity and spring that the youthful tires once had are more likely to puncture, blister, crack and tear. If an old tire were to puncture, blister, crack or tear, this would result in other hazardous conditions, such as exposing cable plies.

Trust the Numbers

The experts at Kearny Mesa Auto and Transmission recommend you find your tire’s age by finding the DOT number. The Department of Transportation is responsible for “tagging” each tire with a DOT number prior to a tire going on sale. You can find the DOT number on the tire’s sidewall. You will see multiple numbers and letters that follow the DOT number, but the final four numbers of the DOT number are the date the tire was made. Don’t fret, if your tire only has three numbers, you’ll know that the tire was manufactured before the year 2000. You’ll find that all tires that were manufactured after 1999 are stamped with weeks as the dates. So, if you find that the number is 3304, your tire was made in the 33rd week of 2004. All of the other numbers and letters stand for which plant produced the tire and who manufactured it.

Replace tires that are 10 years of age or older! Contact your car repair specialists now to have your tires checked and replaced.