Importance of Trailer Tire Age and How to Determine When a Tire was Manufactured

Published 10/01/2015

Products Featured in This Question

Loadstar ST185/80D13 Bias Trailer Tire with 13" White Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2 - Load Range D

(2781)

$164.48

Camco Vinyl RV Tire Covers - 24"-26" - Qty 2 - Arctic White

(184)

$42.40

Question:

Found your very informative web siteand ST175/80R13 trailer tires. I need 5 and was curious what the manufactured date would be for the 5 tires. I have read that one should be concerned with thisI dont even know dates to be concerned about what is the expected date for a new tireshould they be less than 3 or 4 or 6 months old?. Can you add some insight to this? thanks for your time.

asked by: Bob H

Expert Reply:

Here at etrailer we sell a lot of trailer tires and so we tend to move through our inventory fairly quickly. Some local tire shops may have stock on hand for a lot longer than we typically do. Naturally the more popular sizes like your ST175/80R13 sell faster and will tend to have a shorter time on our shelves. It is rare for our tire inventory to be older than a year.

Keep in mind that once a tire is made it may spend a month or two in transit, then be stocked in a warehouse for a period of time before being shipping to etrailer or another seller. So a tire that we just put into our stock today might be 4 to 6 months old. Trailer tires can last upwards of 6 years or so if well maintained and protected from excessive UV exposure. We offer tire covers for this purpose such as # CAM45321 which is a 2-piece set of tire covers that fit tire diameters from 24- to 26-1/2-inches. FYI, your ST175/80R13 tires are just over 24-inches in diameter. Trailer tires should be changed at least every 6 years, even if the tread is still in good shape, due to dry rot.

Here's how to tell a tire's age. The DOT number code will be stamped on one side of the tire, near the bead area. This tire identification number will start with the letters DOT, then the next two numbers or letters are the plant code where the tire was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 0410 means the fourth week of 2010.

The linked page will let you see both un-mounted tires as well as pre-mounted tire/wheel combinations in your ST175/80R13 size. You can just click on the tire type, radial or bias, load range, bolt pattern, etc. to find items suited to your trailer hubs. The linked articles will give you plenty of good background on trailer tires.

expert reply by: Adam R