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myredracer's avatar
myredracer
Explorer II
Jul 16, 2013

Old tires CAN be sold as new?

Here's an interesting news story:

Selling old tires as new - news story

I had no idea that is legal to sell old stock tires as new. I have to wonder how often that happens on RVs?

Not to worry though - the Rubber Manufacturers Association says "There's no scientific or technical data to back up the assertion that chronological age is a performance indicator for tires."

12 Replies

  • Francesca Knowles wrote:
    The word "new" as it applies to retail sales conveys only that the object in question has never been used by a consumer. In retail parlance, the opposite term is "used"...obviously.

    Since mfr. dates are plainly stamped on every tire sold in North America, I see no problem here. I'd be much alarmed if anyone was selling USED tires as "new"- but that's not what this sky-is-falling report is about.


    Correct.

    Folks on this forum over exaggerate and obsess about tire dates when getting new tires. As long as the tire is PROPERLY STORED out of the SUN (as in extremely low UV exposure the rubber in tires will not deteriorate much if any for years.

    Heck there ARE folks buying and installing NOS Model T tires that were made better than 50 yrs ago and they STILL stretch over the rim and relax back to shape (Model Ts use "clincher" rims which do not have a steel belt in the bead area, the tires lock into the rim via a groove in the side of the rim).

    Relax, don't let the media and forum hype bother your camping...
  • The word "new" as it applies to retail sales conveys only that the object in question has never been used by a consumer. In retail parlance, the opposite term is "used"...obviously.

    Since mfr. dates are plainly stamped on every tire sold in North America, I see no problem here. I'd be much alarmed if anyone was selling USED tires as "new"- but that's not what this sky-is-falling report is about.