Javascript Menu by Deluxe-Menu.com

Tire Age

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Tige Over
Last Changed 5/18/2010

Tire Age

The general rule of thumb for the life of RV tires is 5-6 years.  Given the usual amount travel that is done with RVs, the tread on your tires will still be in fine shape.  So then, why replace tires where there is plenty of tread on them?

There are a couple of factors than affect the life of an RV tire.  One is Ozone and the other is the actual usage of the tire.

Ozone and Ultra-violet Light

Ozone and ultra-violet light ages tires by attacking the chemical composition of the tire rubber.  Some call the effects "weather checking".  Small cracks in the body of the tire are typical indicators but now always.  A tire can be damaged by ozone and ultra-violet light and show no signs of the damage,

Many RVers use wheels covers when they are parked.  The wheel covers do help with the effects of ultra-violet light. However, ozone is a gas and covers provide no protection from ozone.

Tire manufacturers put chemicals into the tire compound to fight the effects of ozone and ultra-violet light. That is one of the reasons why tires are black. Natural rubber isn't black.  Tires today last a lot longer than the ones made before current chemical technology.

RV Usage

RV tires are used a lot less than the typical car or the over-the-road truck.  While this lengthens the life of the tire tread, it actually reduces the life of the tire.

The flexing of the tire body while traveling releases chemicals in the tire compound that work to the surface of the tire body helping to fight the effects of ozone and ultra-violet light, keeping the tire body flexible.  Non-use means these chemicals are not released and the tire body becomes less flexible from ozone and ultra-violet light..

5-6 Years

5-6 years of RV tire life is not a hard and fast rule, it is one derived from a lot of experience.  You will hear stories of farm equipment tires lasting over a dozen years and other similar stories.  We are talking about RV tire and because of the low usage, are in a special situation.  The RVSEF (RV Safety and Education Foundation) folks have done a lot of research and the results is the 5-6 year recommended RV tire usage.

How Old Were Your New Tires?

On a brand new RV, tire ties might be 1-2 years old when you take delivery.  Depending on the volume of manufacturing, the manufacturer may buy tires in volume and warehouse them.  Depending on how well the tire inventory is managed, the tires might be taken out on a last-in-first-out basis.  This could mean the first tires into inventory could wait a long time before they come out to be used.

The last-in-first-out situation can also happen in a tire store.  When buying replacement tires, be sure to check that the tires you are buying are only a few months old. Or expect a price adjustment based upon the reduced number of years you can use the tire for.

With motorhomes, a volume manufacturer buys a block of chassis units and a chassis might sit in inventory a year or more before the motorhome is built,

How long a RV sat on a dealer lot can add time to the age of your RV tires when you but the RV.

How Old Are Your Tires?

The answer is to check the tire time stamp for Date of Manufacture that is molded in the body of your tire.

You look for the DOT number on the side of the tire.  For tires manufactured after the year 2000, the last four digits of the DOT number is the Date of Manufacture in the form of wwyy where ww is the week of the year (1-52) and yy is the year (i.e. 01=2001).

If the last digits of the DOT number are only three, you have a tire built in the 1990's and definitely need to replace your tires.

As of September 2009, the DOT made looking at the DOT number easier by requiring it to be molded on the same side and the Manufacturers Name and size information, the side that usually gets mounted outward.  The DOT number used to be on the other side of the tire meaning you would usually had to crawl under your motorhome or trailer to see the DOT numbers.
Disclaimer: The information in this site is a collection of data we derived from the vendors and from our personal experiences.  This information is meant as a learning guide for you to  make your own decisions  Best practices and code should always be followed.  The recommendations we make are from our personal experiences and we do not receive any compensation for those recommendations.
//hide content //hide loading message