Friday, January 31, 2014
WinnieDeekay's Blog
To start with, car tyres
are very important to the life of a motorist because that is the only link
between the vehicle and the road. It carries the load in the vehicle and to a
large extent, can determine the safety of all occupants in a vehicle at any
point in time.
Vehicle tyres have a
4-year validity period from their Date of Manufacture (DOM). Thereafter, the tyre
expires and may burst whilst in use. If used carefully, after two years the tire
loses about 20% of its qualities and by the age of three it reaches about 50%.
An appropriate age for tire replacement is thus
between the age of 2-4years, unless worn down earlier by damage, alignment
problems or mileage. The process can also be intensified with high-mileage
tires or when unused tires are
stored in bad conditions, or when a car is parked permanently for a long time.
Likewise, countries with shifty weather, bad roads and especially hot and moist lands all rush the
process.
I know you might be saying right now, quit all the sermon, how do I find out whether my tire has expired?
I know you might be saying right now, quit all the sermon, how do I find out whether my tire has expired?
·
First, check for a stamp like this: (*0504*). There is an
asterisk at the
beginning and at the end
of this serial number (Some tires don't have asterisk) or sometimes it comes with
pre-alphabet letters like this (*PHN0504*) .
In all cases, the first
two numbers of the last 4 digits, in this case - 0 and 5 will tell which week
of the year has it been manufactured. Note: One year has 52 weeks. The last two
numbers represent the year of make. Therefore, (*0504*) shows that the said tyre is
manufactured in the 5th week of the year 2004. *4099* this shows
that the tire is made in the 40th week of 1999. So in this case, this tyre has over-expired...burn it! Any car, bike or truck tyre higher than
4years from current year is high risk.
· Check all your tires for safety purposes. Do not use
expired tires. They are likely to burst, especially when running in hot weather
because the rubber component may have hardened and cracked.
Julius Abanshebe Akpong TMIOSH, MISPON, is a Member of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria has published books like, Simplified Chemistry for Senior Secondary 1, The path to Greatness, Reaching the Apex, Atmospheric heavy metals deposition and dispersion in Akpabuyo LGA of Cross River State. He is the publisher of the SuperPsychic Achiever, several HSE articles and bulletins for corporate bodies, international journals and newspapers like Business Insight and is yet to publish his first HSE book; HAZID companion.
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