NairalNders !! You are very funny people you are concerned about your car tire so what is your own life span. 20? 30? Or 60 ? Are your life's important or has any alue to the government ? my take is that the life of a nigerian don't really has any value .

devigblegble: Pls nl I need help, I have a Audi A6 2005 model, my wheel is locked and the gear won't move, I've tried all I could do to unlock the wheel, called some mechanics they couldn't make it move too, I need ur help on what to do

Note op I'm sorry for the interruption I'm just pissed off now

If it is the steering that is locked, try turning your ignition on and at the same time rocking (turning to left and to the right) your steering.

eluquenson: Did you know the average lifetime of a tire was 4 years? Every 6months, a wheel alignment is recommended. At 9 months, rotate your tires by swapping the front tires to the back.

To avoid any drama on the road, get into the habit of doing the "morning parade" around your vehicle and inspect your tires.

NOTE: The best way to dispose of a tire is to cut it into pieces and destroy it.




Source: The Nigerian Gazette

tyres....not tire.... take not of my correction

Mattex001: tyres....not tire.... take not of my correction

Professor Emeritus of English he is correct based on the fact that he might be Using American English in communicating.

Tyres = British spelling
Tires = American spelling.

By the way, its not not as you wrote, its NOTE next time, judge yourself before you judge others.

Thanks.

[color=#990000][/color][b][/b OGA IT IS TYRE not TIRE

[b Thanks so much for this information][/b]

Lovetinz: Cut the the tire up with what?
(tires are not cut-friendly, especially with nylon and steel liners inside them)

Destroy the pieces of cut-up tire, how?

Give them to vulcanized who would sell them to people to burn bamboos trees growing on their lands

Do you start counting while in used or not in used. Beacuase a brand new tire is still new, as long as it not been used. I guess the 4 year u talk about should be while the tire is been in used.

KA24DETT:

Stop posting wrong information. Is this information based on manufacturer date or based on when u bought it.
In US and canada. All tires are required DOT number which shows the week and year of manufacture e.g ( 35-12). It is advisable not to buy or use tires that are more than 6 years from the date of manufacture. This increases the risk of tire failure and disintegration.
About alignment , Where did you pull the 6 months crap from? .
There is no way you can cut a steel belted tire into pieces. Here in canada, no one cuts their tires. You dispose of it properly. Try cutting a run flat tire.
How did this make front page? The mods should do a better job and stop spreading misinformation.

Information is here to share with others, decision is based on people's discretion, your own opinion cannot be generalized rather its just an additional information. Making front page is not your duty to question, its already there & if you have the capacity remove it.
There is no MUST in doing things or making shallow comments about others topic cos you have the right information you couldn't share with others , you should rather not make any comment.

the average life spam should be 10years not 4yrs

What is the average lifetime of a windscreen

Well done for bringing up this topic
I will contribute by posting excerpts from an article I wrote months earlier...it is titled "Tires"

.............................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you know that using the wrong tyre specifications can increase your vehicle fuel consumption as well as introduce safety-related issues?

Every car has recommended specifications for its tires; this is carefully factored into the overall design of the car and was tested by the manufacturer before releasing the product to the market. For example, my car tyre specs is P215/50R17 93v whilst the factory-fitted spare is T135/90D15. I am sure someone is thinking "So, what does all this mean?"
Lets start with the easiest ones "R" and "17"..."R' means radial i.e. tire of radial construction whilst the "17" is what most of us know...it refers to size of rim; hence the standard tyre design for my car is a 17inch rim. Typical cars do a 15inch whilst the bigger SUVs could go as far as having 20-inch rims!!! Sounds expensive right? Yes, they are.

Lets explain the tire marking sequentially
P --> vehicle type (P indicates passenger vehicle; others are LT - Light Truck; ST - Special Trailer; T - Temporary {restricted usage for "Space-Saver" spare wheels})
215 --> tire width in millimeters. This simply says how "wide' the tire is
50 --> aspect ratio (tire's section height as a percentage of its width). It gives an indication of the height/size of the tire
R --> tire construction code (R indicates radial, others are B - bias belt {where the sidewalls are the same material as the tread, leading to a rigid ride} and D - diagonal. If omitted, then it is a cross ply tire
17 --> rim diameter in inches
91 --> load index (a numerical code associated with the maximum load the tire can carry)
V --> speed symbol (an alphabetical code indicating the maximum speed rating)

Using non-recommended tires creates various scenarios. Assume you run different sizes of wheels, the smaller ones will rotate at a faster rate than the larger ones for the same distance travelled. This will cause excessive tyre wear due to tyre scrub i.e. the tires do not roll as freely as they should thus forcing the engine to do more work and hence demand more fuel (increased fuel consumption). The centre differential (a mechanism in your vehicle) will also work excessively, trying to keep all wheels turning at the same rate, making it liable to overheating and you risk blowing the transfer box. With over-size tires, noise increases whilst you are in motion as the tires are rubbing the wheel arches especially when there are four adults in the car. The speedometer on your dashboard is going to be so inaccurate, it might as well be disconnected! Yes, you may have increased the ground clearance inorder to save your chassis from bad roads but handling has been compromised. To avoid the above listed issues and complications, consult your car manual 1 and apply the manufacturer recommendations. Also replace and discard expired tires. "Ah, ah, tires dey expire too?!" Yes, do they do.

However unlike drugs, tires do not bear the expiry date; you compute it from the manufacture date indicated on the tire. According to www.edmunds.com
"The (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has no specific guidelines on tire aging and defers to the recommendations of car makers and tire manufacturers. Car makers such as Nissan and Mercedes-Benz tell consumers to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years, provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year. The Rubber Manufacturers Association says there is no way to put a date on when a tire "expires," because such factors as heat, storage and conditions of use can dramatically reduce the life of a tire".
In Nigeria, FRSC says "vehicle tire have a 4-year validity period from their Date of Manufacture (DOM). Thereafter, the tyre expires and may burst whilst in use"2. According to the Director General of Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu "What we have found out is that in Europe and America, their tyres have four to five years life span and ours is four..."3. I suggest we use the FRSC and SON recommendation of four years. (Although this is rare, an over-zealous official can book you for using expired or worn-out tyres; the fine is =N=2,000/=N=3,000 for FRSC or =N=20,000/=N=30,000 per Lagos State Traffic Law). For the manufacture date, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires that Tire Identification Numbers be a combination of the letters DOT, followed by ten, eleven or twelve letters and/or numbers that identify the manufacturing location, tire size and manufacturer's code, along with the week and year the tire was manufactured. Since 2000, the week and year the tire was produced has been provided by the last four digits of the Tire Identification Number with the 2 digits being used to identify the week immediately preceding the 2 digits used to identify the year. For example, a tire marked:
DOT U2LL LMLR 5107
51 implies manufactured during the 51st week of the year
07 implies manufactured during 2007

Replace your tires/rims with tires/rims of the same specifications (as shown on the tire's sidewall). Mixing radial and bias-ply tires on your vehicle can reduce braking ability, traction and steering accuracy. Using tires of different construction can cause the ABS (Anti-lock Brakes) to work inconsistently. It is best to replace all four tires at the same time. If that is not possible, replace the two front tires or two rear tires as a pair. Replacing just one tire can seriously affect the vehicle's handling. Where it is necessary to change some of the tire specs (for example to increase ground clearance), staying within a +/-3% diameter change is desirable for cars and vans. On the otherhand, pick-ups and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are usually engineered to handle up to a 15% oversize tire. Most tire dimensions can be calculated.
In terms of tire manufacturers, I prefer the US and European brands like Dunlop, Michelin, Good Year, Pirelli, Firestone etc. They seem expensive, thus people opt for brands from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and China which are generally inferior to their Western counterparts. Please, avoid used tires also called "Beljun" or "Tokunboh" tires; you are simply toying with Death. Even if you decide to go for the Asian brands, find something new, carefully inspect the tire and make sure it was recently manufactured. As part of maintaining/replacing your tires/rims, perform wheel balancing and alignment. A balanced tire is when the mass of the tire, when mounted on its wheel and the car's axle, is uniformly distributed around the axle. Balanced tires can be the difference between a good or bad driving experience. Some cars (and drivers) are more sensitive to an out of balance tire than others but no one is happy with a vibration. An out of balance tire can adversely affect ride quality, shorten the life of your tires, bearings, shocks and other suspension components. An accurate wheel alignment is critical to treadwear and performance a vehicle's tires deliver. Regular wheel alignments will usually save you as much in tire wear as they cost and should be considered routine, preventive maintenance.

@denc,
You are highly gbasky for shedding more info on this topic. I give kudos to you .

Most Nigeria Car Tires are more than 4 years old I really feel this is a very key issue to be addressed especially towards our commercial buses in Nigeria these are little things we ignore but could result to fatal accidents on highways due to poor friction between the worn out tires and the road surface.

@devigblegble Very aggravating, but
just stay calm. Forcing it won't work,
and getting pissed at it is even worse
(although it will help YOU feel better!).
Best thing is to make sure your front
tires are free of obstruction on the sides,
so that they will turn if you move the
steering wheel, but won't roll forward.
Shift the transmission into neutral (if
you can), push your car a little bit, and
then put it back in park. Turn the
steering wheel until it locks, then try to
turn the key again

Chinwem: Is it me or this is the new spelling of tyre?

And no I m not an English professor, just curious

you notice grammatical errors when you have nothing to add to the discourse. Besides it can be spelt either ways

[quote author=eluquenson]

Information is here to share with others, decision is based on people's discretion, your own opinion cannot be generalized rather its just an additional information. Making front page is not your duty to question, its already there & if you have the capacity remove it.
There is no MUST in doing things or making shallow comments about others topic cos you have the right information you couldn't share with others , you should rather not make any comment[quote author=eluquenson]




All you should say is " k- I get it, I will correct it or research more about it " misinformation is very bad and people might go with your idea thinking it's the right thing to do and we don't want that .

eluquenson: @denc,
You are highly gbasky for shedding more info on this topic. I give kudos to you .

Thank you

You calculate the age of the tire from the date of manufacture written at the side of the tire like this. 4012 this simply means the tire was produced in week 40 0f 2012. Thats October of 2012. calculate to present day tells you the age of the tire.

Studies of tire safety show that maintaining proper tire
pressure, observing tire and vehicle load limits,and inspecting
tires for cuts, slashes, and other irregularities are the most
important things you can do to avoid tire failure, such as
tread separation or blowout and flat tires. These actions,
along with other care and maintenance activities, can also:
- Improve vehicle handling
- Help protect you and others from avoidable breakdowns
and accidents
- Improve fuel economy
- Increase the life of your tires

Thanks for sharing.