Quick Year Trick

[FarmerPug]

So if you need to quickly tell the year of the car, look at the side windows:

the wee number at the bottom has always been right for me, this is a 2002 car

a 2003, it seems to be present on all cars this feature, you need to use your own inititve on if its a 2003,or 1993 but the only car that could cause problems on are a land rover defender.

[steve_earwig]

Dude, are you growing a crop on your car?

[Welly]

Somehow, I feel less intelligent knowing this

[lozz]

is that a new Vw project is see there farmer P ?

[steve_earwig]

Somehow, I feel less intelligent knowing this

Why? The dots thing has been around for years, it's how we used to check to see how many new windows a car had needed & work out if it had been in a pile-up. Not sure about the numbers though, it'll probably be on Wiki or similar somewhere anyway.

I should work out how my mate can tell what year a tyre was made

[Welly]

The tyre date thing is easy, there's a 4-digit number in an elongated circle on the side-wall which gives you the week number and year.......

Here, this one's made in week 48 year 2006 (4806)

[Doggy]

Kewl!

That'll save me carbon dating the one reamining rear C*ntinental that refuses to wear out.

Doggy will advise findings in due course.....

Like the new avatar BTW, but I didn't realise fuel was so comparatively cheap where you are.

[steve_earwig]

Ah, so that's how it's done, no smoke, no mirrors. Shame I didn't know this earlier because it would have been interesting to know how old the tyres that refused to wear out on my D8 were...

[Welly]

If there's any cracking on the rubber then it's really time to get some new tyres however much tread is left on them. They have a shelf life of about 6 years, after that there's a risk of de-lamination.

[FarmerPug]

its a bit out of focus, but you see the year, its always the bottom digit, me owning a vw is something i dont intend ever to do.

[Doggy]

That'll save me carbon dating the one reamining rear C*ntinental that refuses to wear out.

Doggy will advise findings in due course.....

5007 - so December 2007, not so bad after all.

'cept I discovered the much newer G'year on the other side is out of shape, the inner section of the tread is no longer circular!
You can't actually see a problem, but if you run your hand around it, you can feel a slightly proud spot every 3 - 4 inches around the circumference.

Guess that means another two tyres.

[steve_earwig]

What happened there then? Shocks ok?

[Doggy]

Don't know. It feels a tiny bit wallowy, but I'd suspect the fronts more than the rears. Don't suppose it's incorrect camber adjustment. Someone suggested a broken cord in the tyre.

I think the previous tyre on this corner wore out in a very localised 'ring' just in from the shoulder, so I think I'd like to eliminate the adjustment first. I've already got two upper suspension arms, (though not yet fitted).

Trouble is, if the existing ones aren't set right, how do I set up the new ones?