Most will get you the discount if they consider the AT tire being a winter tire but not all that many are actually winter rated, the Duelers are not the Toyo's were not, the BFGs are.
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There are DOT codes on there, you can search them online. I spoke with someone close to me that works in accident investigations, he does not feel that age means all that much, if they are newish you have to be concerned about possible internal damage as well as weather checking and cracking. You can have old tires that are perfectly fine as long as the weather has not kicked their butts, essentially if they are stored in the shade and not in a hot dry environment they should be fine. If they are sitting in a field baking they are probably not fine.
I had 305/55R20 Nitto Trail Grapplers on my Sierra for the last 5 years, and they've been stellar. Fantastic in the snow, decent on ice, and amazing on the highway and offroad. I've had to pull a few buddies out of goose fields while hunting, and I've never even come close to getting stuck.
I'd be looking at either Trail Grapplers, or BFG A/T KO2s. The 20s make the price range go up considerably.
-Nick
It's not difficult to read, as in you don't need to look it up. It indicates week and year it was made. You'll get different opinions on age. Some will say just because it looks ok doesn't mean it is. Apparently even though they may look brand new they still deteriorate with age.
Insurance company just wants to know it has that important snowflake symbol on it. Nothing else (except tire condition of course) counts.
I trust the manufacturers and the science and actual studies conducted over some supposed expert's "opinion". That's how laws in relation to disclosing manufacturing dates became laws. I believe common sense would say things, like rubber, deteriorate over time, like most things do, but to each their own.
Some interesting reading here:
Background:
Tires degrade over time regardless of whether they are in service.– Tire failures can result from thermo-oxidativedegradation (“Tire Aging”) caused by:• Time• Ambient and operating temperatures• Partial pressure of O2 in a tire• Flex fatigue• Construction and compounding characteristics
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Doc...el_4b_Kane.pdf