How to read the date on a tire

The date of manufacture is the last three digits of the code. The first two digits refer to the week within that year. For example, if the last digits are 02 it means that the tire was manufactured in the second week of the year, and the year is the second year of the decade.

You should also make a habit of checking the manufacturing date on your spare tire as. In other words, you may have to crawl under the vehicle or pull a tire off to find it. Unlike vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and.

The link is British (they spell tire with a y) but the information is valid just the same. The rubber on a car tire degrades over time, and tire warranties can be tied to manufacturing dates. DOT codes vary in length between and 12. The date code will let you know when tires need to be replaced. Every tire sold in the United States has a date code stamped on it.

This means if you purchase new tires today, and the DOT Date Code was a year ago, your warranty still begins on the purchase date , not the manufacture date of the tire. As such, the date code consists of only three digits, two for the week and one for the year. HOW TO READ DOT IDENTIFICATION DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SAFETY CODE. It shows the plant where your tire was manufacture the week and year it was produced and more.

A tire ’s sidewall is pretty much what it sounds like – the outer and inner “walls” on the sides of a tire , if facing a tire on its side. Every sidewall has its own unique information that is divided into three main sections: 1. This describes the fundamental characteristics of your tire. To read the date on a tire , look near the edge of the rim for a series of characters starting with the letters DOT. Knowing how to read a tire can give you important information about the type of tire on your car, RV, trailer, or motorcycle.

This can be useful when buying replacements for your vehicle, considering tire upgrades, or changing to seasonal tires if you live where winter weather can be an issue. The evidence is clear: tires should have an expiration date. Older tires are substantially more likely to fail than newer ones.

This is because tires are made mostly of rubber, and rubber degrades with age.

Sunlight, heat, ice, and general wear and tear can accelerate the breakdown of a tire. For new tires, the code is always characters. Tires Expire in Six Years. The date when a tire was manufactured is located on the sidewall of each tire.

The next four numbers indicate the date the tire was built, i. Decoding those numbers on the sidewall is a useful skill. Should auto tires have a sell-by date ? The final four numbers in the TIN represent date of manufacturer. The plant code, tire size, and brand characteristics are intended for the manufacturer’s internal use. After the brand characteristics, there are four numbers representing the tire ’s date of creation. You can use the tire identification number to find out how old your tire is.

If a tire size has no letters at the beginning, this indicates a Euro metric tire. P-Metric and Euro-Metric tires may have different load capacities. The letters LT, either at the beginning or at the end of the tire size indicate the tire was designed for light trucks. Vehicle manufacturers equip some light trucks with LT type tires. When you buy brand new tires you could be getting an old tire that has been sitting in a warehouse for years.

There is a way to check when a tire was manufactured. Automobile tires are described by an alphanumeric tire code. In this video, I show you how to read motorcycle tire manufacture date codes. The last two digits of the serial number read 7 and when reversed read 07.

Born on date and tire wear indicators Another useful piece information on a tire ’s sidewall is its manufacturing date. DOT tire identification number. A tire can look good but might be approaching the end of it safe life. All new tires sold in the United States must have a DOT number cured into the lower sidewall of one side of the tire. The date lists the week the tire was mass-produced and is followed by a one or two digit number representing the year it was made.

First two numbers will tell you the week, the last two numbers, the year of production. How to read your tyre’s sidewall markings. This number is the width of the tire in millimeters. For example, a 215-width, 17-inch tire may look great, but all things being equal, a 245-width, 15-inch tire will out-corner it every time, because the contact patch is wider.

This is the most important number to describe a tire ’s contact patch.

The serial number is smaller than the tire size code. Manufacturers also had the option of molding a partial TIN, minus the date code, on the other side of the tire. This four-digit code tells you the week and year that your tyre was manufactured.

The number is often stamped in a recessed rectangle. The last group of digits in the code is the date code that tells when the tire was made. As far as aging goes, this has been an ongoing debate in the tire industry for the last several years. Several vehicle manufacturers recommend replacing tires after years but the tire industry has not been able to collect enough data to agree on a standard.

The last four numbers give the date of production (the first two indicate which of weeks, and the second two, the year). The European equivalent of the DOT. The DOT date code on a tire is numbers.

Knowing the age of your tires will help you decide when to replace your tires, and keep your driving safe and smooth. To determine the tire ’s age, look at the last four numbers of the code.

Click on the file below to view the printable article on how to read date codes on vintyage Goodyear tires.