DOT tire code and age
12-17-2006, 09:41 PM
#1
Nordschleife Master
Thread Starter
DOT tire code and age
DOT AABB CCCC DDDD
AA is the plant code.
DDDD is the manufacturing date, 2 digit week, 2 digit year
BB CCCC can be anything the manufacturer wants or CCCC could even be missing.
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number
This begins with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire meets all federal standards. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 3197 means the 31st week of 1997. The other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.
***** This had me a little confused, I checked my Kumho's, took pictures, and didn't manage to get the date on any of the four. DOT code is only on ONE side of the tire, which means on mine that the drivers side had it on the inside and the passenger side had it on the outside. I got "DOT YOF8 YA3F funny smooth looking blank spot". The latter apparently where a laser or something burns in the date code. I thought YA3F was the date code at the time, so didn't look carefully at the smooth part. One picture vaguely looks like the year might be 5, gotta check it again.
My old Mustang had a mix of 1998 and 2000 tires, so even though the tread is still "ok" looks like time for a new set.
Wifes car has 2005 at least on the two newest I "accidentally" took a pict of the correct area on. Gotta check the others again.
AA is the plant code.
DDDD is the manufacturing date, 2 digit week, 2 digit year
BB CCCC can be anything the manufacturer wants or CCCC could even be missing.
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number
This begins with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire meets all federal standards. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 3197 means the 31st week of 1997. The other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.
***** This had me a little confused, I checked my Kumho's, took pictures, and didn't manage to get the date on any of the four. DOT code is only on ONE side of the tire, which means on mine that the drivers side had it on the inside and the passenger side had it on the outside. I got "DOT YOF8 YA3F funny smooth looking blank spot". The latter apparently where a laser or something burns in the date code. I thought YA3F was the date code at the time, so didn't look carefully at the smooth part. One picture vaguely looks like the year might be 5, gotta check it again.
My old Mustang had a mix of 1998 and 2000 tires, so even though the tread is still "ok" looks like time for a new set.
Wifes car has 2005 at least on the two newest I "accidentally" took a pict of the correct area on. Gotta check the others again.
