Can someone decode the date code on these tires?

[Carrman]

There are Goodyear Eagle VR tires. These are all the numbers. I believe they are from the mid to late 80s to mid 90s.

These are all the numbers on the tires:

[equality72521]

Look for a DOT code and tell us what it says after that.

[Carrman]

Yeah, that's what I thought, but those are the ONLY numbers on the outside sidewall. The letters "DOT" are nowhere to be found.

I wonder if they are only on the sidewall facing the center of the car? That would seem odd, but I'll take a look.

[equality72521]

That is likely.

[175K911]

They are only stamped on one side of the tire. So the numbers could be on the inside. Look for something that looks like "CEH2808". That's the DOT number on my NT-01 tires. The 28 means 28th week of 08 (2008). Some older tires will just say "0402" or the 04th week of 2002. But by law, all tires must have the date code.

[rgreeny]

Look for an area on the tires that have an indentation. It is usually oval. There are numbers and letters in that area. That has year and month the tires were made.

Rob

[KTL]

Here's a picture from a Michelin tire. Note the last four digits like the others said.



The above tire was coded 0705 which is 7th week of 2005. Your Goodyear Gatorbacks could very possibly be older than the date coding began on tires. Gatorbacks have been around a long time (since the 80's) and it's not uncommon for low mile Porsches to have "antique" tires on the car.

[Cattler]

Can't answer the question without more information from the tires, but Tire Rack has a good article with info about tire production date codes pre-2000 and post-2000: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

Some good bits:

- 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.

- While the entire Tire Identification Number is required to be branded onto one sidewall of every tire, current regulations also require that DOT and the first digits of the Tire Identification Number must also be branded onto the opposite sidewall. Therefore, it is possible to see a Tire Identification Number that appears incomplete and requires looking at the tire’s other sidewall to find the entire Tire Identification Number.

- The Tire Identification Number for tires produced prior to 2000 was based on the assumption that tires would not be in service for ten years. While they were required to provided the same information as today’s tires, the week and year the tire was produced was contained in the last three digits. The 2 digits used to identify the week a tire was manufactured immediately preceded a single digit used to identify the year.

- While the previous Tire Identification Number format identified that a tire was built in the 8th year of a decade, there was no universal identifier that confirmed which decade (tires produced in the 1990s may have a small triangle following the Tire Identification Number to identify the decade).

David

[Joe Bob]

Would it have killed them to put an extra digit in there to ID the decade?

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by Carrman

Yeah, that's what I thought, but those are the ONLY numbers on the outside sidewall. The letters "DOT" are nowhere to be found.

I wonder if they are only on the sidewall facing the center of the car? That would seem odd, but I'll take a look.

The date code is formed by a replaceable plate in each tire mold; most tire manufacturers put the date code on only one sidewall (otherwise 2X the labor, 2X number and cost of plates, etc.).

For a pair of matching directional tires, then, date code will be on outside of one tire (say, LF) and inside of other tire (RF) -- but production dates of a pair could be different by many, many months.

But if you're curious/concerned enough about tire age anyway, you're probably pulling tires to check for tread depth, uneven wear, age-cracking, etc. anyway.

[PropellerHead]

These could also be competition rains and thus may not have the DOT codes.
What is the treadwear rating (couldn't quite get that from your picture)?
Goodyear made full tread wets out of this mold for racing.

[Joe Bob]

Sorry about dredging up an old thread. I have some trailer tires that I can't decide which decade they are from.....

I sent an email to the manufacturer to see if they have any internal records. I may just replace two of them.....

[KTL]

Couple years ago we borrowed a trailer with scary cracked rubber valve stems. Local Firestone shop said by law they can't reinstall trailer tires older than 6? years I believe it was said. So we had to junk one of the tires and use the not much better looking spare.

[Joe Bob]

West coast, it's 10 years or dependent of sidewall/tread condition....

[j930]

In Arizona its 4 years no matter what... its so dry out here the tires crack and split. I have a brand new trailer purchased last year, the tires on it were brand new but 2 years old by date. they had already started cracking on the sidewalls.

[Hugh R]

Trailer tires sit in one spot for a looooong time. I had one on my old trailer that the contact patch came off when I moved it. My newest trailer blew one on the way home from buying it, on the interchange between the 91 and the I-5. Very, very scary, no breakdown lane to speak of. Buy new tires for that trailer and repack the wheel bearings and try and jack it up to get the weight off the tires when parked. When trailer tires blow at speed, the trailer sometimes flips over.

[Joe Bob]

Yep.....it's up on jack stands and the tires are in the truck waiting to go into town. The spare (a Carlisle) looks to be 2009 vintage. The Nankangs could be 1998 vintage or even 10 years older.

I just got the fridge and space heater working. The blower made a squeal like Ned Beaty, the guy from Deliverance. But now is quiet after a few cycles of the thermostat.....

God....I need a job.

[Joe Bob]

Carlisle tire got back to me, 2 years old.

Nankang ignored my request.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Nankang ignored my request.

You didn't submit the message in Chinese...

[Joe Bob]

I did a Babelfish translation....