Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Riley Blue]

Does anyone know when the tyre DOT code was introduced?

I have some unused Firestone S-211s that have the code 044 on them which I suspect means manufactured in April 1984.
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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[Peter_L]

From this clip. "date code is 1413 - where 14 denotes the week of manufacture and 13 represents the year, meaning this tyre was made in the 14th week of 2013.

If your tyres are printed with only a 3-digit number, it means your tyres were manufactured before 2000"

On 3 digit codes the last number is the year, therefore a 4 could be 1974 - 1984 or 1994. The 04 would be the 4th week of the year.

[Riley Blue]

Quite right Peter, my mistake, the 04 refers to the week rather than the month. I discovered that tyres manufactured in 1994 have a triangle after the number -
mine don't have it - so that must make them at least 1984 but was the DOT code in use ten years before then?
_________________
David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[Peter_L]

I found one reference to 1974. Even at the latest possible date, i.e 1994 they are over 23 years old.