Hot Rods How old are these tires?

Looked up how to read the date codes using Google, but this doesn't seem to match up. says DOT U9HF XH3. There's 2 blank spaces after that.

 

those seem to be batch codes, not date codes. Look for 3 or 4 numbers by themselves, such as 3208 or 248 or something.

Also pictures of the tires will help, we might be able to guess what decade they are from, just by how they look. I don't know if you've looked at modern tires, they look pretty fancy compared to old ones (unless they are repops or something).

 

This is for modern tires. ^^^^^^

 

Tires made before 2000 have a 3 digit date code. I think it's the week number followed by the last digit of the year. It really doesn't matter because they are already waaaaay too old. Tires made after 2000 have a four digit date code WWYY (35th week of 2011 in the example above).

 

You may want to look at both sidewalls - I have found on many tires the DOT # on one side lacks the date code, but the other side will have it!

 

usually on the "back" of the tire....

 

And there's the answer! Had them on white wall in. My avatar cars has 2013s and my O/T one is 2016s....

 

2013 tires are getting a bit old for my taste..but then so are 2016...

 

5 to 7 years is my limit. Doesn't matter what they look like.

 

Ha! Three of four on my old pickup are date coded 1989.
So there!

 

How do yo know that? The three digit date codes (pre 2000) carry only the units digit of the year. They could be 1989, 1999, 1979, 1969.....

 

......Keep it under 100mph!!!!

 

It's all good.......... 'til it's not.

 

I have a car sitting on Coker bias plys for about 15 years now, still seem kinda new to me.

 

The rubber compound does harden over time though. This will affect sidewall flexibility and the ability of the tread to grip the road surface. The problem will be more noticable in wet or icy conditions and in emergency braking/steering situations. Common sense should still be exercised when it comes to bias ply tire age.

 

I was thinking that there used to be a code that the dealer recorded, and was used to determine how much excise tax had to be paid.

Gary

 

I once had to use a 25 year old bias ply tire to get home after having a blowout at my uncle's way out in the sticks. I swear despite the tire being dead on recommended pressure it felt like I was driving on a flat tire lol