Tire date codes ?

Can someone ,in very simple terms ,explain how to read tire date codes. Also when did they start using them? Thanks for the help.

 

On the DOT # it should be 3 digits, like 256, it would be the 25th week of 2006. I dont know when they started it though.

 

There have been date codes on tires for a long time, but since they generally don't tell you what decade the tire was made, they might not be very useful for really old tires.

 

A lot of new tires user 4 digits at the end. Look for the D.O.T. number on the tire. I believe the first four letters/digits refer to the place it was made and by who. The next four refer to the model and size. The last 3 or 4 are the dates, like 256 or 2506. They would be 25th week of '06. If they were made in the 90's, they usually hav a triangle pointing towards the last letter. 60's, 70's, or 80's your on your own to figure out which decade.

 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/TireSafety/ridesonit/brochure.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code
http://www.tiredefects.com/news.cfm?Key=DOT-tire-code-number-markings &News=2089

 

From the link:

2 digits for week of the year plus 2 digits for year; or 2 digits for week of the year plus 1 digit for year for tires made prior to 2000

 

that would make sense, I've not been in the tire business since the previous Millennium.

 

So the 150 on my tires means they are 18 years old?

 

Probably. But they made them better back then...right?

 

Yeah, but seeing you're in Canada, they're metric years, so the tires are really only 11 years old !!!