After inspecting your tires, do you ever wonder what the numbers and letters on the tire actually mean? Do they have something to do with how old your tire is or just gibberish manufacturer codes? It's actually the Department of Transportation (DOT) code used to identify your tire. It's often on the outer rim of your tire and has DOT followed by 10-12 characters of letters or numbers. These characters represent the manufacturer and plant code, the tire size, the manufacturer identity number and the week and year the tire was made. For instance, Let's break down the DOT code PJ43 35HV 1612.
PJ is the manufacturer and plant code
43 is the tire size
35HV is the manufacturer identity number
1612 is the week and year it was made.
However, The DOT code may differ based on the type of vehicle and manufacturer of the tire. Most importantly, the last 4 digits identifies the tire age and helps to identify when your tires need to be replaced. It always a good idea to check the tire date it was made and not rely on when you exactly bought it. Sometimes tires sit around for months to years until they are purchased. Luckily, there are warranties on tire purchase dates rather than manufacturer dates. Generally, most tire manufacturer warranties cover the tires from four to five years after date of purchase. For example, if you purchased a new tire today and it was manufactured three years go, then your warranty would cover fours years from today's date since that's the date of purchase. However, it is still a good idea to stay on top of both when you purchased your tire and when it was manufactured.
For more information, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will help best suit your tire needs and answer any more questions.
Credible Sources
https://www.honkforhelp.com/explore/2015/how-to-read-a-dot-tire-code-and-why-it-matters/
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a4047/how-old-are-your-tires-15441034/