Tow vehicle DOT code has no date

[Bierp]

Am I loopy here, or does this DOT code not have the manufacture date?

I'm on the verge of replacing the tires on my dually (not cheap) and I wanted to see how old the current tires are. (The tread is ok, but I'm worried about the age. The truck is a 2016, though I only have about 46k miles.)

It really looks to me like the DOT code on these BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires don't have a manufacture date.



On the other side of the tire are two other codes, one COULD be 2012 (20th week of 2012), but that isn't anywhere near the DOT code, and that would also mean Ford sold me a new truck with 4 year old tires on it, which would not make me super happy.





Any ideas here?

[RMcNeal]

On all of my tires, truck and trailer, there is an oval shape with four numbers in it. Two numbers for the year and two for the week of that year that the tires were manufactured. Can you find that oval shape?

[RMcNeal]

Here's an example.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAD

[AZ Traveler]

Jeremy,

Can't help you with the code. If its a 2016 and the tires have not been changed it is due.

[BB_TX]

Did you look on the back side of the tires?

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

Did you look on the back side of the tires?

The date code is only on one side of the tire.

[Bierp]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

On all of my tires, truck and trailer, there is an oval shape with four numbers in it. Two numbers for the year and two for the week of that year that the tires were manufactured. Can you find that oval shape?

That's what I was showing in the first image. The oval DOT codes are there and have the first two elements, but not the date code. There isn't another area on this side of the tire with an oval. I showed the next two closest items, but they really aren't it.

Originally Posted by Cat320

The date code is only on one side of the tire.

Ok, is that the whole DOT array, or is the DOT part on both sides, but the date only on one? That'd be weird, but I guess it wouldn't surprise me.

The particular tire in this image is the outermost tire of my dually. Reading the inside of it for a code will be...challenging. Maybe when it stops raining I'll try to fish my endoscope back there to see if I can find it.

At this point it's just a curiosity. I did go ahead and order a 6-pack of Michelins from Costco. So I don't NEED to know the answer here, but my need to 'figure it out' won't let it go.

[Bierp]

After I posted that, I "braved the drizzle" to check the other tires. Neither of the rears have a date on the visible side, but both fronts are showing 1416, which seems about right.

With these coming up on 6 years since production, even with good tread and only 46k miles, I feel justified in replacing them before we go on a long haul, over some mountains, at the beginning of spring.

Better safe and all that.

...but I still want to see if those dates are on the inside.

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by Bierp

Am I loopy here, or does this DOT code not have the manufacture date?

I'm on the verge of replacing the tires on my dually (not cheap) and I wanted to see how old the current tires are. (The tread is ok, but I'm worried about the age. The truck is a 2016, though I only have about 46k miles.)

It really looks to me like the DOT code on these BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires don't have a manufacture date.



On the other side of the tire are two other codes, one COULD be 2012 (20th week of 2012), but that isn't anywhere near the DOT code, and that would also mean Ford sold me a new truck with 4 year old tires on it, which would not make me super happy.





Any ideas here?

If they are the original 2016 tires they NEED to be changed. I also have a dually, and don't forget the spare, so 7 x roughly $200(CDN) a tire adds up real quick to about $1,400 plus various fees and taxes.

[VagabondLove]

Originally Posted by bcrvman

If they are the original 2016 tires they NEED to be changed. I also have a dually, and don't forget the spare, so 7 x roughly $200(CDN) a tire adds up real quick to about $1,400 plus various fees and taxes.

Worth every penny! The blowout alternative is just not an option. It happened to us, and we were fortunate to be on a two lane road in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. Had we been on the interstate 20 minutes earlier, a life would likely have been lost.

[Bierp]

Yeah, I'm having a new set of Michelins installed Friday. I have to admit, I didn't even think about the spare. Ordering 6 tires was shocking enough.

I'll have to get one more ordered up.

This post was mostly about figuring out why my tires weren't showing the DOT manufacturing date.