Tires: DOT ID on tires, 4 digits, arrow head

Question
QUESTION: I bought a car and the last 4 numbers in the DOT code on the tire is 5514.  What month and year was it built?  We have not been to year 2014 yet.  Thanks


ANSWER: Jim


Obviously you've not correctly located the DOT code.

Here's how to tell how old the tires are:

First locate the letters "DOT" on the sidewall of the tire.  Nearby will be the DOT code.  DOT codes are 10 to 12 digits long.  BTW the digits can be numbers or letters.

The first 2 digits are a code for the manufacturing plant.  

The next 2 digits are a code for the tire size.  

The next 3 or 4 digits are a code for the type of tire.  

The last 3 or 4 digits are the date code.  The format is week/week/year/year or week/week/year.  These are always numbers.

Starting in the year 2000, the date coding used was 4 digits.  That means the largest number you should see for the year is 09.  Before 1999 the format was 3 digits.  1999 and 2000 are transition years, so you will find both 3 and 4 digits.

The date code only has to be on one side – and it is permissible for there to be a partial DOT code, so long as one side has the complete code.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I did find the DOT code on the inside of the tire.  It has 7 letters and 4 numbers - 5514.  My only conclusion is that it probably was made in 2004 and that the 1 is an error.  Agree?

ANSWER: Jim,

I disagree.

The largest number you should see for the week is 53.  The largest number you should see for the year is 09.  That's too many differences.

Is it possible that this tire is from 1994?  - and the date code is really 514?

One possible way to determine this is that during the 1990's, it was common to use an arrow head to point to the date code.  

Well, they called it an arrow head, but it looked more like a solid triangle with one of the points poiting to the left.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tires were made by Cooper.  I just discovered a document to the Fed Govt in which they reported that between Oct 2004 and April 2005 their molds had the wrong codes.  This verifies my suspicion that the code 5514 was an error.

Answer
Jim,

Thanks for the update.  Without looking at the number, it's difficult to tell if the number reported is actually part of the sequence or someone's interpretation.

BTW, what documnet number was it?  I'd like to see what it was they reported.