Tires: Goodyear Wrangler, goodyear wrangler, blank portion

Question
Last Fall I had Goodyear Wrangler tires installed on my 2002 Excursion. One tire will not balance. I believe it may be defective and was trying to determine the date of manufacture. The code is DOT MDW8 35JV blank. I believe the blank portion is where the date code should be located. How can I determine date of manufacture?

Answer
Tom,

Try looking on the other side of the tire.  The Date Code is only required on one side.

But it may be tough to get an adjustment on a tire after a year in service.  Just be aware that there are many things that would cause a tire to go out of balance that aren't caused by a defect.