Tires: tire mfg. date, Tire DOT Date Code

Question
Barry, I am curious to decipher the mfg. date on the Nitto tires I bought last December 2007.  On the sidewall after the DOT marking the way it reads out is: DOT737L  Also the size LT285/70R17   126/123R   10P.R.  Do you know by these markings and when they were manufactured?  Thanks, Pat

Answer
Pat,

DOT codes are a 10 to 12 digit number located near the letters "DOT".  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

Starting in the year 2000, the date coding used is 4 digits.  That means the highest number you should see for the year is 08.  Before 1999 the format was 3 digits.  1999 and 2000 are transition years, so you will find both 3 and 4 digits.

However, you haven't given me a 10 to 12 digit number, so I can't decipher it, but I did tell you how do it.  Please be aware that the full number is only on one side - and that side might not be the side facing out.