QuestionA slow leak in my '97 Geo Prizm's right-front tire prompts my questions:
1)That rt-front General's numbers: DOT T7CR (then
in a slightly impressed flat oval area:) A3Y187.
2)Left-front Firestone: DOT...(in oval:) 047.
When were these 2 tires made?
Also, in 2000 I bought--after checking Consumer Reports--2 Cooper Lifeliner Classic II tires; they
are on the rear. One tire's DOT numbers end in 00,
so I know they were made in 2000. But I don't see any DOT numbers on the other Cooper. Does that just mean DOT #s are put on only 1 side & that my tire got turned outside-in the last time they were rotated?
AnswerFirst, the serial number of a tire only has to appear on one side, so the one Cooper tire has its serial number on the inside. BTW, no matter how you rotate tires the inside of the tire will always be the inside.
Starting in mid 1999, and completed by mid 2000, the serial number had to end in a year/year format. That means the non-Cooper tires could have been made in 1997 (or 1987, or 1977), but most likely 1997. That would probably make the tires 8 years old at this point.
The latest thinking from the tire industry is that tires should be removed when they reach a certain age, but there isn't an agreement as to what that age is.
My recommendation is that in the following states the limit should be 6 years - CA, AZ, NV, NM, TX, and FL. The most northern states it is 10 years and other states are somewhere proportionally in between, For example, TN would be 8 years.
Hope this helps.
