Decoding Tire Sidewall Codes!

[@puertoriqueno24]

I'm glad you threw the manufacturered date cuz that's exactly what I was looking for

[@drac1026]

Very good information, as well as the comments below. I never thought about tires dry rotting.

[@larrybyers7306]

I'm in awe of your knowledge!

[@DirtFarmerJay]

Larry, I think you have a particularly low threshold for awe-ness. Just sayin'! Hope you guys are doing great!

[@danlivni2097]

@@DirtFarmerJay Question for you, cause I'm having problems with these new tires I got. I'm getting the shaking in the front of the car, which I never got with the previous tires I had on the car. So Saturday I had the mechanic put on the Bridgestone El400-2 tires in the front. They're 215 60 R16 94v on the front. For the rear he put on these Pirelli P7 216 60 R16-95h. The car recommends 95h. I also got a car inspection that day. When I'm driving on the highway with the new tires, I noticed there's a shaking in the front, especially when I'm going over 60 miles an hour, like 65 and 70 miles an hour. There's even a shaking on the steering wheel. I didn't get this with the previous tires I had. With my previous tires I had different brands on the front and back. I'd had Sumitimo on the front and BF Goodrich on the back. Both tires were 95h which is what the car recommends. What do you think this shaking is from. Do you think the Bridgestone 94v is doing that, or maybe the Bridgestones are defective tires. I'm thinking maybe I should rotate the tires and put the Pirellis on the front and put the Bridgestones in the back. Would that help with stop the shaking in the front. Or should I just get two new tires to replace the Bridgestone and have tires rated at the 95h, which is what the car wants. I bought the Bridgestones and Pirelli tires on eBay. I bought them from two different people. I bought the Bridgestone from one person and I bought the Pirelli from another person. Both have great ratings on eBay.

[@AssanRaelian]

Very informative video, thanks for sharing 👌🏿

[@johnnyace1954]

Very informative video! Love your KZbin hat! thanks

[@DirtFarmerJay]

Thanks Edmund Williams. Keep watching and commenting. Best, DFJ

[@womanofsubstance8735]

Great video, should be shown in Driver Ed classes. I love "useless" information because it rarely is. ;-)

[@patrickmorgan3326]

Good information, thanks for sharing it.

[@craigkalkman516]

Good video, HOWEVER, you missed the point on the usefulness of the date of manufacture. All tires will dry rot over time. In my job as a Safety Director we learned that the hard way when one of our fleet drivers was killed when his dry rotted tire failed and he was killed during the rollover of his vehicle at a job site. After an extensive amount of research with numerous major tire manufacturers we got to the bottom line - if a tire is ten years old or older, regardless of if is mounted or not during that timeframe, it's time to get rid of that tire to avoid exposure to dry rot problems. You can't tell from just looking at the tire, either. We went through our entire fleet and destroyed literally hundreds of tires that had passed the 10 years point. I would urge you to do the same. Also, when purchasing tires, insist on a manufacture date that is current, not years old. That tire that sat around in the tire outlet inventory is aging just as much as the tire being mounted on your vehicle. Make sure you buy fresh rubber! That code on the sidewall just may save your life. We wish we had known that before our fatality. I should also add that we discovered from our research that if a tire is significantly deflated (>20%) under load, the steel belts can fail from being deformed. Check your pressure regularly and don't ride on an under-inflated tire!

[@cardo1111]

Craig Kalkman Great info!

[@hidingfromu5293]

@Craig Kalkman. Sorry to hear about your as well as the family's loss. A mechanic that I'm familiar with that worked for a major trucking company told me that their policy on low air pressure for tires was it was flat if the pressure was 90 lbs or less on a 100 lb truck tire. That's 10% and the tire was thrown out.

[@mitchellmanning7887]

Thanks for sharing

[@geraldo9965]

I have a set of exactly the Dean tire on your video. On the DOT line, there is a “DOT U93R XPR” each in an oval and where the date code, week/year of manufacture,is not present. There is an oval, but there are no digits therein. These were bought at a Les Schwab store and I am suspicious that they may be old. What gives? A member of the family had them installed and they were told that “no-name brand” was only one of two available for our Toyota Camry. Since it is one of the best selling cars, I know there are literally dozens of tires, national brands and “no-name brands” available for the vehicle. This sounds like some sort of trickery to sell some discontinued tires (which I understand the Dean brand is) to uninformed buyers. Please respond with a comment. Thanks!

[@DirtFarmerJay]

Gerald O, something doesn't seem right. Basic information pertaining to the manufacture date, who the manufacturer is, and so forth, is a federal law requirement. If they are not on your tires, there is a violation of the law. I assume you've checked both sides of the tire? Sometimes, depending on the customer's or selling store's preference, they put differing sides out. Do you still have the receipts? If so, a conversation is appropriate with the tire retailer. On another note, as you note, the Toyota Camry is a very popular car, and the thought that there was only a couple of choices is not a defensible statement. Let me know how this turns out. Give the retailer an opportunity to make it right. It's possible they had a "rogue" person on the counter, or someone was having an off day and your relative got the brunt of it. Best Regards, DFJ

[@billriggle2392]

The date the tire was made is not worthless information, it’s very important information! The tire dry rots over time, whether mounted or not. It won’t be too funny when your loved ones are going down the highway at 70 mph and the tread falls off the tire. A warning to all !

[@DirtFarmerJay]

Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@carolinebeck807]

I have read tires should be changed every 5 years so the date of manufacturer is very important information. Another poster said every 10 years and with all the research his company did I believe he may be more correct than what I have read in the past. Time do do some research of my own.

[@BIGMANMUSIK]

Great video and well done. The flashlight was a bit too bright for the camera.

[@jhunsawgempe5859]

can you define the dot yellow & red color stands for side wall of the tire?

[@DirtFarmerJay]

On the sidewall of most new tires are red and yellow painted dots. These are markers or guides to be aligned with particular points on the wheel. ... The less lead used for wheel weights, the lower the cost for balancing. The more weights are used, the higher the cost to balance your tires.

[@alcarol2480]

What the Red and Yellow Dots on the sidewall mean

[@tfknauss]

Good stuff thanks Jay, bet your wife raised her brow a bit when you brought a tire in her kitchen!!

[@hfdzl]

Not useless when the DOT stops you!

[@DirtFarmerJay]

hfdzl - well said. Best Regards, DFJ

[@robertclark4929]

I have 3 different lawnmower tires 11 4.00x 5. None are the same height. One of them is 2 inches taller than the others. The other 2 are not the same height either.

[@DirtFarmerJay]

Robert, thanks for writing. That's odd. There is a standardization in the world of lawn equipment tires. Here's a great primer on the subject: www.tires-easy.com/blog/lawn-tractor-tires-sizing-buying-guide/. Hope this helps! Best, DFJ

[@lab1042]

How about date code on an older tire? My spare says DOT T7KA H2A4402. From a '91 Toyota.

[@DirtFarmerJay]

lab1042, Your tires are Hankook, made in South Korea, at least the second set of tires on your car, as the tires were made in the 44th week of 2002, well after the car was made and put into service. Does that help? Best Regards, DFJ

[@lab1042]

@@DirtFarmerJay Yes, thank you! I think the H2A part must have thrown me off as I was expecting a 4 digit code.

[@DavidGrassSr]

Well, your supposed to learn something every day ?? I just did .. Thanks Texas