No mfg. date on tires?

[JASinIL2006]

I went to a local farm implement store yesterday to look at some replacement trailer tires. I asked the (very) young guy behind the counter what the manufacturing date was for a set of bias ply tires I was considering. He said he didn't think bias ply tires had DOT stamps and date stamps on them. I said I didn't believe that to be the case, and we went out to the rack together to look at the tires. Sure enough, I couldn't see anything resembling a date stamp on these tire. (They were Carlisle 205/75D14 bias ply tires.)

I looked at both sidewalls and saw nothing that looked like a datestamp. Does this make sense? I've never seen anything about some times not having mfg. dates; I think I read that the current scheme for dating them (week of the year, and year) is fairly new, but even before that tires were dated, yes?

Anyone know what might be up with these tires? I'm puzzled...

Jim

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

Sounds very strange!

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires that Tire Identification Numbers be a combination of the letters DOT, followed by ten, eleven or twelve letters and/or numbers that identify the manufacturing location, tire size and manufacturer's code, along with the week and year the tire was manufactured.

If the price was too good to be true, you might be looking at counterfeit Tires made by Who-Knows!!! ???

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

There is a new dating method. It began in 2000, a teenager. :facepalm:

I don't know but this may help and it shows the pre-2000 method too. From Tire Rack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

The price wasn't THAT good... it's funny, because I couldn't see a DOT number OR a date number...

I suppose it's possible they are counterfeit, but who would go to the trouble to counterfeit a Carlisle tire?

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

The price wasn't THAT good... it's funny, because I couldn't see a DOT number OR a date number...

I suppose it's possible they are counterfeit, but who would go to the trouble to counterfeit a Carlisle tire?

Now that's a good point! LOL

 

[bruceb58]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

It has to be on there by law. You check both sides of the tire?

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

Yeah! I looked at both sides, for about 5 minutes. I didn't see anything that looked vaguely like it. Maybe it was there and just too faint for me to see, but I was looking for the little oval where the date code would be put in the mold, and I didn't see anything.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

Weird. Maybe it looks a bit different than what you are used to.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

It has to be on there by law. You check both sides of the tire?

It has to be on there by law to be sold in the US.
They could be genuine tires that were supposed to be shipped somewhere else, and ended up in the wrong container. Who Knows! ???

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

I've decided I'm not buying them, so as curious ad I am, this is probably going to remain a mystery...

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

China is flooding the world with counterfeit goods. Even if its their own.

 

[ZachDean]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

I wonder if it the difference between radial and bias ply. My Hoosiers on my race car are bias ply with no dot or date stamp. The same thing on my dads jeep. His 39.5" boggers have neither.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

That's what the kid at the store said. I checked a new spare that I bought a year ago (a bias ply Kenda Loadstar) and it has the DOT stamp and date.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

I wonder if it the difference between radial and bias ply. My Hoosiers on my race car are bias ply with no dot or date stamp. The same thing on my dads jeep. His 39.5" boggers have neither.

Off road tires aren't covered and don't need DOT certs. Road tires only, and that includes both radial and bias.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

I looked at my old tires (also Carlisle bias ply tires) and even they had a date stamp. These other tires must have had a stamp and it was just too faint for me to see.

In the end, I found a set of radials online that, with free shipping, were substantially cheaper than I could find locally. (I looked at iBoats, but in this case they weren't competitive due to the shipping.) Even better, the tires were made in Dec. '13 and Feb. '14, respectively. Can't ask for much more than that...

Jim

 

[MikDee]

Re: No mfg. date on tires?

Those Carlisle tires are made by Cooper!