How to check out info on your tires

How to check out info on your tires

Postby longdog2 » Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:41 pm

"How do I really know who made my tires and where they were made?"

As for where they were made, the tire sidewalls usually have a "Made In ....." marking; however, to know for sure who made the tire and where, here are some tips from a blog I follow:

On the tire sidewall is a DOT Code. That code includes a series of numbers and letters. The first two letters/numbers are the code for the manufacturing plant. The last four numbers indicate the week and year the tire was made (51st week of 2007 in the example below).
Image

In this example, the plant code "U2" is a Sumitomo plant in Japan. How do I know that? Well, all tire manufacturing plants have a code from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). And I found a place within the NHTSA website where you can do a really quick search on that code.

The "Search Manufacturers Database" tool indicated in the image below ....
Image


can be found at http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/manufacture/

So, look at your tires, get those first two letters/numbers from the DOT line, uncheck all the boxes on the left except "Tires" and "New Tire", and plug in the two digits in the DOT ID box in the bottom center.

Hit the "Start Search" button and in seconds you have the tire manufacturer and the address of the plant where the tires were made.

Or, if you want to see where all of a manufacturer's plants are, plug in the tire company name in the "Manufacturer Name" box at the top and you will get all their plants with addresses and their two-digit DOT codes.

Just remember that with RV tires, age is generally more important than tread since they tend to dry out and crack from UV rays before they lose tread. Hope this info helps some of the newbies or reminds anyone looking at purchasing an RV (either new or used) to check the tires. It is also not unheard of for someone to purchae "new" tires only to find out that they actually sat in a warehouse for 3 or 4 years before the purchase.
Traveling with the Longdogs
Colleen (Willy,Gretchen,Harley)

http://travelinglongdogs.blogspot.com/
2009 299RLS Jayco 5vr
F250 SuperDuty Diesel Truck
Image
User avatar
longdog2
 
Posts: 957
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:34 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX

Re: How to check out info on your tires

Postby Irmi » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:53 pm

That's great information, Colleen. I knew about the date but I didn't know about the manufacturer. That's good to know.
User avatar
Irmi
 
Posts: 3177
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:27 pm
Location: Central Florida

Re: How to check out info on your tires

Postby Bethers » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:47 pm

Good reminder. And if you don't see that number on the tire - check another - here's why:

"While the entire Tire Identification Number is required to be branded onto one sidewall of every tire, current regulations also require that DOT and the first digits of the Tire Identification Number must also be branded onto the opposite sidewall. Therefore, it is possible to see a Tire Identification Number that appears incomplete and requires looking at the tire’s other sidewall to find the entire Tire Identification Number."
Beth
“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
"He who treasures the small things in life has found the path to true happiness"
Image
User avatar
Bethers
 
Posts: 17794
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:00 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: How to check out info on your tires

Postby ellenw » Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:55 pm

Got here from Beth's reference in another post. Question: In Colleen's example, does the "LMLR" part ahead of the week & year mean anything I should be concerned about?
Ellen (and Tucker of course!), traveling in "Joy," a 2012 Jayco Greyhawk 26DS

http://www.JoyfulMeanderings.wordpress.com


Image Image Image
User avatar
ellenw
 
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:19 am
Location: currently Spokane, Washinhton

Re: How to check out info on your tires

Postby avalen » Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:14 pm

very good information and since I'll be shopping for tires in just about 6 months, I'll have to remember this post is here.
Somewhere with Ava and Maggie
Image
User avatar
avalen
 
Posts: 9430
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:13 pm
Location: Apache Junction Arizona

Re: How to check out info on your tires

Postby Bethers » Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:25 pm

ellenw wrote:Got here from Beth's reference in another post. Question: In Colleen's example, does the "LMLR" part ahead of the week & year mean anything I should be concerned about?

No. But if you're interested in knowing, you can find out where your tires were manufactured by following Colleen's directions and link.

And the new tires I got for my car this summer (Goodyear) were made in Lawton, OK.
Beth
“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
"He who treasures the small things in life has found the path to true happiness"
Image
User avatar
Bethers
 
Posts: 17794
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:00 pm
Location: Arizona


Return to Maintenance/Tech Issues

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests