Comments on: Check Your New Tires For This Code Before They Cause An Accident.

By: rodo2040

rodo2040 — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:00:07 +0000

well my friends if there is nothing after the letters dot then that means this tire doesnt have a serial # so this tire was made with really poor compounds, and its a bad fake tire, get rid of it asap

By: Janet Osborne

Janet Osborne — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:59:20 +0000

I need all new tires for my 2002 Land Cruiser, I’m worried about Toyota selling me old tires. My husband has recently bought new tires on his Lexus, is the DEF 4607 the same as the DOT?
What brand should I look for, for my LC

thanks,
Janet

By: Wingman54

Wingman54 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:44:22 +0000

Juan,
The Code you listed is simply the “abbreviated” code that tire manufacturers are permitted to put on one side of the tire while the other side of the tire has the ENTIRE code, including the LAST 4 digits (or 3 digits if manuf prior to 1999). Per the federal DOT, this is perfectly acceptable, but personally, I don’t agree with it.
If you have a tire that can only be mounted with a given side out (like a whitewall, RWL, or omni-directional, like some high-performance tires) chances are the ENTIRE code is on the BACK (hidden) side of the tire that is normally not visible, You’d have to crawl underneath with a flashlight or put it on a lift to see it.
I’m 99.99% sure that’s what you’re seeing on the visible side.

By: Juan Medrano

Juan Medrano — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:10:31 +0000

Good Info. I bought some Firestone Affinity tires and the Dot is Dot W26V A1A. Can anyone tell me what this code means?

Appreciate any help..
thanks.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:59:23 +0000

have a look on the inside of the tire wall (the side facing the car), the tires may have been mounted wrong side out, if so they should be changed around too.

By: shaman

shaman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:34:24 +0000

just read your comments, the tires you were talking about with the 484 code– if I remember correctly, a three digit code would be 1984. If it had a 484 with a triangle after it, it would be 1994, and if a four digit code like 4804, it would be 2004

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:59:27 +0000

Very Informative. Thank You……

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:14:35 +0000

The DOT is still more or less exactly the same as it has been for several decades. It changed in 2000 to use 4 digits, 2 for the year and 2 for the month but prior to this they only used 3 numbers in total. The 113S you are seeing on your tire is it’s load index and speed rating of your tires. If you actually bothered to look up any of this on the manufactures website you would know what it is or even at a tire retail site, it’s not like any of this stuff is a secret it’s just nobody cares to look into it or even pay any attention to their tires. The number is your load index it tells you how much weight the tires can hold at their maximum air pressure, the letter is the speed rating telling you how fast it is safe to drive the tire at. If there’s anything else you want to know go to http://www.tires.com and check out their info center.

By: david

david — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:54:26 +0000

Don’t know Amy, I have not seen the “S” – anyone else?

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:57:24 +0000

I checked my tires from Sams Club and the date code is 113S. What does the “S” indicate, and does this mean the tires I purchased as new 2 years ago were actually manufactured in 1993???? 15 years old???