Cooper40 Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 Trying to figure out the date code on this Uniroyal tire. Date code on the back of it says: DOT APHF DHX 1193 Does that mean that the date of this tire is 1993? It seems a lot older but that is what the date code says and it kinda lines up with possibly how long the car has been sitting. Here's a picture of the front of it and the date code even though it's hard to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
later Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 First 2 numbers are the week. Second 2 numbers are the year. 11th week of 1993. Googled tire date decoder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 The 4 digit date code didn't go into effect till 2000, 7 years after the assumed manufacture date of these tires. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 some maker pre 2000 used only the last three digits of the series of letters/numbers after the DOT.....they read the first two as week of the year and the last digit the year.....they did not identify the decade on the average as most cars currently/continuously driven would not likely have tires 10+ years of age was their reasoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 I'm a little confused on the number as I'm used to the 3 digit code. 25 years ago but every Monday get to work sit down with a cup of coffee and stamp out 150 new aluminum tags for the week. .... One at a time with a manual hand stamp .... insert correct dies in stamp for date that week .... the tag also included our specific shop number & date. Anyone could look at the shop number and chase it back to Fred in Spokane, he's the one that retreaded this tire! It was required, but I hated it ..... Every Monday morning set the date, insert blank stamp pull the lever and put stamp in box ..... repeat 150 times. Funny story. Had a partner we worked together for some time, he left & with another guy they opened a shop of their own. They were hungry and trying to get sales. Among others swift was one of our accounts. They ran a particular Michelin tire we could retread twice .... they had over 500K miles on them at this time ..... even though they looked perfect, they were old and never survive a 3rd retread. So we send them back as junk. Well the clown trying to create business would go through the junk pile, find those tires and retread them & get paid for it. He knew they would not last so he did not put his tag on them .... then the failed tire had my tag on them as the last person to retread it. He got away with it almost a year, took a few months for the tires to get into circulation, & then to fail ..... all of a sudden we start getting a bunch of failures that does not seem right .... our failure rate was .001 almost impossible to gauge. So Bandag stepped in and started investigating. They were at Swift when the new shop was delivering a load of tires .... they did not have their DOT tag on them. They only had our old tag on them from the last time we retreaded them. All the equipment is owned by Bandag, is leased and not sold. Bandag shut them down that very day ... then there was the court cases and lawyers ... I know the two both mortgaged their homes to open the shop ... were talking a million dollars financed to get started. They lost everything, I'm sure they have mug shots on file. The DOT tags are important .... Gawd I hated that job every Monday morning ...... stamp ... stamp .... stamp .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 Los, as Sniper stated, along 2000 they went to the 4 digit code to correctly identify week and year and negate the guessing at decade.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper40 Posted September 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 @Plymouthy Adams @Los_Control I'm confused as to why it is a 4 digit code and not 3. The tire looks really old. Guess I'll have to do some research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 have to agree to term to visit uniroyal websire, they can have their site, I'm not that interested.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 20 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said: Los, as Sniper stated, along 2000 they went to the 4 digit code to correctly identify week and year and negate the guessing at decade.... I understand totally I'm the one that suggested to check the date code on the tires on the other thread. Then later I researched the date code and found it was changed in 2000 from 3 digit to 4 digit. I copied & pasted the article to show the change. Just saying I'm well aware of the change because I posted the article on it in another thread. .... Thats why I'm confused. Another poster did suggest some companies did adopt the 4 digit date code earlier then others before 2000 .... I'm kinda leaning in this direction right now. Uniroyal was a major player at the time .... I think that might be the correct answer. Personally IDGAF, car has been sitting a long time ... engine had rust in strange places and locked up .... A 1993 tire is still 30 years old .... Who cares? I want to know if the block is not cracked and holds coolant. .... Just because they got it freed up now .... we need to know more. Way too much time has been spent talking about 30 year old tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 23, 2023 Report Share Posted September 23, 2023 not just the tires Los, read again, it has been points and condenser and oil filter.....pedigree of the old and tired is quite important to some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted September 24, 2023 Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 @Plymouthy Adams I will not argue with you one bit on this matter ... yes there was mention of a old oil filter. Who cares? .... I understand many do, I tried to guess the year my truck was parked ... In the end it is all guesses. As I worked on it I came up with my own opinion. Still a guess and no definite answer. I feel our young friend @Cooper40is trying to learn more about his car ...... I would love to help point them on the correct path. I feel making WAG about date codes on old tires that will not even hold air is not a good way to help this young man. I want to see some coolant put into the engine, then if it does not have a cracked block lets get it to run .... In my way I would just like to move their focus from things that do not matter to things that do. I care about the man & the project ... I give zero shoots about the 30 year old tire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper40 Posted September 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 @Los_Control I understand where you're coming from about just getting to the point and getting the engine running....and I totally get that. I guess for me this is my first project car ever and it is all new to me, and I'm young and to me that's part of the fun of it....diving into the history of the car and just trying to uncover different clues. I don't have a window that I have to get the engine running so I'm just taking it slow. You and everyone else has been very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted September 24, 2023 Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 Do not take me wrong @Cooper40 I love reading your post and want to help where I can. I also realize winter is coming on, nobody in New Hampshire wants to add water to their vehicle. 5 years from now you might say well I think it sat for 30 years ..... you will never know the truth. During the next 5 years working on it you will have a opinion ..... you will never know the exact date with the information you have. But a good idea. I'm only suggesting to move on, not worry how long it sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper40 Posted September 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 @Los_Control Totally get what you're saying. I realize I have to move on too lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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