Tire DOT code or TIN
 

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but I learned something new today about the DOT Manufacturer Code or Tire Identification Number that is printed on all tires sold in the U.S.

This begins with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire meets all federal standards. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 317 means the 31st week of 1997. The numbers 4106 would mean the 41st week of 2006. The other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion. This information is used to contact consumers if a tire defect requires a recall.

What I never knew about were those last 4 digits, that indicate a tires manufacutered date. If the code on your tire has only 3 digits, that means your tires was made pre-2K.

Here's a short video that highlights the importance of paying attention to this code when buying tires:

[url]http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897[/url]

Thanks for posting this