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Four digits in an oval giving the week and year a tyre was manufactured.
Also known as: DOT code, Week and year code, Tyre age code
Every tyre carries a four-digit code in an oval: the first two digits are the week of manufacture and the last two the year, so 2319 means the twenty-third week of 2019. It matters because rubber ages whether or not the tyre is used — a spare that has never touched the road can be unfit through age alone — and because a tyre bought as new may have been in a warehouse for years. It is generally moulded on one side only, so a tyre fitted the wrong way round hides it.
Gives the week and the year of manufacture in four digits, so a tyre's age can be established exactly rather than guessed from its tread.
Contexts: Road signage, Vehicle dashboard
Matters because rubber degrades with time rather than only with use: an unused spare can be unfit through age alone, and a tyre sold as new may have spent years in a warehouse.
Contexts: Road signage, Vehicle dashboard
Is generally moulded on one sidewall only, so a tyre fitted with that side inward hides its own age — which is why the code sometimes cannot be found without jacking the vehicle up.
Contexts: Road signage, Vehicle dashboard
Four numerals enclosed in a shallow oval outline moulded into the rubber, set apart from the longer code before it.
Both are moulded into the same sidewall.