Odd DOT code

[46wischris]

Had the '38 4-door convertible we just bought delivered to our place in WI while we were in AL, so after almost a month of waiting yesterday was the first I've had a chance to look at it. In the last 50 years it's had just two owners, the most recent since 2002. Looked through a ton of receipts, a lot has been done to the car. Based on what I learned from the dealer the bias ply wide whites on the car did not have a DOT code so I ordered a set of Diamond Back 6.00x16 radials. I guess the dealer didn't know that with wide whites you look on the inner sidewall for the code. When I saw the tires were Coker Classics, I was hoping they weren't that old. The mystery I'm trying to solve that the code reads YWMA2D8171. Those last 4 digits for week and year didn't make sense to me, so I Googled the number. The AI assistant came back with "The tire identified by the DOT code YWMA2D8171 was manufactured during the 81st week of 2017. The first four characters (YWMA) likely indicate the manufacturer and plant code, while the last four characters (2D8171) provide the date code." Made me laugh. I still plan on running the radials and selling the bias plys as rollers, but hoping someone can solve the 8171 mystery for me.

 

[38bill]

Since it would be before 2000 they would probably be more like 17th week of 1991.

From the internet:

For tires made before 2000, the date is represented by the last three digits of the DOT code. The first two digits represent the week of manufacture, and the last digit indicates the year within the decade. For example, if the code reads "229," the tire was manufactured in the 22nd week of a year ending in '9' of that decade, such as 1999. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell which decade you’re looking at, other than it’s before the year 2000.

 

[46wischris]

Thanks Bill, that makes sense. Much appreciated.

 

[petehoovie]

Since it would be before 2000 they would probably be more like 17th week of 1991.

From the internet:

For tires made before 2000, the date is represented by the last three digits of the DOT code. The first two digits represent the week of manufacture, and the last digit indicates the year within the decade. For example, if the code reads "229," the tire was manufactured in the 22nd week of a year ending in '9' of that decade, such as 1999. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell which decade you’re looking at, other than it’s before the year 2000.

 

[tcom]

Ken, you are not confused. Thank you for pointing it out. I misunderstood what the OP said. Apologies.


tony

 

[Kens 36]

tcom, I think you have his tires mixed up. It looks like he ordered new Diamondbacks to replace the old Cokers. All that code stuff is about the old Cokers.

Unless I'm totally confused....

Ken

 

[Kurt in NJ]

Probably 1971
Similar to the numbers on the Coker tires on my model t, they ended in 63, the K&W coils had a 63 date too, the car had been stored in a garage in 1969