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MG MGA - Tire (tyre) age query again!

One of our club members has queried what the age is of the tyres on his Deluxe MGA with the following code DOT YLTB 081.
From Neil Purves (engineering Manager Bridgestone - Brussels) earlier posts I believe these would have been made in Week 8, 1991, but the owner thinks they may be older than this. What would be the code if they were made in the eighties?

If people are interested to read the earlier posts on this subject click on Archives up the top and type "DOT" and "Bridgestone" in the Search box and check the box "all these words" and you will see previous discussions on tyre age (but doesn't answer my query on what the DOT code is for tyres made before the 1990s).
Regards
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Hi Mike...hope to catch you one day.....if you ever make it down to Geelong/Ocean Grove way, give me a yell.

Ron
Ronald Begg

Mike, from Wikipedia...

"The DOT Code begins with the letters "DOT" followed by a two numbers or letters plant code that identifies where it was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. A three-digit code was used for tires manufactured before the year 2000. For example, 178 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 8th year of the decade. In this case it means 1988. For tires manufactured in the 1990s, the same code holds true, but there is a little triangle (Ä) after the DOT code. Thus, a tire manufactured in the 17th week of 1998 would have the code 178Ä. After 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example, 3003 means the tire was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003."
Andy Bounsall

Mike
Andy is correct although there are a couple of things to note:-
1) The DOT marking is almost universally use by all tyre companies as it is a standard way to record manufacturing date (where & when). It is a legal requirement in the US&Canada and the digits are proceeded by the letters DOT. Outside these countries the letters DOT are sometimes not marked to avoid that they are exported into the US.
2) Although a triangle should appear after the date marking on the DOT for the 90's this appears not to have been very well adopted by all manufacturers. I have seen a few tyres where this is missing!!

Best regards
Neil
Neil Purves

Thanks Neil and Andy.

Ron, I will catch up when next in Geelong.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

This thread was discussed between 06/01/2008 and 07/01/2008

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.