Tire age

notjustair · Dec 11, 2016

Have they always date stamped tires? My old truck has tires on it that I'm sure are from the 1950's but I would love to know out of curiosity.
These are tube type 7.00x20's. Any way to tell age?

centash · Dec 11, 2016

Don't think tires that old have the same date code as today's tires, if any code at all. Ben

Steve@Advance · Dec 11, 2016

I'm thinking tires didn't have dates or serial numbers until the mid-late sixty's.

That all started as a result of lawsuits over poor quality and improper mounting/application. There needed to be a way to trace the product.

Frantz · Dec 11, 2016

Prior to 2000 they only used a three digit code. The first two were the week and the last digit was the year. The (incorrect) assumption was no shop would keep tires around for more than a decade. I'm not sure when the 3 digit code started. If there is a serial number and the manufacturer is still around you could perhaps get a good idea from that. otherwise you'll be stuck just going off the general mold (tire brand/name/tread) and seeing when they were on the market. Someone (else) in the AACA might be able to help. They are pretty big into preservation of historic features and it's amazing what some of those guys know.

caterpillar guy · Dec 11, 2016

this is a bit before my time but if they are cotton they may be about the 20's to 30's then after WWII they had more options like the rayon tires and nylon came along shortly after that. Can you show a picture of the tread. I might reconize some from some we have from thos era's. Also if they said 6x32 those would likely be cotton from the 20's or 30's. We have some tires that old with wind in them yet on a trailer.

ericlb · Dec 11, 2016

now in have to drag the original spare out of my 1951 ford coupe and look to see lol

Kansas4010 · Dec 11, 2016

I have a couple trailers like that as well. Before my time but my dad used to say they were surplus WW2 bomber tires.

Texasmark1 · Dec 12, 2016

My mother's first car (and first new car) was a maroon '51 Ford Custom, 2 door sedan with "Fordomatic" auto tranny......first year for that tranny. I got to use it when I started driving and since I had a car available, I could spend my after school earnings on a BOAT....lots of water around there. Whadda deal.

Tire age

notjustair

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centash

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Steve@Advance

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Frantz

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caterpillar guy

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ericlb

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Kansas4010

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Texasmark1

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