Help With Date Coding Vintage Tire

[Tidmack]

Hey gang,

Attached are photos of a vintage BF Goodrich G78-15 Silvertown tire. It has a DOT stamp on it, so I believe it is post '66. The date stamp doesn't seem to coincide with the DOT regulated procedure, though, and seems to fall in that period when manufacturers were using their own date code procedure.

I'm hoping there's a tire date code expert out there who may be able to help me out with this one? Thank you for your time.

Jeff

[Kurt S]

It has a DOT stamp on it, so I believe it is post '66.
I think that's post Dec 70.....

[Lynn]

I think Kurt is correct.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/04/13/2015-08418/tire-identification-and-recordkeeping

[Tidmack]

Thank you, Kurt, and Lynn. Lynn, I know you've been involved in some other conversations about dating tires. What's interesting with this tire is the DOT stamp isn't near the TIN, it's on the other side of the tire. That is what made me think it was pre-71, as the tires I've seen from 1971, 1972, 1973 have DOT right above the TIN. The TIN on this spare doesn't seem to follow the standard code set by the DOT, which made me think it was still when the manufacturers were still using their own in-house date codes.

None of this is crucial information to find out, but I like digging into these mysteries a bit.

The background on this one has to do with a 1 repaint '69 Corvette I purchased last summer. It's a low mile, 1 owner car that was only painted due to a parking lot issue in the early '90s. The window sticker shows this car coming with PT7 option code F70 White Stripe Tires. Early photos of the car confirm the white stripe tires.

When I dropped the spare this week, out came a BF Goodrich G78 Silvertown tire. The tire looks like it was never on the ground and the rally wheel it is on date codes correctly to the car.

I understand that a lot can happen over 50 years, but this spare looks pretty untouched. Have any of the Corvette guys here ever heard of an unmatched spare being included with a car?

Again, there's nothing super important here, it's the nerd in me trying to put some pieces together. Thanks again, guys.

Jeff

I think Kurt is correct.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/04/13/2015-08418/tire-identification-and-recordkeeping

[Lynn]

Jeff: Here are pics of the date code on the spare in my 70 LT-1. I believe it is a March of 70 build. I was just looking at it today, and found the DOT embossed, but did not notice where it was in relation to the tin. Should be able to look on Friday. It is the original spare. Sadly, it is a Goodyear, not a Goodrich, so not sure they used the same date coding system. I do not believe they were standardized to the same extent VINs were standardized.

You can see in the second pic, the DOT marking is not right by the tin.

I would bet the tire has been replaced.

"Again, there's nothing super important here, it's the nerd in me trying to put some pieces together. Thanks again, guys."

Oh, I get it. I have spent many hours checking out stuff no one else gives a crap about.

[Tidmack]

Thanks, Lynn, it's great to hear there's someone else who enjoys looking stuff up "just because." It'll be interesting to see if anyone here knows the BF Goodrich "cipher" for this one. Have a fantastic day.

Jeff


Jeff: Here are pics of the date code on the spare in my 70 LT-1. I believe it is a March of 70 build. I was just looking at it today, and found the DOT embossed, but did not notice where it was in relation to the tin. Should be able to look on Friday. It is the original spare. Sadly, it is a Goodyear, not a Goodrich, so not sure they used the same date coding system. I do not believe they were standardized to the same extent VINs were standardized.

You can see in the second pic, the DOT marking is not right by the tin.

I would bet the tire has been replaced.

"Again, there's nothing super important here, it's the nerd in me trying to put some pieces together. Thanks again, guys."

Oh, I get it. I have spent many hours checking out stuff no one else gives a crap about.