Here's an Easy Way to Check the Age of Your Tire

Everyone knows PIN--or Personal Identification Number. And perhaps a lot of you also know what a car's VIN--or Vehicle Identification Number is. But did you know that there's also a TIN--or Tire Identification Number? A TIN can easily be identified by checking out its sidewalls like this one:

Also called Tire Serial Number, they often come in 10-12 digits (in length) and grouped into two, like this one:

(D0T PJ9J)(A67R 2709)

Note, however, that there are two ways a Tires Serial Number / Identification Number is located on these tires. The first option is by writing all of them completely on one sidewall like this one:

(D0T PJ9J)(A67R 2709)

Or another option would be to writing one group on each side of the sidewall like this one:

Left tire's sidewall: (D0T PJ9J) Right tire's sidewal: (A67R 2709)

How to Easily Identify a Tire's Age

You can identify the Tire Identification Number by locating the last three or four digits depending on its age:

Year 2000-Below Tires

Tires manufactured before the year 2000 show the week and year they were manufactured on the last three digits found on the tire's sidewall.

For example: (DXF GH9L)(HUB 306)

The last three digits are 306. This means that the tire was manufactured during the 30th week of the year, and manufactured during the 6th year of the decade.

Unfortunately, you can't really tell exactly which decade it was--it can be either the 80s or the 90s. One way to really zoom in on the exact decade is to check for a triangle mark following the Tire Identification Number. If you see this shape, then it indicates that the tire was manufactured during the 90s.

So if you use the example we've given here (and let's assume that there is really a triangle after the Tire Serial Number), then it would be during the 6th year of 1990--or 1996.

Year 2000-Up Tires

You can know the week and year a tire manufactured after the year 2000 by looking at the last four digits found on the tire's sidewall.

For example: (D0T PJ9J)(A67R 2709)

In this case, the last four digits are 2709. This means that the tire was manufactured during the 27th week of the year, and manufactured in 2009.

So, that's it. Here's another tip: Try to buy tires that are less than six years old. This will ensure you that your tire is performing at its peak.