Question on my Georgie Boy 1997 tires,,,

[moon_lake]

After reading so many posts on here about the danger of old tires,,, I went out and looked for the dot stamp and this is what I found:
DOT UT OR 03.10404
LT235/85R16 design 9409 Cooper Sam II Load range E

So I googled all that and google did not seem to know what I
was looking up. Does anyone understand these codes? Could it
mean the tires are from 03? Yikes! I noticed little hairline
cracks close to the inner area near the hubs.
We are heading out for our first camping trip on the St. Lawrence
on saturday, are these tires in the danger zone? Some of you
actually found dates on your tires from what I'm reading on here.
That just didnt look like a date to me.
And since we are newbies with the whole motorhoming, I'd like to
hear your opinions on these tires. It passed the ny state inspection
we had 2 weeks ago, but not sure if they actually look at the tires.
Thanks.

[windofthesouth]

Hello,

I still consider myself a RV new myself, in that it seems I learn something new (the hard way) each trip. I have a 97 southwind and I went thru the same thing your going thru now. When I bought it the tires looked really good, as far as tread goes and honestly I really didn't put two thoughts into how old the tires were. Well one by one they started separating, however I for the most part considered myself lucky in that I usually saw tire separating before I got on the road, except once, my front left tire on a trip to Columbia, S.C. would bounce like crazy above fifty miles and hour, so a two hour drive turned into a five hour drive, but it didn't give out. However on my next trip to the same place I had one of my rears separate in a bad way in that it took sheet metal and wires with it. Luckily I had made sure my spare was good so we weren't stranded to long. Point is after that I bit the bulit and replaced the remaining four tires for a total of eight. I also have 16 inchers so it is a bit cheaper, ok alot. If your gonna hold off, I would definetly recommend getting good sam before you go.

[moon_lake]

Had it in today for the front brake job at the semi truck shop, they looked at the tires and said they are actually in pretty good shape, no checking or dry rot. Also checked and greased the front bearings while they were in there. But we will still be investing in new tires for next year after reading some of the horror stories on here! Thanks for all the great advice! This forum is the best! 🙂

[Tireman9]

moon.lake wrote:
Also what is load range E? I'm looking at tires on the walmart site and cant find that type load range, they are showing by the weight, and so far around 3,000 seems the highest weight range on their tires.

Not sure if I would be shopping for RV tires at Wallyworld. They may be OK for low cost round & black passenger tires but you need real tires from a tire company that can offer service and a good warranty on the tires.
I do find Nexen Roadian HT LT Tire LT215/85R16/10 with Wally using the old (1960's) "ply Rating" number 10 which would be equivalent to a LR-E.
Not sure where Nexen tires are made or what the Wally warranty is.
You might check Goodyear, Firestone or Cooper for tires made in the US.
This is an investment for the the next 6+ years so don't buy cheap. Your family is worth a few bucks extra.

[Tireman9]

J-Rooster wrote:

moon.lake wrote:
After reading so many posts on here about the danger of old tires,,, I went out and looked for the dot stamp and this is what I found:
DOT UT OR 03.10404
LT235/85R16 design 9409 Cooper Sam II Load range E

So I googled all that and google did not seem to know what I
was looking up. Does anyone understand these codes? Could it
mean the tires are from 03? Yikes! I noticed little hairline
cracks close to the inner area near the hubs.
We are heading out for our first camping trip on the St. Lawrence
on saturday, are these tires in the danger zone? Some of you
actually found dates on your tires from what I'm reading on here.
That just didnt look like a date to me.
And since we are newbies with the whole motorhoming, I'd like to
hear your opinions on these tires. It passed the ny state inspection
we had 2 weeks ago, but not sure if they actually look at the tires.
Thanks.

I could be wrong but my guess on the DOT codes are : 03.1 that is the plant where the tires were made! 0404 is the tire date code! The first 04 is the 4th week of the year (Jan. 31st) and the second 04 is the year the tires were made 2004. Have your local tire guy inspect them!

Sorry but no. The Plant code is UT indicating the tires were made by Cooper at their Texarcana plant in Arcansas.

Obviously the NY inspector does not know much about tires.

[Tireman9]

FuzzyKnight wrote:
Load range is the amount of load a specific size can carry safely at the recommended max tire pressure cold.

Not quite.
Load Range letters C, D, E etc are used to identify a given size tire with its Load and Inflation limits as published in Tire & Rim Association tables.

Your tires should have the words "Load Range" followed by a letter on each side of the tire.

If your tire is an LT235/75R16 LR-E then it is a Load Range E tire and when you consult the tables you can easily identify the "E" load and inflation limits.
I cover this in a number of posts on my blog.

"Load range" is NOT the number of pounds a tire can carry.

[Tireman9]

Moon
I have a number of posts on my blog with information including pictures and links of how to correctly read and "translate" the DOT serial as well as explanation of Load Range and Ply Rating.

[wolfe10]

Look on the other side of the tire. The date code for tires produced before 1/1/2000 were three digits: first two are week and third the year.

From 1/1/2000 on the date code is 4 digits: first two are the week and the second two are the year.

BUT the full DOT is only molded into one sidewall, not both. Could be facing inboard.

[FuzzyKnight]

Load range is the amount of load a specific size can carry safely at the recommended max tire pressure cold.

[bsinmich]

I would not be trying to get MH tires at Wal Mart. I trust that to a tires store that knows a little more about heavier vehicles and load ranges. Are you aware that the date code is only on one side of the tire. I have never seen a 5 digit code. Check the inside. Murphy's Law says they end up that way ore than half the time. They are only 4 digits on mine.

[moon_lake]

Also what is load range E? I'm looking at tires on the walmart site and cant find that type load range, they are showing by the weight, and so far around 3,000 seems the highest weight range on their tires.

[I_am_still_wayn]

DoubleVeteran wrote:
Hey,

The "10404" part of the DOT code would indicate that your tires were manufactured on the 104th day of 2004. I would put on new tires before you take any trips.

Hope this helps, and have fun RVing 🙂

DV

This is only partially correct. Tire date codes are in weeks and years, not days. Therefore, the statement the tire was made on the 104th day is WRONG!

[moon_lake]

Thanks! Tomorrow we are having the front brakes done (estimate 411.00) at a semi truck repair place, I will ask them to look them over for us. We will look into the new
tires soon, I am afraid this motorhome will be nickle and diming us to death
before our first trip out in it!

[ddndoug]

P.S. Lucky for you the tires are only 16" and can be easily found. Oh and did I mention they are usually less than 1/2 the price of the 19" & 22.5" tires.

Doug

[J-Rooster]

moon.lake wrote:
After reading so many posts on here about the danger of old tires,,, I went out and looked for the dot stamp and this is what I found:
DOT UT OR 03.10404
LT235/85R16 design 9409 Cooper Sam II Load range E

So I googled all that and google did not seem to know what I
was looking up. Does anyone understand these codes? Could it
mean the tires are from 03? Yikes! I noticed little hairline
cracks close to the inner area near the hubs.
We are heading out for our first camping trip on the St. Lawrence
on saturday, are these tires in the danger zone? Some of you
actually found dates on your tires from what I'm reading on here.
That just didnt look like a date to me.
And since we are newbies with the whole motorhoming, I'd like to
hear your opinions on these tires. It passed the ny state inspection
we had 2 weeks ago, but not sure if they actually look at the tires.
Thanks.

I could be wrong but my guess on the DOT codes are : 03.1 that is the plant where the tires were made! 0404 is the tire date code! The first 04 is the 4th week of the year (Jan. 31st) and the second 04 is the year the tires were made 2004. Have your local tire guy inspect them!