Toyo Tire Date Code Guide: Where To Find and How To Read
The fact that tires wear out even if they are not used is an important piece of information. Tires do age out and that is why they have an age code, just like food. Tires do not last indefinitely and they have a shelf life of 6 to 10 years, this includes Toyo Tires.
The Toyo tire date can be found either on the exterior of the tire or the interior. They are only on one or the other side and not both. The code follows the DOT’s age code with the 4-digit code registering the week and the year the tire was made. 0422 means the 4th week of 2022.
To learn more about the tire age code, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so you can make sure you know how long those ‘new’ tires will last. Not every tire is sold in the same year it was made.
The Toyo Tire Date Code
The current date code has been in effect since the year 2000. Usually, if it is not separately placed on a tire, the DOT or Department of Transportation code holds the age date code. The last 4 digits are the code for the age of the tire.
For example, if the DOT code reads 3421 in the last 4 digits, then the tire was made in the 35th week of 2021. This is important to know as while tires are shipped from the manufacturer in the same year they were made, in most cases, they can sit around in warehouses for many months before being sent to the tire retailers.
This means that the ‘new’ tire you are buying may not be as new as you may think. Tires made in 2020 and 2021 may just be reaching some of those retailers in 2022 or 2023.
Why is this important it is because tires age out after 6 to 10 years. If you buy a tire in 2023 and its manufacture date was 2021 then you only have 4 to 8 years left to use the tire.
This system is designed to help you find the best newest tires possible at the different tire outlets. Plus it is designed to inform you of what life the tire has left in it.
Do not get confused with the DOT code as after those letters comes 13 more digits. It is the last 4 you need to be concerned about when wanting to know how old your new tires are.
Where To Find The Date Code on Toyo Tires
Each manufacturer may have their own special place to put their date code. When it comes to Toyo, their date code may be placed on the inside of the tire. You may have to pull the tire off the rim to see the date code.
Or, like some owners, only the two front tires may have the code on the outside rubber with all the other numbers and letters that are placed on tires these days.
There is no strict regulation governing the placement of this code. That means Toyo can place their code anywhere on the tire that suits them and saves them money. However, their competitors usually place their age code on the outside of the tire so it is easily seen.
The exact location for Toyo Tires will be just about anywhere. There is no standard location for it.
How To Read The Date Code on Toyo Tires
Generally, you read this code the same way you would read the age, and date code for all tire companies. It is the last 4 digits of the DOT code. But there is a little curve ball thrown in.
The tire companies may only place a partial DOT code on one part of the tire, usually opposite the full DOT code, then the full DOT code on another part of the tire. It is important not to confuse the two codes as the partial number does not contain the age code.
Only the full DOT code has that information. Another point of interest is that any tire still in existence from the 1990s will only have the last 3 digits indicating the date of manufacture. A little triangle indicates the 1990 decade and that comes after the code.
Everything after 1999 has a 4-digit age/date code and no triangle. So you would read Toyo’s code the same way as you would read GoodYear’s, Michelin’s, or other tire manufacturers’ codes.
3423 would indicate the tire was made in the 34th week of this year. Once we get to that week.
How Long are Toyo Tires Good For?
There is not going to be an exact figure as people drive differently and over different terrain. The general calculations are that Toyo tires will last about 45,000 miles or about 3.3 years with 13,000 miles put on each year.
Some of their tires have lasted for 15,000 miles or about 1 year and other tires have made it to 90,000 miles or roughly 7 years. However, the time frame for most tires is between 6 and 10 years under ideal conditions.
How long they will last for you will depend on where you drive, how you drive and if the tires have been exposed to UV rays a lot, and so on. But don’t forget to subtract the manufacturing date from those 6 to 10 years.
Some Additional Words
Tire lifetime depends more on the quality of the rubber than anything else. It is good to know the date of manufacture because that will help you calculate when you will need to change those tires.
The 6 to 10-year ball park figure is an estimate and some tires may last longer than that but you would be taking a big risk. The tires will be very old even if you do not use them that often. Rubber does wear out over time.
