Decoding 1970 tire man code

[Mike E.]

Trim tag on the 70 convertible is C10. Original wheel is K102 (VS) 6AZ. So car was on the line March 10, wheel made February 6th.
Code on Firestone Super Sports tire is 001AL104 I've tried to decode that from the Bizzoco book with limited success. It has to be the original tire with the red/orange dot on it, relatively aligned with the bb dot on the wheel. Also have included a pic of the wheel weight install from the factory. Any ideas on production date of the tire? 4th week of January 1970?

[Vinnie P.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Mike...thought there have been threads on this prior so I did a search and came up with this info

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...ght=tire+codes

Might have exactly what you are looking for...

Vinnie

[Mike E.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Vinnie,
looked at that thread first. Goodyears are readily decoded, Firestones not. Thanks for the try.
Mike

[Alan S.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Hi Mike,
Here's the code from the 1 remaining original rwl Firestone tire from my mid-January 1971 built car.
000MP123
I don't see a connection with those digits and letters to that build date. Considering your example I can't even make a year work.
I guess if a large enough sample could be gathered that relationship might begin to show.
Regards,
Alan

[Patrick H.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Mike,

Sent you an e-mail regarding your other inquiry.

Patrick

[David L.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

[QUOTE=Mike Ernst (211);641424]
Goodyears are readily decoded, Firestones not.
QUOTE]

Mike,

I have a NOS 7.75-15 GOODYEAR "ALL WEATHER IV" load range B, nylon cord, white wall tire with the code "CCNHJYK9" that I use as a spare in my 1966 because it fits in the tire tub.

Any idea when the tire was made based on the code?

Dave

[Terry M.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

The Goodyear codes I have don't fit that sequence. I am not sure that I have all the Goodyear codes, however some do go back to 1956. When I got them my concern was for 1968 to 1971, and I am sure of those. As we get earlier they are less clear.

[Terry M.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

[QUOTE=David Liukkonen (3775);641483]

Goodyears are readily decoded, Firestones not.
QUOTE]

Mike,

I have a NOS 7.75-15 GOODYEAR "ALL WEATHER IV" load range B, nylon cord, white wall tire with the code "CCNHJYK9" that I use as a spare in my 1966 because it fits in the tire tub.

Any idea when the tire was made based on the code?

Dave

Dave,

After looking some more in response to a private email question from someone else. I have found a list your sequence fits, but I can not tell you for sure it is accurate because I don't know if your style of tire was manufactured in the time frame this indicates. Additionally, the code would indicate the tire was made at a time when tire manufacturers were supposed to be using the "long code" mandated by the DOT. That is why I originally didn't find it, because I didn't use that chart, believing in the "conventional wisdom" that tires made after early 1971 used the DOT code.

All that said this code fits for the 37th week of 1971 from the Union City plant. I suppose, like any good piece of research, this information raises more questions than answers.

[David L.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Terry,

I really appreciate your research.

I should have mentioned this before. My notes about my NOS 7.57-15 tire with the code "CCNHJYK9" also indicate that "DOT" is molded into the rubber. Didn't the "DOT" code start about 1970?

How do you get the 37th week of 1971 from "CCNHJYK9"?

Dave

[Terry M.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Terry,

I really appreciate your research.

I should have mentioned this before. My notes about my NOS 7.57-15 tire with the code "CCNHJYK9" also indicate that "DOT" is molded into the rubber. Didn't the "DOT" code start about 1970?

How do you get the 37th week of 1971 from "CCNHJYK9"?

Dave

To quote from the 1968-69 TIM&JG: "By federal law all tires manufactured after January 1, 1968 must have the DOT stamp...."

For the date and plant I consulted a proprietary Goodyear code chart.

Prior to a federal mandate that was supposed to go into effect January 1, 1971 (note the word SUPPOSED) each tire manufacturer had their own proprietary codes that were not available to the public. During 1969 and 1970 there were lengthy federal hearings that resulted in the mandate for one uniform date system so that anyone could determine the age of a tire. This new code was promoted as a safety advance since those hearings resulted in the then-shocking disclosure that tires aged whether they were in use or not. These hearings covered a number of automotive safety issues other than tires, and some of those went into effect as well.

I said supposed to go into effect because tire manufacturers strenuously opposed the federal mandate on the grounds that the labor needed to make and continue these changes to the tire molds each week would impose increased and unfair costs on their business. Some manufacturers were able to get extensions to the date of compliance using these grounds -- so we sometimes see tires made after the Spring of 1971 with the older proprietary codes. This may or may not be the case for your tire. Considering it was not then a new style tire, the cost to change the molds to comply with the new regulation may have been great enough to justify the continued use of the older code. From this perspective some 40+ years on, we may never know for sure.

[John H.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Terry -

Trivia - During those hearings, one of the senators demanded that car manufacturers record the serial numbers of all five tires on each car, maintain those records, and include the list of the five serial numbers on each car in the owner's manual for customer reference.

GM flew the committee to the Lordstown plant, where I was the Trim-Chassis-Final Production Superintendent at the time, so they could view the impracticality of recording tire serial numbers for each car. We were building the Vega at 103 per hour, with our automated tire/wheel mount/balance system running at 550 per hour, and invited the committee members to stand either at the balance weight install station in the system or at the wheel install station on the main line and record the serial numbers. Two or three tried it, and that was the end of the serial number discussion. They were all amazed that the tires were inflated by blowing air between the tire bead and the rim, without ever touching the valve stem; I even ran a wheel without a valve stem hole at all through the mounting line for those who didn't believe what they'd seen.

[Terry M.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

Terry -

Trivia - During those hearings, one of the senators demanded that car manufacturers record the serial numbers of all five tires on each car, maintain those records, and include the list of the five serial numbers on each car in the owner's manual for customer reference.

GM flew the committee to the Lordstown plant, where I was the Trim-Chassis-Final Production Superintendent at the time, so they could view the impracticality of recording tire serial numbers for each car. We were building the Vega at 103 per hour, with our automated tire/wheel mount/balance system running at 550 per hour, and invited the committee members to stand either at the balance weight install station in the system or at the wheel install station on the main line and record the serial numbers. Two or three tried it, and that was the end of the serial number discussion. They were all amazed that the tires were inflated by blowing air between the tire bead and the rim, without ever touching the valve stem; I even ran a wheel without a valve stem hole at all through the mounting line for those who didn't believe what they'd seen.

John,
I knew there were lots of matters other than tires discussed, but your first hand insights are priceless. I have to wonder if the wheel without the valve stem hole story so widely circulated (even before the Internet) originated with your performance. Thanks for sharing with us.

[John H.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

John,
I knew there were lots of matters other than tires discussed, but your first hand insights are priceless. I have to wonder if the wheel without the valve stem hole story so widely circulated (even before the Internet) originated with your performance. Thanks for sharing with us.

Terry -

I had the valve stem hole brazed shut on a wheel and had it painted red/yellow stripes as a test wheel to verify the hole detection system in the "stemmer"; every wheel went into that station and was spun until a photoelectric cell detected the hole, stopped the wheel, and an air-operated device inserted the valve stem in the hole in the wheel. If the system didn't detect a hole, an air cylinder kicked the wheel out into a chute and sounded an alarm. We installed the "kicker" after a dealer called who got a car that had a wheel with no valve stem hole or stem and wondered how on earth we ever inflated it.

[Terry M.]

Re: Decoding 1970 tire man code

So the story of the wheel with no valve stem IS true. I thought it was just an "urban legend" I learn something new every day. Thanks so much John.