Community Forums

Tannimaus · 07-15-2019, 12:06 PM

Hello, when I purchased my Class A 34' motorhome (1999 Georgieboy Cruise Master), it had Michelin SDX2 tires on.

I have learned in the forums here that I need to check the age of my tires. I was looking for a date stamp, or the four letter date code. I cannot find anything on the tire that looks like 4 digits. I read in another post that it could be on the INSIDE tire wall? Is that right? How on earth would I check that?

I hope I'm not misunderstanding what I'm supposed to look for. I have dually tires in the rear. I don't think I could ever crawl far enough under there to look for a date code on the inside wall. This seems like something that should be on the outside? Could they have put the tires on the wrong way?

Thank you!

Mr_D · 07-15-2019, 12:11 PM

It's not on the inside of the tire, it's on only one side of the outside of the tire. You may need to climb under with a flashlight and look.

**pasdad1** · 07-15-2019, 12:15 PM

Look for something on the tire that looks like this

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Tannimaus · 07-15-2019, 12:21 PM

Thank you so much for replying to me. I'm not sure I understand. If it's on the outside of the tire, should I not be able to see it looking at the tire? Why would I need to climb under the RV if it's on the outside. Also, "it's on only one side of the outside of the tire", is the same as in "one place" on the outside of the tire? I'm trying to understand what a "side" of the outside tire is. I'm so sorry, I'm really new to trying to be a bit more self-sufficient when it comes to maintaining my RV. Thank you so much!

Tannimaus · 07-15-2019, 12:25 PM

That's the post I found earlier I think, or maybe the Michelin website. I've been looking for exactly that and it's definitely not on the visible outside of my tire ... hm....

Crasher · 07-15-2019, 12:47 PM

The tire has two sidewalls. the date code is molded into only one side. Quite often when they are mounted to the wheel, the date code won't be on the outer side, hence, the need to crawl under the coach to look at the inner sidewall.

docj · 07-15-2019, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

The tire has two sidewalls. the date code is molded into only one side. Quite often when they are mounted to the wheel, the date code won't be on the outer side, hence, the need to crawl under the coach to look at the inner sidewall.

On automobile tires the DOT serial number shows up on both sides of the tire but only one of these will contain the "extra" numbers on the end that are the date code. It's my understanding that on truck tires the DOT number only has to be on one sidewall which can, by chance, not be the one you can see by walking around. You may have to look at the side that's normally hidden from view.

Joel (AKA docj)

Ivylog · 07-15-2019, 01:00 PM

Odds are one of your 4 tires will have it where you can see on the outside...odds are the other 5 will be the same age.

I had my tire guy mount them where I can see the date without sliding underneath.

Tannimaus · 07-15-2019, 01:06 PM

Thank you all for your input! I shall walk around and check all four tires to see if I can find the date stamp. I like the idea of asking the tire guys to install them so the code is on the outside. That seems like a standard thing they should be doing. Hopefully on one of the four outer tires I'll find that date, knowing my luck, they will be all on the inside side wall :0) As I understand it, even finding the invoice from the previous owner when they replaced the tire may not help because the tires may have been sitting on the shelf for quite a while. The previous owner did keep good records, so if I find the invoice, at least I know how old they are at minimum.

Again thanks everyone for helping this newbie out