Need help with British tire date code.

[37PackardMan]

We have just replaced the tires on our original 1937 Packard Super Eight 1500 sedan.

We have the entire history of the car and have visited the original family in Scotland.

We even have the family movie of the Packard being used in the daughter's wedding.   She chose to go to the church in the 'foreign car' rather than the family Rolls or Daimler.

The Packard came to the States in 1968.  It floated through several museums until I acquired it in 1980.

The tires are 'Made in England'....Dunlop Fort.

The date code is 'JAA  16317'.

 

So...which decade were these tires issued? 1937, 1947, 1957 or 1967?

 

 

[Spinneyhill]

Are you sure that is a date code and not a serial number or ?

[Ozstatman]

That's my thoughts too. I'd think this tyre pre-dates tyres with date codes on them.

[1939_Buick]

Could be from the 1930's.  Tread patterns change over time

The number may be a mould number / factory ID

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-1938-9-Dunlop-FORT-Original-Car-Tyre-Adverts-Vintage-Auto-Tire-Print-ADS-/151051244698

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=dunlop+tyres+1930's&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw-eb8-fjeAhVvoYsKHQ-ND4gQsAR6BAgEEAE&biw=1366&bih=613

 

Hope you are/were not driving on those tyres

Edited November 29, 2018 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[37PackardMan]

Thanks for the interesting ideas....

Shortly after I had acquired the car I replaced the red rubber tubes. I still have one partially inflated in a black plastic bag in the trunk.

I did drive the car up and down our cul-de-sac street ...15mph...just before having them demounted.

I kept the old tires...not knowing what I will do with them, but just thinking that they might be from 1937, they are kind of special conversation topics.

[mike6024]

I watched this video, maybe some others might find interesting. Fort Dunlop closed only recently. It has been converted into a Travelodge.

 

Fort Dunlop
Fort Dunlop was a motorsport manufacturing operation located in a corner of the original Dunlop factory in Erdington, Birmingham, established in 1891 until May 2014. This factory produced specialised vintage, motorcycle and touring car tyres, and produced about 300,000 specialised racing tyres per year. On 30 May 2014, the Birmingham factory ceased tyre production, ending Dunlop tyre production in the UK.

 

 

[R Walling]

 Not all old tires must be discarded.

 See,

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/811885_tireagingtestdevelopmentprojectphase2evallab.pdf

 

 Although not in the above content, It seems that the largest problems occur with radial tires that may have not been checked for air pressure, bubbles and cracks regularly.

 The radials also do not have the compounds in them to allow them to age gracefully.

They usually give a few miles warning before they blow. (one or two)

 

 A side note, Salt flat racing tires are usually 10 or 20 years old as US tire makers no longer make them.