Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

[Howard K.]

I am trying to formulate theories on the date coding of Firestone tires from 1966 to 1970. I have a lot of data I have acquired over the years from original spare tires and wheels I have owned and original spare tires and wheels I have observed over the years.

The coding appears to be in the tire identification code (TIC) impressed into the back of the tire. From what I have observed, the TIC appears to be in the format of three numbers followed by two letters followed by three numbers for Firestone Nylon cord tires. The first three letters are usually 000, 001, or 002. I am guessing the two letters are date codes with the first letter being the month and the second letter being the year. 1966 steel wheels and 1967 and early 68 rally wheels do not have date codes stamped by the valve stem. Later 68, 69, and 70 wheels have date codes stamped into the wheels. These date coded wheels can give us data on the month coding.

I am theorizing the year codes (the second letter in the TIC) are as follows based on the data I have observed.

1966 second letter is coded E
1967 second letter is coded R
1968 second letter is coded C
1968 second letter is coded L
1970 second letter is coded A

I would like to write an article in the Restorer magazine on Firestone date codes for 1966 to 1970. If you have a low mileage C3 (1968-1970) with original tires (I have only seen 1 car with original tires) or an ORIGINAL spare tire and wheel, I would like to have the data off the tire and wheel for my data base and the for article. I have enough data from original 1969 spare tires and wheels to begin formulating a theory on the month coding, which in all likelihood is the same for the other years.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Howard Key (2718)

[Rocco S.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Howard,

I just found my notes on my Firestone spare tire, which I believe is original. I have a one-owner 1967 coupe with 53,000 miles and came with blackwall tires. The spare shows some tread wear. The last time I had the spare down I wrote down the markings.

FIRESTONE DELUXE CHAMPION
7.75-15 Tubeless
Replaces 6.70-15
4 Ply Rating 2 Ply
Meets RMA-1 and SAE J9188
V-1
"0001360R" encircled in an oval
Made In USA 31-UR-2
BD-40647-4

No DOT Marking

The build date of my car was March 30, 1967. Can you confirm that this tire is original to my car? Let me know if you have any questions or need photos. Good luch with your article. I look forward to seeing it.

[Mike E.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Somewhere in the code, I suspect, there would be a differentiation between white letter, whitewall, or blackwall (for 69-70 at least).
Attached are pics of the original blackwall spare from '70 #6243.
spare and wheel original (3).JPGspare and wheel original (9).JPGspare and wheel original (6).JPGspare tire (1).jpgspare tire (15).jpgspare tire (14).jpgspare tire (5).jpg

[Scott S.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

It looks like the tire was made on the 14th week of 1967.
Scott

[Howard K.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Mike,

Nice tire and wheel. It has every indication of an original spare except I could not see the "welded BB" near the orange dot marking on the tire. I am sure it is there but just not in the area your picture covers. Most of my data on the month dating is in the last 4 months of 1969 as that is the timeframe my car was built (October 30, 1969). I am absolutely certain your tire is dated late in 1969. The L code verifies this. I am pretty sure the A is November or possibly October. I have more than 6 black wall tires tires that came off cars built in the 4th quarter of 1969. The tires I have are coded JL, AL, and EL. My theory is that these codes are either September-November or October-December of 1969.

The nicest tire and wheel I have is a tire and wheel that has never been on a car and still has the stencil marks on the tread. The wheel is dated K-1-9 11 (v) 14 AZ. The TIC is the same as yours except for the last 3 numbers. and is coded 000AL776. I believe I have 1 other tire that has the 776 coding after the AL. Both are Firestone black walls. From your tire and wheel and my tire and wheel, we can see that an AL coded tire was put on wheels that were made between November, 1969 and February, 1970. This makes it difficult to determine the exact month of the coding on the first of the two letters in the TIC, but we can narrow down the time frame with more data and hopefully develop the complete month coding for 1969. The month coding I am trying to develop seems to apply and seems to be the same as to the other years from1966-1970. I do not have any data on 1965 tires so I have not included them in this thread. Things changed in early 1971 so I have isolated my research to the years that have been identified in my thread.

Thanks for for sharing your information and pictures.

Howard Key (2718)

[Howard K.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Rocco,

Thanks for your reply and information. Sounds like you have a really nice original car. I have seen several Firestone Deluxe Champion tires, but the TIC does not seem to follow the same coding pattern that is on the Firestone SuperSport tires seen on 67 redline tires and 68-70 SuperSport tires on the C3 cars.

I would guess your tire is a 67 dated tire because of the R in the TIC impressed into the back of the tire. The R is consistent with the Rs I have seen in the SuperSport tires. This is also consistent with the build date of your car. I will start collecting data on the Deluxe Champion tires as well and try to further decode your tire.

Thanks for your information and reply to my thread.

Howard Key (2718)

[Howard K.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Mike,

sorry for for missing the "welded BB" on your wheel. It is clearly there in the place it should be.

HK

[Ara G.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Howard,
Hope you are well my friend. I think i have 3 original, Non-DOT Firestone tires in my garage. Let me pull them out this weekend and take some pictures for you. I think they're all blackwalls,,,,,think....
Regards,
ARA

[Ronald L.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Did Firestone have more than one plant?
That would impact serial numbers.

I sold all my Firestone to a collector in Texas...some years back, in favor for known usage of US Royals on the late mid-years.

From known original Bow Tie cars, the US Royal serials are with YL7626 type sequence....

What I have seen on tires coming forsale from the west coast have XZ1234 type of sequences, to me visually the are different and it has to be they came from a different manufacturing plant.

[Mark F.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

One website states the following about Firestone...

"...In late 1979, Firestone brought in John Nevin, the ex-head of Zenith Electronics, as president to save the hemorrhaging company from total collapse. It was more than a billion dollars in debt at the time, and losing 250 million dollars a year. Nevin closed nine of the company's seventeen manufacturing plants, including six in one day..."

Presumably, some (or many?) of those plants were in operation during the mid-60s

My guess is depending on factory tooling and capabilities, tire sizes destined for use on new Corvettes were made as close to St. Louis as possible to reduce Firestone's as-delivered costs...

Good luck on your Firestone research, Howard!

[Ronald L.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Intersting story as one of the grand fathers of FROD legacy was daughter of H Firestone.

I seriously doubt that plant allocation was based on a 24,000 volume oer year vehicle. If the 15" tire was used on Impala Chevelle and other cars - those volumes would have much more siginificance in what plant produced a given tire.

[Mark F.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

...I seriously doubt that plant allocation was based on a 24,000 volume oer year vehicle. If the 15" tire was used on Impala Chevelle and other cars - those volumes would have much more siginificance in what plant produced a given tire.

Hi Ronald,

Yes, I totally agree...in fact, I can't think of another marque of any of the big three (or other manufacturers) back then that would have had a lower annual OEM tire volume need than Corvette.

I guess I was just surprised that Firestone had that many plants...and I know they made tractor and other heavy equipment tires, so not all those factories were just makin' car tires...

[Ronald L.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Mark,
Low volume cars are always targets of the bean counters. Tire production wasn't all that fast, and think about it, they did not last very long either as compared to todays tires so in the transportation boom of the 60's they had to keep up, and one way was to build plants.

[Rocco S.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

Howard,
The weather was nice today and I decided to pull my original Firestone spare to take some photos. It appears that I was incorrect when I reported the TIC. Upon closer inspection the TIC is "D001360R" Note the first digit looks like the letter "D" and not a zero. Below are the photos taken today. Please note the the wheel has the original "Micro" wheel weight. Again, the build date for my car is March 31, 1967.

Spare 4.jpg
Spare 3.jpg
Spare 5.jpg
Spare 6.jpg
Spare 8.jpg
Spare 9.jpg
Spare 10.jpg

Please feel free to use these photos for your article.

[Howard K.]

Re: Firestone tire date code 1966-1970

ARA,

Great to hear from you as well. I hope you are well and will look forward to the next show we both can attend. I look forward to seeing pictures from your 3 Non Dot Firestone tires. Are they 67 model year tires or are they early 68 model year? Please include the tire size. I do not have many 68 F70 tires in my Data base. One, however, really stands out as it was the original black wall spare tire and wheel on a very low mileage February 68 car with the spare wheel dated K-1/8 2 (v) 1 AG. The tire is coded 000MC119. The February 1st wheel may rule out the tire being manufactured in February, 1968. The M code is probably December or January. I have also seen the M codes on tires that came from or were on cars that were built early in the new calendar year, for instance January or February, 1969 and 1970. This leads me to believe that the first letter, assuming it is a month code, was used in multiple years, the same as the TUFSYNPACKER was used on the Goodyear tires for 1966 forward.

Thanks for replying to the thread. Your parts are always primo, spot on original items. I wish all of these original tires could talk or at least Firestone would release the information on their coding so that we can quit theorizing and guessing.

Take care are and look forward to seeing you again.

Howard