PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-735
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 735
FEBRUARY 2014
13
PS 735
FEB 14
W
hen conducting personal business, you sometimes have to give the last four numbers
of your social security number. But that’s not the only last four numbers that can give
you key information. The last four numbers in the DOT code on tires tell you when the
tires were produced.
Shelf Life Guidance
For serviceable tires on the shelf, use the DOT code to ±gure out how many weeks are
left on the tire. The code on the sidewall of the tire will say “DOT” then show a series
of characters. The last four numbers are the week and year of manufacture. The ±rst two
are the week of the year and the second two are the last two numbers of the year.
Tires have a 60-month or a 5-year shelf life from the date of manufacture to be put
into service. For example, a DOT code ending in 5109 means that it was manufactured
in the 51st week of 2009. So the unit has until the 51st week of 2014 to get that tire off
the shelf and on a vehicle.
Once a tire’s in service, you can keep using it until it becomes unserviceable. You still
need to inspect tires for cracking, bulges, damage, low in²ation and uneven wear while
doing your vehicle’s PMCS. If your vehicle is in storage, make sure you crank it up and
exercise the tires sometimes.
For more on tires, eyeball TM 9-2610-200-14 (Sep 05).
DOT U2LL LMLR 5109
51
09 -- manufactured
during the 51st week
of the year
51
09
-- manufactured
during 2009
Tires…
Last Four Numbers
Determine Shelf Life
…
g
g
h
g
h
g
r
u
m
b
l
e
!
click-click-click…
…c
l
u
n
k-c
l
u
n
k-c
l
u
n
k…
RTCH…
Starting Takes
a
Light
Touch
aw,
man!
I wish
we
were on a
vehicle!
yeah!
you
lucky
ducks!
chEer up!
you all
have
plenty
of sHelf
Life Left!
he just kept pushing
my start butTon
over and over.
it’s not
my
fault that I
burned out!
That’s because rough terrain
container handler (RTCH) operators
are known to have a sticky finger
when it comes to the starter!
Cold weather and burned-
out engine starters seem
to go hand-in-hand.
When you’re trying to start
your container handler,
never
keep the starter engaged for
more than 30 seconds.
if the engine
doesn’t start
by then,
stop!
Give the starter at
least
two minutes
to cool off before
trying again.
You’ll find this caution in WP 0005-3
of TM 10-3930-6
7
5-10 (Sep 12).
if the RTCH won’t start after
three
tries,
call it quits. You’ll need your
mechanic to find out what’s wrong.
OK,
that’s the
third time
you’ve
tried to
start me.
time to
call in a
mechanic!
735 12-13.indd
1-2
1/2/14
2:00 PM
Back to TopBack to Top
