Tire Inspection Form: Tread in 32nds, DOT Date

Tire inspection form: what to record at each wheel position

A tire inspection form works when every tire gets the same row. Our Multi-Point Inspection Kit does this on Side 2, with rows for LF, RF, LR, RR and the spare. LF means left front and RR means right rear.

Tread depth in 32nds of an inch

Use a gauge that reads in 32nds, so the numbers match the sheet. Measure each position and write the number down.

Federal tire standards put a floor under tread. Standard No. 109 says a tire shall incorporate a tread wear indicator that gives a visual sign when the tire has worn to a tread depth of 1.6 mm (1/16 inch). That is 2/32 of an inch.

The tire industry association also tells drivers that once tread wears down to 2/32 of an inch, it is time to visit a tire shop. So a tire at 2/32 is already past worn out in practice. State inspection rules differ, so check your own state's.

Do not treat 2/32 as your shop's line. Most shops want to flag a tire earlier. The kit's Shop standards page has two blanks for tread: an Attn point and a Fail point, both in /32 inch, which you set yourself. They are your shop's escalation points, and the law sets its own limits.

The wear code says how the tread is wearing. E is even, IN is inner, OUT is outer, CUP is cupping and IRR is irregular. A tire that reads 6/32 on the inside and 2/32 on the outside tells a different story from one that reads 4/32 across.

Writing the code records the pattern but does not diagnose it. The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association says misaligned wheels can lead to uneven, rapid tread wear and that a tire dealer should correct them. So when you write IN, OUT, CUP or IRR, add a note and tell the customer the car may need an alignment check or a closer look. The code flags the pattern; finding its cause is the tech's diagnosis.

Reading the DOT date

Every tire sold in the United States carries a DOT tire identification number on its sidewall. It starts with the letters DOT, and its last four digits are the date. Look for that letter group on the sidewall, and check the spare's sidewall too. The same industry group explains that the first two digits are the week and the last two the year for tires made in 2000 or later. The federal rule says the date code has four numerical symbols, is the final group, and identifies the week and year of manufacture.

Take 1418 as an example. It means week 14 of 2018. You write 14 and 18 in the DOT WW/YY cell for that position.

Putting age next to tread

Tread says how much rubber is left. The date says how long that rubber has been on the shelf and on the road. Deep tread can sit on an old tire, so write both.

Our Used-Vehicle Condition Report Kit shows this in its filled sample, a 2018 wagon.

The sample's notes record the age and do not state a legal limit.

The left-rear tire is just under eight years old on the report date. The sheet does not tell you what to do about it. It gives you and the customer the fact to decide on. The Used-Vehicle Condition Report Kit records tread in /32 in and DOT week and year for five tire positions.

A tire record is only useful if the next tech can read it without asking.

Your shop's name on the sheet, and printing it

The paid kits have shop fields for name, address, phone and logo. They also come with a small tool, add-your-logo.html, that puts your logo on the pages. It was tested offline in Chromium on every kit PDF, and nothing is uploaded. Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox were not run. The free sample has no logo tool.

You can type into the kits on screen and print them. We tested the fillable fields in pdf.js, the viewer built into Firefox, running in Chromium. Other viewers are untested, so try one test sheet in yours before the first job. Print at Actual size, which is 100%.

The kit is made for a shop. It is your own record, not a state inspection, not a form from a tire or car maker and not a private buyer's checklist. Every tech fills the same columns, and the legend and the Shop standards page carry your Attn and Fail points on the sheet. The filled sample shows what a finished row looks like.

What the bay sheet records, and where it stops

Our Multi-Point Inspection Kit records tread, pressures found and set, wear code, DOT date and a result for each position. That is the whole tire block on the sheet.

Some jobs need a different tool. There is no column for brand, size or tire serial number, so it will not track tires across a fleet. The Pass, Attn and Fail marks follow your shop's points, so the sheet is not a state inspection. Use the form your state requires when a sticker is involved.