What is the reason for the absence of barcodes on car tires?
2 Answers
Car tires may lack barcodes due to tire aging causing the barcode to detach or intentional removal of the barcode. Below are detailed explanations about car tires: 1. Overview: Car tires are one of the essential components of a vehicle, directly contacting the road surface. Together with the car suspension system, they mitigate impacts during driving, ensuring good ride comfort and smooth operation. 2. Functions: They ensure excellent adhesion between the wheels and the road surface; enhance the vehicle's traction, braking, and off-road capabilities; bear the vehicle's weight. The critical role tires play in automobiles is increasingly being recognized.
As someone who frequently helps with vehicle maintenance, I often come across the absence of barcodes on car tires. The main reason is that barcodes aren't as durable as other identifiers—just think about it, tires constantly roll through mud or scorching pavement, and the barcode stickers or printed marks can get worn or dirty in no time, making them unreadable. Instead, manufacturers prefer using DOT codes, which are alphanumeric combinations directly embossed on the tire sidewall, recording production dates and factory batch numbers—durable and reliable. During maintenance, I often teach car owners to check this code, like looking at the four-digit production date to assess tire aging. While barcodes work smoothly on supermarket goods, for major automotive components like tires, tracking via internal serial numbers or databases suffices. Adding barcodes would just increase costs without practicality and might even compromise safety. That's why I always say sticking to the old method is the most hassle-free.