[wmurrell]

When I purchased my car back in 1989, there was an old redline tire in the trunk (with a lot of dry rot). Since the car came originally from the factory with redline tires, I have always assumed that it was one of the factory original tires. I had it taken off the rim back in ’89 because I wanted to verify the date code on the wheel. Since then…I had the wheels media blasted & painted and today we were able to successfully remount the tire. I had soaked it in Armor All and stored it in the basement all these years. Somehow the bead didn’t break and it doesn’t look too bad.
Question…Is there any way to date the tire?

[b-man]

Tire date codes:https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretec....jsp?techid=11

I’m not sure when date coding was first used but perhaps the link above can help.

[60sstuff]

Go to Search.

Type “Tire Dates”.

Plenty of information there.

[aceaceca]

That tire is not a US Royal Tiger Paw. I have mine as well and know it is original to the car as it was my dad's car.
Car now same color as yours.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by aceaceca

That tire is not a US Royal Tiger Paw. I have mine as well and know it is original to the car as it was my dad's car.
Car now same color as yours.

I was going to say they were US Royals, but I don't think they were called "Tiger Paw" back then. I can possibly check mine tomorrow.

[Old Man Taylor]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

I was going to say they were US Royals, but I don't think they were called "Tiger Paw" back then. I can possibly check mine tomorrow.

Tiger Paw was a marketing term, it won't appear on the tire. One dead giveaway would be the size. The originals were 7.50x14. Soon after they went to 7.75x14.

[wmurrell]

I just checked and the tire is 7.75 - 14, with a J9189 code. It has "US ROYAL" in large letters. I don't see any reference to Tiger Paw. Car was assembled April '65 in Pontiac, Mi.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Old Man Taylor

Tiger Paw was a marketing term, it won't appear on the tire. One dead giveaway would be the size. The originals were 7.50x14. Soon after they went to 7.75x14.

Mine is 7.50

[wmurrell]

Originally Posted by Old Man Taylor

Tiger Paw was a marketing term, it won't appear on the tire. One dead giveaway would be the size. The originals were 7.50x14. Soon after they went to 7.75x14.

Do you happen to know when they changed the size?

[wmurrell]

When I look in the 1965 Sales Brochure…In the back, they list the tire size for GTO as 7.75 x 14.

[wmurrell]

Just checked the '65 Tempest Chassis manual and it also references the tire size as 7.75 -14. There is a partial photo of a tire and it says "US ROYAL" on the side.

[60sstuff]

1964 = 7.50 x 14
1965 = 7.75 x 14

I have collected many NOS GTO tires over the years for these cars.

Tiger-Paw is on the sidewall of a UNIROYAL 7.75 X 14 and on the side of a U S ROYAL 7.75 x 14 pictured below.

BTW, several tire manufacturers supplied tires for these cars besides the above mentioned.

Goodyear
BF Goodrich
Firestone

Plants and Suppliers determined what the car was Originally built with.

Chris.

[60sstuff]

Another Tiger-Paw, U S ROYAL 7.75 x 14.

[242177P]

Originally Posted by 60sstuff

Another Tiger-Paw, U S ROYAL 7.75 x 14.

/\/\/\ The li'l Tiger is a nice touch.

[wmurrell]

Thanks for all the information! All I know for sure at this point is that the tire has to be pre-1971 because there is no DOT date code. I also know that the tire was mounted on a rim that came with the car from the factory and installed as a spare in the trunk. So…The tire was on the car at some point. Just don’t know if it was from the factory or a local tire shop in the late ‘60’s.

When did they use the Tiger Paws on the tires?
Is there anyway to decode the date code on an early Uniroyal tire?

[pfilean]

Before DOT required dates each manufacturer had his on way of dating. Not very straight forward and you had to know the system. At Goodyear in the mid 60s you had to know BURLEYCAMINO or TUFFSYNPACKER. And the you had to remember which year the code was changed. Notice there are 12 letters in each word. Kind of a GM style using a letter for a month. But it's been way too many years and I don't remember anything but those two weird words.

[OG68]

Here is a eBay listing for an ad dated 1964 for Tiger Paws on the new GTO.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-PONTIA...53.m1438.l2649

[Old Man Taylor]

Originally Posted by 60sstuff

1964 = 7.50 x 14
1965 = 7.75 x 14

I have collected many NOS GTO tires over the years for these cars.

Tiger-Paw is on the sidewall of a UNIROYAL 7.75 X 14 and on the side of a U S ROYAL 7.75 x 14 pictured below.

BTW, several tire manufacturers supplied tires for these cars besides the above mentioned.

Goodyear
BF Goodrich
Firestone

Plants and Suppliers determined what the car was Originally built with.

Chris.

That's not the tire that came on my '64. It had no reference to "Tiger Paw". I forgot that they changed to 7.75's so quickly.

[Old Man Taylor]

Originally Posted by OG68

Here is a eBay listing for an ad dated 1964 for Tiger Paws on the new GTO.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-PONTIA...53.m1438.l2649

There's no question that they were marketed that way, but I don't believe it was on the tires in 1964.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Old Man Taylor

There's no question that they were marketed that way, but I don't believe it was on the tires in 1964.

It wasn't on the tire.