2008 Jeep Patriot Owner's Manual - Page 288

286 STARTING AND OPERATING TIRE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (TIN) The TIN may be found on one or both sides of the tire, however, the date code may only be on one side. Tires with white sidewalls will have the full TIN, including the date code, located on the white sidewall side of the tire. Look for the TIN on the outboard side of black sidewall tires as mounted on the vehicle. If the TIN is not found on the outboard side, then you will find it on the inboard side of the tire. TIRE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER EXAMPLE: DOT MA L9 ABCD 0301 DOT = Department of Transportation - This symbol certifies that the tire is in compliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation tire safety standards, and is approved for highway use MA = Code representing the tire manufacturing location (two digits) L9 = Code representing the tire size (two digits) ABCD = Code used by the tire manufacturer (one to four digits) 03 = Number representing the week in which the tire was manufactured (two digits) -03 means the 3rd week. 01 = Number representing the year in which the tire was manufactured (two digits) -01 means the year 2001 - Prior to July 2000, tire manufacturers were only required to have one number to represent the year in which the tire was manufactured. Example: 031 could represent the 3rd week of 1981 or 1991