The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1960 Viking 2 Ton Factory Tires

Greetings to the Big Bolters. I am restoring my 1960 Viking 2 ton, with an odometer reading of about 40,000 miles. I bought the rig about 20 years ago, and the guy said it came from a farm in Missouri and had always been a water-tank truck on the farm. The front tires were cracked and very old looking when I bought the truck, and I have used the truck without ever replacing them. When starting this restoration, I wrote the tire numbers down to see if I could determine the manufacture date, and discovered a date of either 1959, 69, or 79. These are Seiberling Highway Service tires "DOT AV2D 9HJ369". The "9" at the end means the year, and "36" is the week in that year. However, on the inside of the tires, there are two numbers "BC-11857" and "BC-11858". Are these perhaps the patent or tire mold date for these Seiberling tires.....11/8/57 and 11/8/58?

Does anyone know if Chevrolet equipped 1960 2ton trucks with Seiberling tires, or any information on these tire codes? I think it would be neat to know that these are original 50 year-old tires.

Here is a link to a photobucket picture:

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I can't help you with the numbers, but my family had a Chevrolet dealership durring that time. I remember most of the 2 ton trucks coming with either Good Year or Firestone tires. We sold Seiberling tires at that time as well and I don't remember any new vehicles coming with them from the factory. I am sure someone will be able to help you with the numbers.
Good luck.
Jim

Thanks for your comments. So, it sounds like these Sieberlings probably were not the original tires that came from the factory.....so perhaps they were manufactured in 1969. Maybe someone will comment on those other BC-11857 and Bc-11858 numbers on the tires.

I would guess they are not original to the truck. They would have been higher priced tires than OE

Thanks for your comments.....and I hope someone may be able to give me some info. on those tire code numbers I referenced.