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246
Tires and wheels
Speed rating (letter code)
means t he speed at wh ich a tir e is designed t o
be driven for extended periods of t ime. The
ratings range from 93 mph (150 km/h) to
186 mph (298 km/h)
¢ page 255 .
You may
not find this inf ormat ion on all tires because
it is not required by law.
The speed rating letter code, w here applica-
ble, is molded on the tire sidewa ll and indi-
cates the maxim um permissible road speeds
¢ &. in Winter tires on page 259.
Tire pressure monitoring system*
means a system t hat detects when one or
mo re of a vehicle's t ires are under inflated and
illum inates a low t ire pressure warn ing te ll -
tale.
Tread
means t hat port ion of a tire t hat comes into
cont act w it h t he road.
Tread separation
means pull ing away of t he t read from th e t ire
carcass.
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means t he projections withi n the pr incipal
grooves designed to give a visual ind ication of
the degrees of wear of the t read. See
¢
pag e 253, Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
for
mo re inf ormat ion on measuring tir e wear.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire info rmation system developed by the
United States Nat ional Highway Traffic Safety
Admin istration (NHTSA) that is designed to
help buyers make relative compa risons among
tires. The UTQG is not a safety rating and not a
guarant ee t hat a t ire will last fo r a prescribed
number of m iles (kilome t ers) or perform in a
certain way. It simply gives ti re buyers addi-
tional information to combine with other con-
siderations, such as price, brand loyalty and
dealer recommendations. Under UTQG, tires
are graded by the t ire manufacturers in three
areas: treadwea r, traction, and temperature
resistance. The UTQG informat ion on the tires,
molded into the sidewalls .
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN )
This is the tire's "serial numbe r" . It begins
with the letters "DOT" and ind icates that the
t ire meets all federa l standards . The next two
numbers or letters ind icate the plant where it
was ma nufactu red, and the last four numbe rs
represent t he week and year of ma nufact ure.
For exampl e,
DOT ... 2213 ...
means that the tire was produced in t he 22nd
week of 2013. The ot her numbers are market-
ing codes that may or may not be used by the
t ire manufacturer. This information is used to
contact consumers if a tire defect requires a
recall .
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and luggage load plus
150 lbs. (68 kilograms) times the vehicle's to-
ta l seating capacity as listed on the label lo-
cated on the driver's side B-pilla r.
Vehicle maximum load on the tire
means that load on an individua l t ire that is
determined by distributing to each axle its
share of the maxim um loaded vehicle weight
and divid ing by two .
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load on an individua l t ire that is
determined by distributing to each axle its
share of the curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupant weig ht (distr ibuted in
accordance wit h tab le below ¢
page
247)
and divid ing by two .
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