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Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system devel-
oped by the United States Nat ion-
al Highway Traffic Safety Adminis
-
tration (NHTSA) that is designed
to help buyers make relative com-
parisons among tires
.
The UTQG is
not a safety rating and not a guar-
antee tha
t
a tire will last for a
prescribed number of miles (ki lo-
meters) or perform in a certain
way. It simply gives tire buyers
additional information to com-
bine with othe
r
considerations,
such as price
,
brand loyalty and
dealer recommendations
.
Under
UTQG, tir es are
graded
by the ti re
manu
f
actu rers in three
areas:
treadwear, traction, and tempera-
ture resistance. The UTQG infor-
mation on the tires, mo
l
ded into
the sidewalls
.
U.S. DOT Tire Identification
Number (TIN)
This is the tire's "serial number"
.
It beg ins with the letters "DOT"
and indicates that the tire
m
eets
all federal standa rds. The next
two numbers or
l
etters indicate
the plant where it was manufac
-
~
tu red, and the last four numbers
0
~
represent the wee
k
and year
of
IO
~
manufacture
.
For example
,
....
Whee
l
s
DOT ... 4514 ...
means that the tire was produced
in the 4Snd week of 201
4.
The
other numbers are marketing co-
des that may or may not be used
by the tire manufact urer. Th is in-
formation is used to contact con-
sumers if a tire defect requ ires a
recall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and lug
-
gage load plus 150 lbs. (68 kilo-
grams) times the vehicle's
desig-
nat
ed seating capacity.
Vehicle maximum load on the
tire
means that load on an ind ividual
tire
t
hat is determined by distrib-
ut ing to
each axl
e its share of t he
maximum loaded vehic le weight
and dividing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load on an individual
tire that is determined by d istrib-
uting to each
axl
e its share of the
curb weight
,
accessory weight,
and norma
l
occupant weigh
t
(dis-
tributed in accordance with
¢
page
220) and dividin
g
by two .
.,.
2
15
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