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T _i
_ r_ e_
s
_ a_
n _d
_
w
_
h
_ e_
e
_l_
s
__
l'III
•
S idewa
ll
means that portion of a tire between the tread and bead.
S
p
eed ra
ting <l
e
tt
e
r
c
od
e)
means the speed at which a t ire is designed to be driven for
extended
periods of time. The ratings range from 93 mph (150 km/h)
t
o 186 mph (298 km/h)
=>
page 249. You may not f ind this informa
-
tion on all tires because it is not required by law.
The speed rating letter code, where applicab le, is molded on the tire
sidewa ll and indicates the maximum perm issible road speeds=>
&
in "Winter tires" on page 252.
T ire
pre
ssu re
m
o
nit
o
rin
g sys
t
e
m
*
means a system that detects when one or more of a vehicle's tires
are under inflated and illuminates a low tire pressure warning tell-
tale.
Tre
ad
means that portion of a tire that comes into contact with the road
.
Trea
d
sepa ra
ti
o
n
means pu lling away of the tread from the
t
ire carcass.
Tr
ea
dw
ea
r indi
ca
t
o rs
(TW
I)
means the projections with in the principal grooves designed to give
a visual indication of
the
degrees of wear of
the
tread
.
See
~
page 246, "Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)" for more information on
measuring tire wear.
U
ni
form
T
ir
e Q
u
a
lity G
ra
din
g
is a
tire
information system developed by
the
United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) that is designed to
help buyers make re lative comparisons among tires. The UTQG is
not a safety rating and not a guarantee that a tire will last for a
prescribed number of miles or perform in a certain way. It simply
gives tire buyers additiona
l
information
to combine with other
considerations,
such as price, brand loya lty and dealer recommen-
dations
.
Under UTQG, tires are graded by the tire manufacturers
in
three areas
:
treadwear, trac
t
ion and temperature resistance. The
UTQG information
on the
tires,
mo lded into the sidewalls.
U .S
.
DOT Tire Identifi
ca
tion Number
(TIN
)
This is the tire's "serial number" It begins with the letters "DOT" and
indicates
t
hat the ti re meets
all f
edera
l
standards. The next two
numbers or letters indicate the plant where it was manufactured,
and the last four numbers represent the week and year of manufac
-
ture
.
For example,
DOT
...
2209
...
means that the
t
ire was produced in the 22t
h
week of 2009. The
other numbers are marketing codes that may or may not be used by
t
he tire manufacturer. This information
is used to contact
consumers if a tire defect
requires
a reca ll.
Vehi
c
le cap
ac
it
y
we ight
means the rated cargo and luggage load plus 150 lbs. (68 kilograms)
times the vehicle's tota
l
seating capacity as
list
ed on the label
located on the driver's side B-pi llar.
V
eh
ic
le maximum
load on the tire
means that load on an individual tire that is determined by distrib
-
uting to each axle its share of the max
i
mum loaded vehicle weight
and dividing by two.
Ve
hic le normal
lo
a
d on
t
he tire
means that load on an individual tire that is determined by distrib
-
uting to each axle its share of the curb weight, accessory we ight,
and normal occupant weight (distributed
in accordance with tab
le
below
=>
page 240) and dividing by two
.
._
Vehicle care
I
t
•
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