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Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system devel-
oped by the United States Nation-
al Highway Traffic Safety Admin-
istration (NHTSA) that
is
designed
to help buyers make relat ive com-
parisons among tires. The UTQG
is not a safety rating and not a
guarantee
that a tire will last for
a prescribed
number
of miles
(kilometers) or perform in acer-
tain way. It simply gives t ire buy
-
ers additional information to
combine with other considera-
tions, such as price, brand loyalty
and dealer recommendations
.
Un-
der
UTQG,
tires are graded
by
the
tire manufacturers
in th ree
areas:
treadwear,
traction, and tempera-
ture
res
istance. The UTQG
infor-
mation on the tires, molded into
the
sidewalls
.
U.S.
DOT Tire Identification
Number (TIN
)
This is the tire's "serial number".
It begins with the letters
"DOT"
and indicates that
the
tire meets
all federal standards
.
The next
two numbers or letters indicate
the plant where it was manufac-
tured, and the last four numbers
represent the week and year of
manufacture.
For
example,
Tires and wheels
DOT ... 2215 ...
means
that
the tire was produced
in the 22nd week of 2015. The
other numbers are marketing co-
des that may or may not be used
by the t ire manufacturer.
This in-
formation is
used
to contact con-
sumers if a tire defect requires a
recall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and
lug-
gage load plus 150 lbs
.
(68 kilo-
grams) times the
vehicle's
desig-
nated seating capacity.
Vehicle maximum load on the
tire
means that load on an indiv idual
tire that
is
determined
by distrib-
ut
ing
to
each
axle its share of the
maximum loaded vehicle weight
and dividing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means
that
load on an individual
tire that
is
determined
by dist
rib-
uting to each ax le its share of the
curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupant weigh
t
(dis-
tributed in accordance with
c:::>
ta-
ble on page 265) and dividing by
two.
.,.
259
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