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• Uniform Tire Quality Grading System
• Fundamental characteristics of tires
• Tire safety tips
Use this intbrmation to make tire safety a regular part of your vehicle maintenance
routine Recognize that the time you spend is minimal compaied with the
inconvenience and safe_' consequences of a flat fire or' other tire fMfure
6.4,1 Safe_' first-Basic tire maintenance
Properly maintained tires improve the steering, stopping, traction, and load-
carl3,ing capability of you, vehicle Under-inflated tires and overloaded vehicles
are a major cause of tire failure Therefbre, as mentfoned above, to avoid fiat tires
and other types of tire failure, you should maintain proper tire pressure, observe
tire and vehicle load limits, avoid road hazards, and regularly inspect your tires
6.4.2 Finding your vehicle's recommended tire pressure and load limits
Zhe infbm_ation placards and vehicle certification labels contain infbrmation on
fires and toad Iimits, These labels indicate the vehicle manufacturer's irrlbrmation
including:
. Recommended tire size
• Recommended tire inflation pressute
• Vehicle capacity weight (VCW-the maximum occupant and cargo weight a
vehicle is designed to carD')
• Front and rear' gross axle weight ratings (GAWR= the maximum weight the
axle systems are designed to car_y),
Both ptacards and certification labels are pe_manently attached to the trailer nezu'
the left front,
6°4.3 Understanding tire pressure and load limits
Tire inflation pressure is the level of air in dae tire that provides it with load-
canying capacity and affects the overall performance of the vehicle, The tire
inflation pressure is a number that indicates the amount of air pressure- measured
in pounds per square inch (psi)--a tire requires to be property inflaf;ed (You will
also find this number on the vehicle information placard expressed in kilopascals
(kPa), which is the metric measure used internationally,)
Manufacturers of passenger vehicles and light trucks determine this number
based on the vehicle's design load limit, that is, the greatest amount of weight a
vehicle can safely carry and the vehicle's tire size The proper the pressure for
your' vehicle is referred to as the "recommended cold inflation presstire " (As you
will read below, it is dit_cult to obtain the recommended tire pressure if your tires
are not cold,)
Because tires are designed to be used on more than one type of vehicle, tire
manufacturers list the 'maximun_ permissible inflation pressure" on the tire
sidewalI. This number is the greatest amount of air pressure that should ever be
put irathe tire under normal driving conditions,
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