Reading Your Tire
Have you ever thought what all those numbers on Your Wheels, tire means!
When you go to check the air pressure in your tires, how much do you put in?
This does not go through only your mind but the minds of millions.
We need to go to the owners Manual which may tell you or will direct you to where a Placard is located on the car.
When checking your owners manual or tire placard (located either on the door frame (pillar), on the drivers door near the catch or in the glovebox) it gives you tire options, legal tire sizes & recommended tire air pressures. Keeping in mind the load the vehicle is going to carry.
Reading your Wheels, Ti
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The information is on the sidewall of your wheels, tire & is very easy to read when you know how.
This is an example of what it may look like, P205/65 R16 95 V.
Now breaking it down,
Your Wheels, tire Brand is the large writting on the side of the tire EG: Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop, Kumo, Goodyear, Wrangler to name a few,
The P is that it’s for a Passenger Vehicle,
The 205 is the width of the tire in millimeters
The 65 is the distance between the the rim & the ground as a percentage of the tread width, in this example the height of the tire is 65% of the tire width.
The R stands for Radial (years ago we had the old coventional crossply tire)
The 16 is the diameter of the rim in inches (the rims are still measured in inches Internationally) & is the of the rim without the tire.
The 95 stands for the load rating of the tire (the higher the number the more load the tire can carry) which runs at a higher tire pressure.
The V is a symbol representing the maximum speed of the tire, in this case the tire is rated at 240 kph or 150 miles per hour.
Along with the Wheels, tire Brand there will be a series of Numbers or word such as Eager, G/Grid etc, or a combination of both, Which is the Wheels, tire Tread Pattern.
Other information on the Tire will be the Maximum Tire Inflation, (this is NOT the recommended but Maximum Tire Pressure).
There may also be an Arrow with Tire Rotation, these are Directional Tires & the Tread Pattern is designed to run in that direction only!
Do not rotate these Tires on the car without having the wheels, tire turned on the Rims first.
Does your Tire have Red Caps on the tire valve?
The Red Cap means your tire has Nitrogen in it in place of the normal air used at the Gas Station. To have the air pressure checked in these tires go to your tire dealer & he will check them free of charge.
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