Tire Safety Information
Improve vehicle handling
Help protect you and others from avoidable breakdowns and accidents
Improve fuel economy
Increase the life of your tires.
This booklet presents a comprehensive overview of tire safety, including
information on the following topics:
Basic tire maintenance
Uniform Tire Quality Grading System
Fundamental characteristics of tires
Tire safety tips.
Use this information to make tire safety a regular part of your vehicle maintenance
routine. Recognize that the time you spend is minimal compared with the
inconvenience and safety consequences of a flat tire or other tire failure.
SAFETY FIRST–BASIC TIRE MAINTENANCE
Properly maintained tires improve the steering, stopping, traction, and loadcarrying
capability of your vehicle. Underinflated tires and overloaded vehicles are
a major cause of tire failure. Therefore, as mentioned above, to avoid flat 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.
FINDING YOUR VEHICLE'S RECOMMENDED TIRE PRESSURE AND LOAD LIMITS
Tire information placards and vehicle certification labels contain information on
tires and load limits. These labels indicate the vehicle manufacturer's information
including:
Recommended tire size
Recommended tire inflation pressure
Vehicle capacity weight (VCW–the maximum occupant and cargo weight a
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vehicle is designed to carry)
Front and rear gross axle weight ratings (GAWR– the maximum weight the
axle systems are designed to carry).
Both placards and certification labels are permanently attached to the trailer near
the left front.
UNDERSTANDING TIRE PRESSURE AND LOAD LIMITS
Tire inflation pressure is the level of air in the tire that provides it with load-carrying
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 properly inflated. (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