2012 MERCEDES-BENZ M-Class weight

Maximum
tireload :isthe maximum
permitted weightforwhich thetire is
approved.
Further information ontire loads
(Y page 367). Uniform
TireQuality Grading
Stand ards Overview
ofTire Quality Grading
Stand ards The
Uniform TireQuality Grading isaU.S.
Government requirement. Theirpurpose isto
provide driverswithconsist entand reliabl e
information regardingtireperformance. Tire
manufacturers arerequired tograde tires
using threeperformance factors:tread
wear :,tire tract ion;, and temperature
resistance =.Although notaGover nment of
Canada requirement,all tires made forsale in
Nort hAm eric ahave thesegrades brandedon
the sidewall. i
The
actual values fortires are vehic le-
spec ificand may deviat efro mt hevalues in
the illustration .
Where applicable, thetire grading
information canbefound onthe tire sidewa ll
between thetread shoulder andmaximum
tire width.
For example: Tread
wear Tra
ction Temp
erature 200 AA A All
passenger cartires must confor mto the
statutory safetyrequirements inaddition to
these grades. Tread
wear
The tread weargrade isac omparative rating
based onthe wear rateofthe tire when tested
under controlled conditionsonaspecified
U.S. governm entcourse. Forexample, atire
graded 150would wearoneandone-half
times aswell onthe governm entcourse asa
tire graded 100.
The relative performanc eof tires depends
upon theactual conditionsoftheir use,
however, andmay depart significant lyfrom
the norm, duetovariations indriving habits,
service practices anddifferenc esinroad
charact eristics andclimate conditions. Tr
action G
WARNIN
G The
tract iongrade assigned tothis tireis
based onstraight- aheadbraking traction
test s,and does notinclude acceleration,
corn ering, hydroplaning, orpeak traction
character istics.
The tract iongrades, fromhighest tolowest,
are AA, A,B,and C.Those grades represent
the tire's ability tostop onawet surface as
measured undercontrolled conditionson
specified governmenttest surfaces ofasphalt
and conc rete. Atire mark edCmay have poor
tr act ion perf ormance. G
WARN
ING If
ice has formed onthe road, tiretract ion will
be subst antially reduc ed.Und ersuch weathe r
con ditio ns,drive ,ste erand brak ewith
ext reme caution.
The safe speed onawet, snowcov ered oricy
road isalways lowerthanondry road
surf aces. 366
Unifor
mTir eQua lityGrad ing Stand ardsWheels and tires

Tire
type code: tiretypecod e? can be
us ed bythe manuf actu rerasacod eto
de scri bespe cificcharacteristics ofthe tire.
Date ofmanuf acture:date ofmanufacture
A provides information abouttheage ofa
tire. Thefirst andsecond positions represent
the week ofmanufacture, startingwith "01"
for the first calendar week.Positions three
and four represent theyear ofmanufacture.
For example, atire that ismarked with
"3208", wasmanufactured inweek 32in
2008. Tire
character istics i
Tire
data isvehicle-specific andmay
deviate fromthedata inthe example.
This information describesthetire cord and
the number oflay ers insidewa ll: and under
the tread ;. Defini
tionofterm sfor tires and
loading Tire
plycomposition andmaterial
used
Describes thenumber ofplies orthe number
of lay ers ofrubber-coated fabricinthe tire
tread andsidewa ll.These aremade ofsteel,
nylon, polyester andother materials. Bar
Metric unitfortire pressure. Thereare
14.5 038pounds persquare inch(psi) to
1b ar; there are100k ilopasc als(kPa) to
1 bar. DOT
(Depar tment ofTransp ortation)
DO Tmark edtires fulfill therequire mentsof
the Unit edStates Depar tment of
Tran sport ation. Nor
maloccupa ntweight
The numb erofocc upant sthe vehic leis
design edtoseat ,mult iplied by68 kilog rams
(15 0lbs). Uniform
TireQualit yGra ding
Sta ndar ds
Au nifo rmstanda rdtogra dethe quality of
tire swi th reg ards totrea dqu ality ,tire trac tion
and temp eraturecha racteri stics. Rating sar e
de term inedby tire manuf actu rersus ing U.S.
gov ernm enttesti ngpro ced ures. The rating s
ar emol dedinto theside wa llof the tire. Rec
omme ndedtire pres sure
The reco mme ndedtire pressu reappliesto
the tiresmou nted atthe factory .
The Tire and Loading Info rma tionp lacard
con tain sthe recomm endedtir epress uresfor
cold tires on afully loaded vehicleand forthe
maxim umperm issible vehiclespeed.
The tirepress uretable contain sthe
rec omm endedtir epress uresforcold tires
under various operatingcon ditio ns,i.e.
diff erin gload andspeed conditio ns. Definition
ofter ms fortires and loading
371Wheels and tires Z

Incr
ease dvehicle weight dueto
opt ional equipm ent
This isthecom binedweight ofall standar d
and optionalequipm entavailable forthe
veh icle,regar dless ofwhet heritis act ually
ins talle don theveh icle ornot. Rim
This isthepart ofthew heel onwhich thetire
is mounted. GAWR
(Gross AxleWeight Rating)
The GAWR isthe maximum permissible axle
weight. Theactual loadonanaxle must never
exceed thegross axleweight rating.The
gross axleweight ratingcanbefound onthe
vehicle identification plateonthe B-pillar on
the driver's side. Speed
rating
The speed ratingispart ofthe tire
identification. Itspecifies thespeed rangefor
which thetire isapproved. GTW
(Gross Trailer Weight)
The GTW isthe weight ofatrailer including
the weight ofthe load, luggage,accessories
etc. onthe trailer. GVW
(Gross Vehicle Weight)
The gross vehicle weightcomprises the
weight ofthe vehicle including fuel,tools, the
spare wheel, accessories installed,
occupants, luggageand thedrawba r
noseweight, ifappli cable. Thegross vehicle
weight mustnotexceed thegross vehicle
weight ratingGVWR asspecified onthe
vehicle identification plateonthe Bpillar on
the drive r'sside. GV
WR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)
The GVWR isthe maxim umperm issible gross
weight ofafully loaded vehicle(th eweight of
the vehic leinc luding allacc essor ies,
occ upant s,fuel, luggage andthedrawbar
nos eweight ,if applicable). Thegros svehic le
weight rating isspec ified onthe vehic le
ident ification plateonthe B-pillar onthe
drive r'sside. Max
imumload edvehicle weight
The maximum weight isthesum ofthecur b
weight oftheveh icle,th eweight ofthe
acc esso ries,th eto tal load limit andthe
weight oftheopt ionalequipm entinstalle dat
th efac tory. Kilopa
scal(kPa)
Met ricunit fortirepres sure. 6.9kP ais the
equivale ntof1psi .An other unit fortire
pres sure isbar. Thereare 100k ilopasc als
(kPa) to1b ar. Load
index
In addit iontotheload beari ngind ex,th eload
ind exmay alsobeimpr inted on thesidew all
of thetir e. This spec ifiesthe load bearing
capacity moreprecisely. Curb
weight
The weight ofavehicle withstandard
equipment includingthemaximum capacity
of fuel, oiland coolant. Italso includes theair-
condition ingsystem andoptional equipment
if these areinstalled inthe vehicle, butdoes
not include passengers orlugga ge. 372
Defin
itionofterm sfor tires andloadingWheels and tires

Maximum
loadrating
The maximu mload rating inkilograms or
pounds isthe maximum weightforwhich a
tire isapproved. Maximu
mperm issible tirepressur e
Maximum permissible tirepressure forone
tire. Maximu
mload onone tire
Maximum loadonone tire. This iscalculated
by dividing themaximum axleload ofone axle
by two. PSI
(pounds persquar einch)
As tand arduni tofm easure fortire pressure. Aspect
ratio
Relationship betweentireheight andtire
width inpercen t. Tir
epr essure
This ispressure insidethetire applying an
outward forceto each square inchofthe tire's
surface. Thetirepressure isspecified in
pounds persquare inch(psi), inkilopascal
(kPa) orinbar. Thetirepressure shouldonly
be corr ectedwhen thetires arecold. Tir
epr essure ofcold tires
The tires arecold:
R ifthe vehicle hasbeen parked without
direct sunlight onthe tires foratleast three
hours and
R ifthe vehicle hasnotbeen driven morethan
1 mile (1.6km). Tr
ead
The part ofthe tire that comes intocon tact
with theroad. Bead
The tirebead ensures thatthetire sits
securely onthe wheel. Thereareseveral steel
wires inthe bead topreven tthe tire from
comin gloose fromthewheel rim. Sidewall
The part ofthe tire between thetread andthe
bead. Weight
ofoptional extras
The combin edweight ofthose option alext ras
that weigh morethanthereplaced standard
part andmore than2.3kilograms (5lbs).
These optionalext ras, such ashigh-
perform ancebrakes, levelcontrol, aroof rack
or ahigh-perf ormancebatter y,are not
included inthe curb weight andaccesso ry
weight. TIN
(Tire Identificat ionNum ber)
This isaunique identifierwhich canbeused
by atire manufact urertoident ifytires, for
example foraproduct recall,andthus ident ify
the purchasers. TheTINismade upofthe
manufact urer'sidentitycode, tiresize, tire
type code andthemanufact uringdate. Load
bearing index
The load bearing index(alsoloadindex) isa
code thatcontains themaximum loadbearing
capacity ofatire. Definition
ofter ms fortires and loading
373Wheels and tires Z

All
mod els Gr
ound clearance 8.
0in (20 2mm ) Tu
rning circle 38
.7ft(11 .80m) Ma
xim um roof
load Max
imum 220lb
(10 0kg ) Tr
ailer towhitch Mou
nting dim ension s G
WAR
NING On
lyhave atrailer tow hit ch retrofitted ata
qualif iedspec ialist workshopwhic hhas the
ne ces sary specialist knowled geand tools to
car ryout thework required .Mercedes- Benz
recom mends thatyouuseanauthorized
Mercedes- BenzCenter forthis purpose. In
particular, workrelevant tosafety oron
safety-r elatedsystems mustbecarried outat
a qualified specialist workshop.
! Ifyou have atrailer towhitchretr ofitt ed,
changes tothe cooling systemanddrive
train maybeneces sary,depending onthe
vehicle type.
If you have atrailer towhitchretr ofitt ed,
observe theanchor agepoint son the
chassis frame. An
chorage pointsforthe trailer towhitch
(example)
: Anchorage points
; Rear axlecenterline Tr
ailer loads
Missing valueswerenotavailable attime of
going toprint . All
models Perm
issible trailer load,
unbra ked Perm
issible trailer load,
brak ed34 Maxim
umdrawbar
noseweig ht35 Perm
issible rearaxle
load when towing atrail er 34
At ami nim um gradient-c limbi ngcap ability of12% fromastandstill.
35 The drawba rnoseweight isnot included inthe trailer load. Tr
ailer towhitch
391Technical data Z