Tires
Vehicle care and maintenance 9-11
9
Intended outboard sidewall: • The sidewall that c
ontains a whitewall,
bears white letteri
ng or bears manufac-
turer, brand, and/or model name molding that is higher or deeper than the samemolding on the other sidewall of the tire, or • The outward facing si
dewall of an asym-
metrical tire that has a particular side that must always face outward when mounted on a vehicle.
Passenger car tire: a
tire intended for use
on passenger cars, multipurpose passen-ger vehicles, and trucks, that have a gross vehicle weight rati
ng (GVWR) of 10,000
pounds or less. Light truck (LT) tire: a tire designated by its manufacturer as primarily intended for use on lightweight truc
ks or multipurpose
passenger vehicles. Tread: portion of a tire that comes into contact with the road. Tread rib: a tread se
ction running circum-
ferentially around a tire. Tread separation: pulling away of the tread from the tire carcass. Carcass: the tire structure, except tread and sidewall rubber which, when inflated,bears the load. Sidewall: portion of
a tire between the
tread and bead.
Section width: the line
ar distance between
the exteriors of the sidewalls of aninflated tire, excluding elevations due to labeling, decoration, or protective bands. Bead: the part of the tire that is made of steel wires, wrapped
or reinforced by ply
cords and that is shaped to fit the rim. Ply: a layer of rubber-coated parallel cords. Cord: the strands forming the plies in the tire. Rim: a metal support for a tire or a tire and tube assembly upon which the tirebeads are seated. Rim diameter: nominal diameter of the bead seat. Groove: the space between two adjacent tread ribs.
EXAMPLE:P215/65R15
Tire Markings
Size Designation P
Passenger car tire size based on U.S.A. design standards
215
Section width in millimeters (mm.)
65
Aspect ratio in percent (%) Ratio of section height to section width of tire.
R
Construction code •“R” means radial construc- tion.
• “D” means diagonal or bias construction.
15 Rim diameter in inches (in)
BK0209800US.book 11 ページ 2014年1月14日 火曜日 午前9時26分