Page 329 of 466

The
Tire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio nplacar dis on
th eB-pillar onthedr iver's side oftheve hicle. 1
Tire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio nplacar d %
The datasho wnintheillus tration isexam ple
dat a.
The Tire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio nplacar dsho ws:
R Maximum numberofseats 2accor dingto
th emaximum numberofpeople permitt edto
tr ave lin theve hicle.
R Maximum permissible load3com prises the
gr os swe ight ofall vehicle occupants, load
and luggage. R
Recomme ndedtirepr ess ures 1 forcold
tir es. The recomme ndedtirepr ess ures are
va lid forth emaximum permissible loadand
up tothemaximum permissible vehicle
speed.
Please alsonote:
R Information onper missib lewe ight sand loads
on theve hicle identif ication plate
(/ page355).
R Information ontirepr essur ein thetir epr es‐
sur eta ble (/ page323).
Fu rther relat ed subje cts:
R Determ inin gth emaximum permissible load
(/ page32 7)
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page32 1). St
eps forDe term ining Correct Load Limit The
follo wing steps have been developed as
re qu ired ofall manuf acturersunder Title 49,
Co de ofU.S. Feder alRe gulations, Part57 5, pur‐
sua nttothe"N ational Traf fic and MotorVe hicle
Saf etyAc tof 1966". Whee
lsand tires 32
7
Page 330 of 466

#
(1): Locateth est at emen t"The combined
we ight ofocc upant sand cargoshould never
exc eed XXX kgorXXX lbs." onyour vehicle's
placar d. #
(2): Determ ine thecombin edweight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersth at will beriding in
yo ur vehicle. #
(3): Subtr actthecombin edweight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersfrom XXX kgor
XXX lbs. #
(4): The resulting figur eeq uals theav ailable
amoun tof car goand luggageload capac ity.
Fo rex am ple: if"XXX "eq uals 1,400 lbsand
th er ear efive occupant sin your vehicle with
a we ight of150lbs eac h,themaximum
car goand luggageload capacity is650 lbs
(1 ,400 -75 0(5 x15 0) =650 lbs). #
(5):De term ine thecombin edweight oflug‐
ga ge and cargobein gloaded ontheve hicle.
The weight mayno tsaf elyexc eed theav aila‐
ble cargoand luggageload capac itycalc ula‐
te din step 4. #
(6): Ifyo ur vehicle willbetowing atrailer ,
load from your trailer willbetrans ferred to yo
ur vehicle. Consult this manual todeter‐
mine howmuc hth is reduces theav ailable
car goand luggageload capac ityofyour vehi‐
cle.
% Notall vehicles areper mitt edtotow a
trailer .To wing atrailer isonl yper mittedifa
tra iler -hit chisins talled. Please consult an
aut hor ized Mercedes -Benz dealer ifyo uha ve
an yqu estion sabout towing atrailer with
yo ur vehicle.
Ev en ifyo uha ve cal cul ated thetot alload care‐
full y,yo usho uld still mak esur eth at themaxi‐
mum permissible gross weight andthemaxi‐
mum gross axle weight rating ofyour vehicle are
no texc eeded. Details can befound ontheve hi‐
cle identif ication plate. #
Have your loaded vehicle –including driver ,
occupants andload –we ighed onave hicle
we ighbr idge.
The measur edvalues mayno texc eed the
maximu mper missi blevalues stat ed on the
ve hicle identif ication plate. Fu
rther relat ed subje cts:
R Calculation exam ple forde term inin gth emax‐
imum load(/page328)
R Tire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio nplacar d
(/ page32 6)
R Tire pressur eta ble (/ page323 )
R Vehicle identif ication plate(/ page355) Calculation
exam ple forde term ining the
ma ximum load The
follo wing table showsexam ples ofhowto
cal cul ateto ta land load capac itieswithva rying
seatin gcon figur ations anddiffere nt num bers
and sizes ofocc upant s.The follo wing exam ples
use amax imum loadof1500 lbs (680 kg).This
is forillus tratio npur pos esonly.Mak esur e
yo uar eusin gth eactual loadlimit foryo ur vehi‐
cle stat ed on your vehicle's Tire and Loadi ng
In fo rm atio nplacar d(/ page32 6).
The high erthewe ight ofall theoccupant s,the
smaller themaximum loadforlug gage . 328
Wheels andtires
Page 331 of 466
Ste
p1 Ex
am ple 1E xamp le2
Combine dmaxim umweight ofocc upant sand
load (datafrom theTire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio n
placar d) 15
00 lbs (680 kg)1 500lbs(680 kg) Ste
p2 Ex
am ple 1E xamp le2
Nu mb erofpeople intheve hicle (driver and
occupants) 51
Dis trib uti on oftheoccupant sF ront:2
Re ar:3 Fr
ont :1
We ight ofocc upant sO ccupant1:150lbs (68 kg)
Occupant 2:180lbs (82 kg)
Occupant 3:160lbs (73 kg )
Occupant 4:140lbs (63 kg)
Occupant 5:120lbs (54kg ) Occupant
1:200 lbs(91 kg )
To talwe ight ofall occ upant s7 50lbs (340 kg)2 00lbs (91 kg ) Wheels
andtires 329
Page 332 of 466
Ste
p3 Ex
am ple 1E xamp le2
Pe rm issible load(maxim umgros sve hicle weight
ra ting from theTire and Loadi ngInfo rm atio n
placar dmin usthegr oss weight ofall occ upant s)15
00 lbs (680 kg)00F8 75 0lbs (340 kg)= 75 0lbs
(340 kg) 15
00 lbs (680 kg)00F8 200 lbs(91 kg )= 13 00 lbs
(589 kg) 330
Wheels andtires
Page 333 of 466

Ti
re labeling Ov
ervie wof tirelabeling 1
Uniform Tire Qua lityGradi ng Standar d
(/ page33 1)
2 DOT,Tire Identif ication Number
(/ page332)
3 Maximu mtireloa d(/ page333)
4 Maximu mtirepr essu re(/ pag e333 ) 5
Manuf acturer
6 Char acteristics ofthetir e(/ page334)
7 Tire size designation, load-bearing cap acity,
spe edrating andload index(/ pag e334)
8 Tire nam e
% The data sho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a. Ti
re Quality Grading In
accor dance withth eUS Depar tmentof Trans ‐
por tatio n's "Uni form Tire Qua lityGradi ng Stand‐
ar ds", tireman ufact urersar ere qu ired tograde
th eir tires on thebasis ofthefo llo wing thre eper‐
fo rm anc efa ct or s: 1
Tread weargrade
2 Tract ion grade
3 Temp eratur egr ade
% The datasho wnintheillus tration isexam ple
dat a.
% The classificat ion isno tleg allyst ipulat edfor
Canad a,but itis ge ner ally stat ed.
Tr ead weargrade
The tread weargrade isacom parativ era ting
ba sedon thewe arrate ofthetir ewhen tested
under controlled conditions onaspecif iedtest
tr ac kof theUS Depar tmentof Trans portatio n.
Fo rex am ple, atir egr aded 150wo uld wearone Whee
lsand tires 33
1
Page 334 of 466

and
one-h alftim esaswellon thego vernment
te st trac kas atir egr ad ed 100.
The relativ eper form anc eof tires depen dsupon
th eactual conditions oftheir use, howe ver,and
ma ydepar tsign ifican tly from thenor mdue to
va riatio nsindrivin ghabit s,ser vicepr act icesand
dif fere nces inroad charact eristic sand climate
con dition s.
Tr actio ngr ade &
DANG ER Risk ofacc iden tdue toinade‐
qu atetract ion
The tract ion grade assig nedtothis tireis
based onstra ight -ahead brakin gtract ion
te sts, and does notinclude either acceler a‐
tion, corner ing, hydroplaning orpeak traction
ch aract eristic s. #
Alw aysadap tyo ur drivin gst yle and
dr ive at aspeed tosuit thepr ev ailin g
traf fic and weather condition s. *
NO
TEDama getothedr ivet ra in from
wheelspin #
Avoid wheelspin. The
traction classes, from highes tto lowe st,ar e
AA ,A, Band C.Tho segrad es repr esent thetir e's
ability tostop onwetpa vement asmeasu red
unde rco ntro lled condition son spec ified govern‐
ment test sur faces ofasp haltand concr ete. A
tir emar kedC ma yha ve poor traction perform ‐
anc e.
Te mp eratur egr ade &
WARNIN GRisk ofacci dent from tire
ove rheating andtirefa ilur e
The temp eratur egr ade forth is tireis es tab‐
lished fora tir eth at isproper lyinflat ed and
no tove rloaded. Excessiv espeed, underinfla‐
tion, orexc essiv eloading, either separ ately
or incombin ation,cancause excessiv eheat
build-up andpossible tirefa ilur e. #
Obser vethere comme ndedtirepr es‐
su resand regular lych eckth etir epr es‐ sur
eof all tires including thespar e
wheel. #
Adjus tth etir epr essur eas neces sary. The
temp eratur egr ades areA (the highes t),B
and C.The yre pr esent thetir e's resis tance tothe
ge ner ation ofhea tand itsability todissipat e
heat when tested under controlled conditions on
a specif iedindoor laborator yte st wheel. Sus‐
ta ined hightemp eratur ecan cause themat erial
of thetir eto deg ener ateand reduce tirelife, and
exc essiv ete mp eratur ecan lead tosudden tire
fa ilur e.Grade Ccor responds toaleve lof per‐
fo rm anc ewhic hall passe nger car tires mus t
mee tunde rth eFe der alMo torSaf etySt andar d
No. 109. Grade sB and Arepr esent higher leve ls
of per form anc eon thelabor ator yte st wheel
th an theminimum requ ired bylaw. DO
T,Tire Iden tificat ionNumbe r(TI N) US
tirere gulations stipulat eth at eve rytire man‐
uf actu reror retrea de rmu stimprint aTIN inor
on theside wallof eac htir epr oduced. 332
Wheels andtires
Page 335 of 466

%
The datasho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a.
The TINisauniq ueiden tificat ion num berto
ident ifytires and comprises thefo llo wing:
R DOT(Depar tment ofTranspo rtation ):tir e
symb olmar ks1 indic atingth at thetir e
com plies withth ere qu iremen tsof theUS
Depar tmentof Trans portatio n.
R Man ufac tur eride ntificat ion code: manu‐
fa ctur eridentif ication code 2cont ains
de tails ofthetir emanuf acturer.Ne wtires
ha ve acod ewit htw osymbo ls.Retrea de d
tir es have acod ewit hfo ur symb ols.Further
inf ormation onretrea de dtir es (/ page 339). R
Tire size: identif ier3 descr ibesthetir e
size.
R Tire type code: tiretyp ecod e4 can be
us ed bythemanuf actureras acode to
descr ibespecif icch aract eristic sof thetir e.
R Manuf acturingdate:manuf acturingdate
5 prov ides informatio nabout theag eof a
tir e. The 1stand 2nd position sre pr esent the
cal enda rwe ek and the3r dand 4thposition s
st at eth eye ar ofman ufact ure(e. g."32 08"
re pr esent sth e32n dwe ek of2008 ). Inf
ormat iononthema xim um tireload %
The datasho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a.
Max imum tireload 1isthemaximum permissi‐
ble weight forwhi chthetir eis appr oved.
Do notove rload thetir es by exceed ingthespeci‐
fi ed load limit. Themaximum permissible load
can befound ontheve hicle's Tire and Loadi ng
In fo rm atio nplacar don theB-pillar onthedr iv‐
er's side (/page326). Specif
ications formaxi mum tirepr es sur e %
The data sho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a. Whee
lsand tires 333
Page 336 of 466

Ne
verexc eed maximum tirepr essur e1 speci‐
fi ed forth etir e. Inf
ormat ionontirech aract eristics %
The datasho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a.
This informat iondesc ribes thetype oftirecor d
and thenumber oflaye rs inside wall1 and
under tiretread 2. Ti
re size designation, load-bearingcapacity ,
speed ratin gand load inde x &
WARNIN GRisk ofinju rythro ugh exceed‐
ing thespecif iedtireload rating orthe
per missible speedrating
Ex cee ding thespecif iedtireload rating or
th eper missible speedrating mayle ad totire
da ma geand tothetir es bur sting. #
Ther efor e, onl yuse tiretypes andsizes
appr ovedfo ryo ur vehicle model. #
Obser vethetir eload rating andspee d
ra ting requ ired foryo ur vehicle. 1
Preceding letter
2 Nominal tirewidt hin millime ters
3 Aspe ctratio in%
4 Tire code
5 Rim diame ter
6 Load-be aring inde x
7 Speed rating
8 Loadind ex
% The datasho wnintheimag eis exam ple
dat a.
In fo rm atio nabout readin gtir edat acan be
obt aine dfrom anyqu alif ied spec ialistwo rkshop. 33
4
Wheels andtires