&
W W
ARNI NG ARNI
NGRisk ofaccid ent due tounsuit a-
ble ball neck
If yo uinst allan unsuit ableballneck,thetrailer
hitc hand there ar axle maybe overloaded.
This cansigni/can tly im pair thedr iving char-
act eristics and thetrailer maybecome loose.
Ther eis arisk offata linjur y. #
Onlyins talla ball neckth at com plies
wit hth eper missible dimensions andis
designed forth ere qu irements oftrailer
oper ation. #
Donotmodify theball neckor thetrailer
hitc h. The
values approvedby themanuf acturercan be
fo und ontheident i/cationplat esand inthe"Tec h-
nical data"section under"Tra iler hitc h"forth e
to wing vehicle (/page420) . &
W W
AR NIN G AR
NIN GSw ervin gof theve hicle/ trailer
combin ationduetoincr eased speed
Yo ucould losecontr olof theve hicle/ trailer
combin ation. The
vehicle/ trailer combin ationmayev en tip
ov er. #
Under nocircumst ances should youtry
to str aigh tenth eve hicle/ trailer combi-
nat ion byincr easing thespeed. #
Reduce your speed anddonotcount er-
st eer . #
Ifnecessar y,appl yth ebr ak es. *
N NO O
TE TE
Damag eto theengine asare sult of
ove rheating #
Ifyo ure tro/t atrai le rhi tc h, mo di/ca -
tio ns totheengine cooling system may
be necessar y,depending ontheve hicle
model .
When retro/tti ngatrai le rhi tc h, ob serveth e
fa steni ng point son thech assis. Re
tro/tti ngatrai le rhi tc his pe rm issible onlyif a
tr ailer loadisspeci/ edinyour vehicle docume nts.
If th is is no tth ecase, theve hicle isno tappr oved
fo rtr ailer operation. Fu
rther informatio ncan beobt aine dat aquali/ed
special istwo rkshop.
Fo ra de tach able trailer coupl ing,it is essen tialto
com plywit hth eoper ating instruction sof the
tr aile rcoup lingmanuf acturer.
Couple anduncouple thetrailer carefull y.Ifyo u
do notconnect thetrailer totheto wing vehicle
cor rectl y,thetrailer maybecome detach ed.
Obser vethefo llo wing noteson theto ngue weight:
R Donotuse ato ngue weight that exceeds or
fa lls belo wtheper missible tongue weight
R Use ato ngue weight asclose aspossible to
th emaximum tongue weight
Do notex ceed thefo llo wing values:
R Perm issible towing capacity
R Perm issible rear axle load oftheto wing vehi-
cle
R Perm issible gross weight oftheto wing vehicle
R Perm issible gross weight ofthetrailer
R Maximum permissible speedofthetrailer 278278
Dr
iving andparking
im
pair thesteer ing and handling charact eris-
tics and lead tobrak efa ilur e. #
Obser vetheload rating ofthetir es. #
The load rating must beatleast halfth e
per missible axleload oftheve hicle. #
Neverov erload thetir es by exceedin g
th emaximum load. The
Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar dis on the
B-pi llaron thedr iver's side oftheve hicle. 1
Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d %
The datasho wnintheillust ration isex am ple
dat a.
The Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar dsho ws
th efo llo wing information:
R Maximum numberofseats 2accor dingto
th emaximum numberofpeople permitt edto
tr ave lin theve hicle. R
Maxim umpermissibl eload 3com prises the
gr oss weight ofall vehicle occupan ts,load and
lug gage .
R Recommen dedtirepr essur e1 forcold tires.
The recommen dedtirepr essur esareva lid for
th emaximum permissible loadanduptothe
maximum permissible vehicle speed.
Ple ase also note:
R Informati ononper missib lewe ights andloads
on theve hicle identi/cation plate
(/ page407) .
R Informatio non tirepr essur ein thetir epr es-
sur eta ble (/ page373).
Fu rther relat ed subjects:
R Determ ining themaximum permissible load
(/ page377)
R Noteson tirepr essur e(/ page371). SS
t t
eps f eps
for De t or
De ter er
min ingCor r min
ingCor rect Load Limit ect
Load Limit The
follo wing steps have been developed as
re qu ired ofall manuf acturersunder Title 49, Code
of U.S. Feder alRe gula tions ,Pa rt575, pursuant to Wheels
andtires
377 377
th
e"N ational Tra1c andMotorVe hicle SafetyAc t
of 1966". #
(1): (1):
Locat eth estat ement “The combin ed
we ight ofoccupa ntsand cargoshould never
ex ceed XXXkgorXXX lbs.”on your vehicle' s
placar d. #
(2): (2):
Determ ine thecombined weight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersth at will beriding in
yo ur vehicle. #
(3): (3):
Subtr act thecombined weight ofthe
dr iver and passeng ersfrom XXX kgorXXX lbs. #
(4): (4):
The result ing /gur eeq uals theav ailabl e
amoun tof car goand luggage load capac ity.
Fo rex am ple, ifth e"XXX" amount equals
1,400 lbs.and ther ewill be/ve150 lbpas-
seng ersin your vehicle, theamount ofavaila-
ble cargoand luggage load capac ityis
650 lbs.(1,400 -750 (5x150) =650 lbs.) #
(5): (5):
Determ ine thecombined weight oflug-
ga ge and cargobein gloaded ontheve hicle.
That weight mayno tsaf elyex ceed theav aila- ble
cargoand luggage load capac itycalcula -
te din Step 4. #
(6): (6):
Ifyo ur vehicle willbetowing atrailer ,load
fr om your trailer willbetransf erredto your
ve hicle. Consult this manual todeterm ine how
th is reduces theav ailabl ecar goand luggage
load capac ityofyour vehicle.
% Notall vehicles areper mitt edtotow atrailer .
To wing atrailer isonl yper mitt edifatrailer -
hitc his ins talled. Please consult anaut hor ized
Mer cedes-Benz dealerifyo uha ve anyqu es-
tions about towing atrailer withyo ur vehicle.
Ev en ifyo uha ve calculat edtheto ta lload carefull y,
yo ushould stillmak esur eth at themaximum per-
missible gross weight andthemaximum gross
axle weight rating ofyour vehicle areno tex cee-
ded. Details can befound ontheve hicle identi/-
cation plate. #
Have your loaded vehicle –incl udin gdr iver ,
occupan tsand load –we ighed onave hicle
we ighbr idge.
The measur edvalues mayno tex ceed the
maximum permissible values stat ed on the
ve hicle identi/cation plate. Fu
rther relat ed subjects:
R Calculation exam ple forde term ining themaxi-
mum load(/page378)
R Tire and Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d
(/ page376)
R Tire pressur eta ble (/ page373)
R Vehicle identi/cation plate(/ page407) Calcul
ationex Calculation
exam am
ple f ple
for det or
deter er
min ingt min
ingthe maximum he
maximum
load load
The
follo wing table showsexam ples ofhowto cal-
culat eto ta land load capac itieswithva rying seat-
ing con/ gurations anddi.er entnumber sand
sizes ofoccupa nts.Thefollo wing exam ples usea
maximum loadof1500 lbs(680 kg).This isf This
isfor or
illu s illu
str tr
atio npur atio
npur poses only. poses
only.Mak esur eyo uar e
using theactual loadlimit foryo ur vehicle stat ed
on your vehicle' sTire and Loadi ngInformatio n
placar d(/ page376).
The highe rth ewe ight ofall theoccupants, the
smaller themaximum loadforlugg age. 378378
Wheels
andtires
SS
t t
ep 1 ep
1 ExEx
am am
ple 1 ple
1 Ex Ex
am am
ple 2 ple
2
Combined maximumweight ofoccupa ntsand
load (datafrom theTire and Loadi ngInformatio n
placar d) 1500
lbs(680 kg)1 500lbs(680 kg) SS
t t
ep 2 ep
2 ExEx
am am
ple 1 ple
1 Ex Ex
am am
ple 2 ple
2
Number ofpeople intheve hicle (driver and occu-
pant s) 51
Dist ribution oftheoccupants Front: 2
Re ar:3 Fr
ont: 1
We ight ofoccupa nts Occupant1:150 lbs(68 kg)
Occupa nt2:180 lbs(82 kg)
Occupa nt3:160 lbs(73 kg)
Occupa nt4:140 lbs(63 kg)
Occupa nt5:120 lbs(54 kg) Occupa
nt1:200 lbs(91 kg)
To talwe ight ofall occupa nts 750lbs(340 kg) 200lbs(91 kg) Wheels
andtires
379 379
SS
t t
ep 3 ep
3 ExEx
am am
ple 1 ple
1 Ex Ex
am am
ple 2 ple
2
Pe rm issible load(maximum gross vehicle weight
ra ting from theTire and Loadi ngInformatio nplac-
ar dmin usthegr oss weight ofall occupa nts) 1500
lbs(680 kg)00F8750 lbs(340 kg)=750 lbs
(340 kg) 1500
lbs(680 kg)00F8200 lbs(91 kg)=1300 lbs
(589 kg) 380380
Wheels
andtires
%
The datash ow nin theimag eis ex am ple data.
The TINisauni queident i/cationnumber toiden-
tify tires and comprises thefo llo wing:
R DO DO
T(Depar T
(Depar tmentofTr tment
ofTranspo rt anspo
rtatio n): atio
n):tiresym-
bol mar ks1 indicating that thetir ecom plies
wit hth ere qu irements oftheUS Depar tment
of Transpo rtatio n.
R Man uf Man
ufactur actur
er er
identi/cation identi/cation
code: code:
manufac-
tur eridenti/cation code2cont ains details of
th etir emanuf acturer.Ne wtires have acode
wit htw osymbols. Retread edtires have acode
wit hfo ur symbo ls.Further informatio non
re treade dtir es (/ page388).
R T T
ir ir
e size: e
size: identi/er 3desc ribes thetir esize.
R T T
ir ir
e type code: e
type code: tiretype code 4can beused
by themanuf actureras acode todescr ibe
speci/c charact eristics ofthetir e.
R Manuf Manuf
actur actur
ingdat ing
date: e:
manuf acturingdate5
pr ov ides information abouttheag eof atir e.
The 1stand 2nd positions repr esent thecal-
endar week and the3r dand 4thpositions
st at eth eye ar ofmanu factur e(e.g. "3208 "
re pr esents the32nd week of2008). InfInf
or or
mation ont mation
onthe maximum tir he
maximum tireload e
load %
The datasho wnintheimag eis ex am ple data.
Maxim umtireload 1isthemaximum permissi-
ble weight forwhic hth etir eis appr oved.
Do notove rload thetir es by exceedin gth especi-
/ed load limit. Themaximum permissible loadcan
be found ontheve hicle' sTire and Loadi ngInfor-
matio nplacar don theB-pillar onthedr iver's side
(/ page376). Speci/
cations Speci/
cations f f
or maximum tir or
maximum tirepr e
pr essur e essur
e %
The datasho wnintheillust ration isex am ple
dat a.
Ne verex ceed maximum tirepr essur e1 speci-
/ed forth etir e. Alw aysobser vethere commen -
ded tirepr essur efo ryo ur vehicle when adjusting
th etir epr essur e(/ page373). Wheels
andtires
383 383
FF
ir s ir
st le t
le tt tt
er(s) er(s)
1 1: :
R Without: passeng ervehicle tires accor dingto
Eur opean manufacturingstandar ds.
R "P": passeng ervehicle tires accor dingto US
manu factur ingstandar ds.
R "LT": light truc ktir es accor dingtoUS manu -
fa ctur ingstandar ds.
R "T": com pact emer gency sparewheels with
high tirepr essur eth at areonl ydesig nedfor
te mp oraryuse inan emer gency .
Aspe ctr Aspe
ctratio atio
3 3: :
Ra tio between tireheigh tand tirewidt hin per cent
(tir eheigh tdivide dby tirewidt h).
T T
ir ir
e cod e e
cod e4 4
(tir (tir
etype ): e
type ):
R "R"radial tire
R "D": bias plytir e
R "B": bias beltedtires
R "ZR": radial tirewit hamaximum speedabove
149 mph(2 40 km/h)(o pt ional) Rim
diame t Rim
diame ter er
5 5: :
The diame terof thebead seat(notth ediame ter
of therim 0ang e).The rim diame teris speci/ edin
inc hes (in).
Load-bear Load-bear
inginde ing
inde x x
6 6: :
Numer icalcode that speci/es themaximum load-
bear ingcapac ityofatir e(e.g. "91"correspond s
to 1356 lbs(615 kg)).
The load-bear ingcapa cityofthetir emust beat
least halfthegr oss axle weight rating ofyour vehi-
cle. Donotove rload thetir es by exceedin gth e
speci/ed loadlimit.
Se ealso:
R Maximu mper missibl eload ontheTire and
Loadi ngInformatio nplacar d(/ page376)
R Maxim umtireload (/page383)
R Load index
Spe edr Spe
edrat ing at
ing 7 7: :
Sp eci/es theappr ovedmaximum speedofthe
tir e. %
Anelec tronic speedlimit erprev ents your
ve hicle from exceedin gaspeed of130 mph
(210 km/h ).
Mak esur eth at your tires have there qu ired speed
ra ting. Youcan obtain information onthere qu ired
speed rating from anaut hor ized Mercede s-Benz
Cent er.
Summer tir Summer
tires es
Inde
x Inde
x Speedr Speed
rating ating
Qu pto 100 mph(1 60 km/h)
Ru pto 106 mph(1 70 km/h)
Su pto 112 mph(1 80 km/h)
Tu pto 118 mph(1 90 km/h)
Hu pto 130 mph(2 10 km/h)
Vu pto 149 mph(2 40 km/h)
Wu pto 168 mph(2 70 km/h)
Yu pto 186 mph(3 00 km/h) Wh
eelsan dtire s
385 385
Inde
x Inde
x Speed r Sp
eed ratin g atin
g
ZR ...Y 1
upto186 mph(3 00 km/h)
ZR. ..(..Y )1
over186 mph(3 00 km/h)
ZR 1
over149 mph(2 40 km/h) R
Spe cify ing thespeed rating asthe"ZR" index
in tirecode 4isop tional fortir es up to
186 mph(3 00 km/h).
R Ifyo ur tirecode 4includes "ZR"andther eis
no speed rating 7,/ndout wha tth emaxi-
mum speed isfrom thetir emanuf acturer.
R Ifload-bear inginde x6 and speed rating 7
ar ein brac kets, themaximum speedrating of
yo ur tireis abo ve186 mph(3 00 km/h).To
/nd outthemaximum speed,askthetir eman-
uf actur er. All-w All-w
eat eat
her tir her
tires and wint es
and wintertir er
tires es
Inde
x Inde
x Speedr Speed
rating ating
Q M+S 2
upto100 mph(1 60 km/h)
T M+S 2
upto118 mph(1 90 km/h)
H M+S 2
upto130 mph(2 10 km/h)
V M+S 2
upto149 mph(240 km/h) Wi
nter tires bea rth e004D snow0ak esymbol and
ful/ll there qu irements oftheRu bber Manuf actur-
er sAssociation (RMA)andtheRu bber Association
of Canada (RAC)rega rding thetir etraction on
sno w.
Load inde Load
index x
8 8: :
R Nospec i/cation given: standar dload (SL)tire
R "XL" or"Ex tra Load" :ex tra load tireor rein-
fo rc ed tire
R "Light Load": lightloadtire R
"C", "D", "E":aload rang eth at depen dson the
maximum loadthat thetir ecan carryatacer -
ta in pressur e De/n
ition De/n
itionoft of
ter er
ms f ms
for tir or
tires and loading es
and loading
T T
ir ir
e s e
str tr
uctur uctur
eand c e
and char har
act act
er er
is istics: tics:
descr ibesthe
numb eroflaye rs or thenumber ofrubber -coat ed
belts inthetir econt actsurface and thetir ewa ll.
These aremade ofsteel, nylon, polyester and
ot her materials.
Bar : Bar
:me tric uni tfo rtir epr essur e.14.5038 pounds
per squar einc h(psi) and100 kilopasc al(kP a)is
th eeq uiv alent ofone bar.
DO DO
T(Depar T
(Depar tmentofTr tment
ofTranspo rt anspo
rtatio n): atio
n):DOT-mar ked
tir es ful/ llth ere qu irements ofthe
US Depar tmentof Transpo rtatio n.
Av Av
er er
ag ag
ew e
weight oft eight
ofthe v he
vehicle occupants: ehicle
occupants: the
numb erofvehicle occupan tsforwhic hth eve hicle
is desig ned,mult iplied by150 lb(68 kg).
U Unif nif
or or
m T m
Tir ir
e Quality Gr e
Quality Grading St adin
gSt andar andar
ds: ds:
auni form
st an da rd tograde thequ alit yof tires withre ga rd
1 "ZR" stat ed inthetir ecode.
2 Or "M+S004D" forwint ertires. 386386
Wheels
andtires