What You Need to Know About Tire Markings

Here’s an article about tire markings. My blog redefines “eclectic,” wouldn’t you agree? [via Megite]

One Response to “What You Need to Know About Tire Markings”

  1. billcavnar Says:

    Eclectic indeed. That’s the beauty of something like a blog — You are the editor, and if you decide that something fits your editorial charter, then it does, by definition!

    Regarding tire markings, the referenced article is interesting for sure. I always wondered what all of those cryptic markings meant. However I’m still slightly confused. It looks to me like the two different numbered lists on this page are out-of-sync. The short list at the top, immediately under the tire diagram, does not seem to correspond to the diagram. However, the numbers on the longer, more detailed writeup below that do appear to match.

    For me the most important numbers are the pressure limits. These are the only ones I ever directly care about, because they affect my keeping the tires inflated to right pressure. Many’s the time that I have squatted in snow and slush by the side of a sloppy, salt-covered car in the dim light at the side of a gas station, air hose in hand, while I’ve tried to figure out what the safe pressure should be. It’s hard enough to read black-on-black characters as it is, and doing it under those conditions is worse.

    So, does this diagram describe a standard for the placement of those various markings on all tires? Can I safely assume that the pressure limit will always be just slightly counterclockwise from the tire manufacturer’s name, but right by the rim? That would be a very handy rule of thumb to be sure of. I just tried to confirm by looking at the tires on my Saturn in the garage, but between the poor lighting and my bad back, I couldn’t get into a position to see for sure. You’d think the standard would require the use of larger characters, and maybe even contrasting color.

Leave a Reply