Vehicle Care 10-51
Caution (Continued)
directly on the tires. Always
inspect tires before use. See Tire
Inspection on page 10-61.
Tire Sidewall Labeling
Useful information about a tire is
molded into its sidewall. The
examples show a typical
passenger tire sidewall.
Passenger (P-Metric) Tire Example
(1) Tire Size : The tire size is a
combination of letters and
numbers used to define a
particular tire's width, height,
aspect ratio, construction type,
and service description. See the
“Tire Size” illustration later in this
section for more detail.
(2) TPC Spec (Tire
Performance Criteria
Specification)
: Original
equipment tires designed to
GM's specific tire performa nce
criteria have a TPC specification
code molded onto the sidewall.
GM's TPC specifications meet or
exceed all federal safety
guidelines.
(3) DOT (Department of
Transportation)
: The
Department of Transportation
(DOT) code indicates that the
tire is in compliance with the
U.S. Department of
Transportation Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards.
DOT Tire Date of
Manufacture
: The last four
digits of the TIN indicate the tire
manufactured date. The first two
digits represent the week
(01-52) and the last two digits,
the year. For example, the third
week of the year 2010 would
have a four-digit DOT date
of 0310.