How To Read Tire Numbers

The first letter on a tire indicates the tire s class.

How to read tire numbers. In this example the tire diameter or height is 33 inches tall. As an example if a tire size has two sets of numbers 6 12 5 00 15 11 2 24 then the first number 5 00 15 is the approximate width in inches and the second number 5 00 15 is the rim diameter in inches. 245 section widthtread mm. P metric and euro metric tires may have different load capacities. Tire section width the tire numbers in the above example tell us that the tire is 185 millimeters wide.

If a tire size has no letters at the beginning this indicates a euro metric tire. 33x12 50r15 the first number is your overall diameter of the tire. These letters and numbers tell you the tire size type of tire and the safety standards. Reading your tire size metric tire class p. In this example the 45 indicates that the sidewall distance from the wheel rim to the outside of the tread is 45 of the section width.

The two digit number that usually follows the tire s section width tells us the aspect ratio or tire profile measurement. Tires manufactured before 2000 you need to check the last three digits of the dot code. How to read tire size in inches is very straight forward. For instance when the last three digits read 022 you should understand that the tire was manufactured in the 2nd week of that year. There are two ways that tire manufacturers display tire size inches and metric.

Check the first two digits to know the week. It may seem like a bunch of random numbers and letters are on your tire sidewall but they all actually mean something. We will teach you how to read your tires below. The letter p at the beginning of the tire size tells us the tire is a p metric tire referring to tires made to certain standards within the united states intended for passenger vehicles. To read a tire look for the width and aspect ratio which is a series of numbers and letters that looks something like 225 50r17 the first 3 numbers are the width of your tire tread and the second 2 numbers are the thread width percentage.

P designates this tire as a passenger car tire an lt before the tire size would mean the tire is a light truck tire and a european metric tire would have no letter before the tire size. How to read your tires. The last number 14 indicates wheel diameter.