Chevrolet 2004 Malibu, Owner'S Manual

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Buying New Tires
To find out what kind and size of tires your vehicle
needs, look at the tire and loading information label.
For more information about this label and its location on
your vehicle, see Loading Your Vehicle on page 4-34.
The tires installed on your vehicle when it was new had
a Tire Performance Criteria Specification (TPC Spec)
number on each tire’s sidewall. When you get new
tires, GM recommends that you get tires with that same
TPC Spec number. That way your vehicle will continue
to have tires that are designed to give proper endurance,
handling, speed rating, load range, traction, ride and
other things during normal service on your vehicle.
If your tires have an all-season tread design, the TPC
number will be followed by an “MS” (for mud and snow).
If you ever replace your tires with those not having a
TPC Spec number, make sure they are the same
size, load range, speed rating and construction type
(bias, bias-belted or radial) as your original tires.
{
CAUTION:
Mixing tires could cause you to lose control
while driving. If you mix tires of different
sizes or types (radial and bias-belted tires),
the vehicle may not handle properly, and you
could have a crash. Using tires of different
sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle.
Be sure to use the same size and type tires
on all wheels. It’s all right to drive with your
compact spare temporarily, it was developed
for use on your vehicle. See “Compact Spare
Tire” in the index.
{
CAUTION:
If you use bias-ply tires on your vehicle,
the wheel rim flanges could develop cracks
after many miles of driving. A tire and/or wheel
could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only
radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.
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