Section 2
Identification and Safety
Use the following information to make tire safety a regular part of your vehicle maintenance routine.
Properly maintained tires improve steering, stopping, traction, and load-carrying capability of your
vehicle. Under-inflated tires and overloaded vehicles are a major cause of tire failure. Therefore,
to avoid flat tires and other types of tire failures you should maintain proper tire pressure, observe
tire and vehicle load limits, avoid road hazards and regularly inspect your tires.
Finding Your Vehicle’s Recommended Tire Pressure and Load Limits
The tire information and vehicle certification label contains information on tires and load limits. These
labels indicate the vehicle manufacturer’s information including:
• Recommended tire size
• Recommended tire inflation pressure
• Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR-the maximum occupant and cargo weight a vehicle is
designed to carry)
• Front and rear gross axle weight ratings (GAWR-the maximum weight the axle systems are
designed to carry.)
Understanding Tire Pressure and Load Limits
Tire inflation pressure is the level of the air in the tire that provides it with load-carrying capacity and
affects the overall performance of the vehicle. The tire inflation pressure is a number that indicates
the amount of air pressure, measured in pounds per square inch (psi) a tire requires to be properly
inflated. (This number is also expressed in kilopascals (kPa) which is a metric measuring system
used internationally).
Vehicle manufacturers determine this number based on the vehicle’s design load limit which is the
greatest amount of weight a vehicle can safely carry and the vehicle’s tire size. The proper tire
pressure for your vehicle is referred to as the ‘recommended cold inflation pressure’. Tire pressure
should always be measured when the tire is ‘cold’ to get an accurate measurement. A cold tire is
one that hasn’t been driven on for at least 3 (three) hours. As you drive, your tires get warmer
causing the air pressure within the tire to increase. Therefore, you cannot get an accurate
measurement of tire pressure unless the tire is cold.
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Revised September 2012
