How To Read Tire Numbers

There are two ways that tire manufacturers display tire size inches and metric.

How to read tire numbers. Tires manufactured before 2000 you need to check the last three digits of the dot code. In this example the tire diameter or height is 33 inches tall. For instance when the last three digits read 022 you should understand that the tire was manufactured in the 2nd week of that year. Reading your tire size metric tire class p. 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.

The two digit number that usually follows the tire s section width tells us the aspect ratio or tire profile measurement. 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. 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. 245 section widthtread mm. The number 60 indicates the tire s aspect ratio.

The second number represents the width of the tire. Check the first two digits to know the week. The first letter on a tire indicates the tire s class. 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. 33x12 50r15 the first number is your overall diameter of the tire.

Tire section width the tire numbers in the above example tell us that the tire is 185 millimeters wide. How to read tire size in inches is very straight forward. These letters and numbers tell you the tire size type of tire and the safety standards. How to read your tires. The first number in this series refers to the tire s section width or distance from sidewall edge to sidewall edge in millimeters when measured up and over the tire s tread.

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 metric and euro metric tires may have different load capacities. If a tire size has no letters at the beginning this indicates a euro metric tire.