QuestionQUESTION: I recently purchased a VW Eurovan that arrived from Japan with virtually new Goodyear GT Hybrid tires 195/70R15 92S that were made in China. Can I drive on these tires safely & legally?
ANSWER: Bill,
Here is my usual starting point when it comes to tire sizing:
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On every vehicle sold in the US - and I understand this is a worldwide practice as well - there is a sticker – commonly called the tire placard - that lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size. The placard is usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box – but sometimes it is located in the trunk or on the fuel filler door.
BTW, it doesn't matter who makes the tire or what pressure is listed on the tire's sidewall, if the tire size is the same as the placard, then the pressure listed on placard is also appropriate.
One word of caution: Some trucks use tires with the letters "LT" in front of the tire size - and some trucks use tires with the letter "P" in front of the tire size - and some trucks use tires with the letter "C" after the tire size. You should not use "P"'s in place of "LT"'s and vice versa.
For this situation, you should be sure the pressure on the sidewall equals or exceeds that pressure on the placard. If you do this the issue about the letter "C" in the sidewall will take care of itself (which is not true with "LT"'s vs "P"'s.)
If you are using a tire size that is different than what is listed on the placard, then the pressure has to be recalculated. The calculation is not difficult, but it requires tire load tables which are not allowed to be published in the Internet because of copyright laws. However, I have a copy and would be glad to do the calculation, but the starting point is the vehicle placard: Tire size and inflation pressure. I will also need to know the new tire size.
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In your case, I know that EuroVans are peculiar little animals and that the above doesn't quite cover the situation, but there are some things that I can determine:
1) Tire Guides - a book that summarizes the vehicle tire placards for vehicles sold in the US - lists EuroVans as having a variety of tire sizes - and they are all "Reinforced" (the European equivalent to "Extra Load") or have the letter "C" after the tire size with (perhaps) a number (6 or 8) followed by the letters "PR" (Ply Rating).
2) EuroVans that came into the US with 15" rims used 205/65R15C's inflated to either 42/36 psi or 43/48 psi.
So the first step would be to find the vehicle tire placard and record what it says - including the tire size, the letters before and after the tire size, and the inflation pressure. I strongly suspect the load index indicated on the tire placard will say 102/100. That would mean the Goodyear's (with their 92 Load Index) is not strong enough.
But before we start jumping to conclusions, let's verify the vehicle tire placard. Post a followup when you've obtained that info and put that in your followup.
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QUESTION: The second part of my question Still needs answering. If we assume that the tire ratings are ok for the Eurovan, are they legal to drive on without some US or Canadian certification such as the Dept. of Transport?
AnswerBill,
First, I'm assuming the ratings are NOT OK for the Eurovan, and I think this becomes an over-riding safety concern.
But to answer the part about legality: If the letter "DOT" appear on the sidewall, then that means the tire passes the US minimum standards. The tire would also have to have the DOT serial number.
First locate the letters "DOT" on the sidewall of the tire. Nearby will be the DOT code. DOT codes are 10 to 12 digits long. BTW the digits can be numbers or letters.
The first 2 digits are a code for the manufacturing plant.
The next 2 digits are a code for the tire size.
The next 3 or 4 digits are a code for the type of tire.
The last 3 or 4 digits are the date code. The format is week/week/year/year or week/week/year. These are always numbers.
Starting in the year 2000, the date coding used was 4 digits. That means the largest number you should see for the year is 10. Before 1999 the format was 3 digits. 1999 and 2000 are transition years, so you will find both 3 and 4 digits.
The date code only has to be on one side – and it is permissible for there to be a partial DOT code, so long as one side has the complete code.
Now returning to the safety aspect:
Recent bulletins from the tire industry indicate that tires degrade simply due to time. The age of a tire is important even if the tire is unused. There some disagreement over how to best express this age limitation, but my take is:
If you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) then the limit is six years. If you live in a cold climate (MN, ND, WI, MT, etc), then the limit is 10 years. States in between are ..... ah ........ in between.
