Interpretation ID: nht70-1.48

DATE: 03/25/70

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; R. A. Diaz; NHTSA

TO: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Thank you for your letter of February 2, 1970, to the Federal Highway Administration, transmitting the August 1969, edition of the S.M.M.T. Tyre and Wheel Engineering Manual.

Your letter also expressed your intention of having the 1969 manual supercede the 1965/66 data book as referenced in Section 83 of Standard No. 109. As we stated in our letter of March 14, 1969, to Mr. Woodbridge, Chief Engineer of S.M.M.T., "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109, within Section 83, lists the Tyre and Wheel Engineering Data Book dated 1965/66 of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited (S.M.M.T.), "as one of the references containing acceptable test rims. When Standards No. 109 and 110 were developed, the National Highway Safety Bureau accepted the S.M.M.T. 1965/66 Data Book tire and rim combinations based on established usage. We did not, nor do we at present intend to accept general updating of these referenced publications, either foreign or domestic, as valid reasons for amending Standards No. 109 and 110. Consequently, any new tire size designations or alternative rim sizes that you wish to list within Standards No. 109 and 110 will have to comply, on an individual basis, with the abbreviated guidelines as outlined in the October 5, 1968, Federal Register.