Interpretation ID: aiam3895
Segreteria Generale
Federazione Italiana Fuoristrada
20131 Milano
Via Capranica
4
ITALY;
Dear Mr. Kirchner: This responds to your letter asking for information about U.S. Federa laws covering tires. For your information, I have enclosed a copy of a letter I sent to a Brazilian tire manufacturer last year, explaining all of the requirements which must be satisfied by a foreign manufacturer selling tires in the United States and enclosing copies of the pertinent regulations.; You stated that you were particularly interested in knowing th meanings and the corresponding values of identification symbols required to appear on sidewalls of tires subject to Standard No. 119. You listed as examples of symbols you were interested in load range and 'P.R.'; The load range is a letter between 'A' and 'N', with an A being th lowest load range and N being the highest. Load ranges are assigned to tires for use on motor vehicles other than passenger cars because such tires may have identical physical dimensions and, therefore, identical size designations, but widely differing load-carrying capabilities. To ensure that these ties are used only in situations where their load-carrying capability is sufficient, section S6.5(j) of Standard No. 119 requires a letter designating the load range to appear on the sidewall of each tire for use on motor vehicles other than passenger cars. If you are interested in learning the load-carrying capability of the load ranges assigned to a particular tire size, you should contact one of the standardization organizations listed in section S5.1(b) of the enclosed copy of Standard No. 119.; I believe that the symbol 'P.R.' refers to the ply rating for a tire The ply rating is an older system which performed the same function now served by the load range. Under the ply rating system, tires were rated from 2 to 24 plies, with the lower numbers indicating a less load- carrying capability. Standard No. 119 does *not* require that a ply rating appear on the sidewall of tires. I have enclosed a copy of a page from the most recent yearbook published by the American standardization organization, the Tire & Rim Association, which shows how to convert a ply rating to the appropriate load range.; If you need further information or have any questions on the enclose materials, please feel free to contact me.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel