- 1). Recognize the first letter stands for vehicle type for which the tire is to be installed. For example P means Passenger, T mean Temporary Spare, LT means Light Truck, ST stands for Special Trailer and the letter. That part of the tire size chart isn't too difficult to decipher.
- 2). Decipher the tire width number. The digits that follow the letters represent the width or the cross section measurement in millimeters. Therefore a tire size code of P225 means the tire is for a Passenger vehicle and the tire cross-section width is 225 millimeters measured from one sidewall to the other.
- 3). Understand the concept of aspect ratio. The aspect ratio follows the slash after the width in the tire size chart. For example a tire size of P225/60, the number 60 is the tire's aspect ratio. The aspect ratio represents the percentage of width to height. Therefore the height of this tire is 60% of its width.
- 4). Become familiar with the tire's construction. The letter following the aspect ratio indicates the car tire's internal construction. For instance, R means radial, which is most commonly used type of tire.
- 5). Understand the rim size. The next number following the tire's construction represents the rim size. Therefore a tire size of P255/60 R15 fits a tire rim size of 15 inches. Now that you have deciphered the car tire size lingo, go out and replace your warn tires.
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