As car and vehicle owners, we should all be familiar with all of the aspects of vehicle ownership. This will include the ability to understand the labels found on tires and car wheels. There could be instances when we see some markings on the sides of the wheels or tires of our cars but oftentimes we take those things for granted. We might never really know what purpose those markings serve and how it will be beneficial for you to be knowledgeable in those things. Manufacturers have made those markings for some very convenient and essential reasons. Being able to read those things and understand their meaning will be helpful when you modify, repair, or completely replace your tire and wheel set. So what really is the meaning of those markings?

Let’s start with the basics of car language, the tire and wheel markings. Tire information may be provided by manufacturers on the sidewalls of the car or even on the wheel surface itself. These markings may be hard to read in some cases because the sizes if so small that one might need a magnifying glass in order to read it. There are letters usually found at the beginning of the code. This is an indication of the car type in which the tire is most suited for. A capital letter “P” will most likely indicate that the tire is specifically designed for passenger vehicles such as cars, vans, and small trucks.

The numbers that follow these letters clearly state all the details and specifications of the tire being used. These numbers will indicate the measurement of the diameter in millimeters, width percentage, and the nature of the construction of the tire or wheel set in terms of number of ply.

There are still many things to be learned about these figures on wheels. One just has to be curious and resourceful in finding the ways to interpret these things.