Wheel & Tire Physics
Tire Markings
Wheel Construction
Tire Safety
Tire Tread Patterns
100
When both front and rear tires have equal slip.
Neutral Steer
100
When was this tire manufactured?
The 30th week of 2011.
100
The part of the wheel that the tire seals against.
Bead seat
100
What does this light mean? 
TPMS: Monitors a tire's air pressure.
100
A tread pattern with the same tread pattern on both sides of the tire; typically nondirectional.
Symmetric tread pattern
200
What is it called when the rear slip angles are greater in the rear?
Oversteer
200
A grading system (AA, A, B, C) that indicates how well a tire will maintain contact with a wet road surface.
Traction grade
200
Fasterners that secure the wheel onto the wheel studs.
Lug nut
200
A tire constructed with a flexible malleable lining inside the tire around the inner tubeless membrane. The lining can seal small tread-area punctures instantly and permanently.
Self-sealing tire
200
A tread pattern designed to pump water out from under the tire; each tired must be placed in a particular spot on the vehicle.
Directional Tread pattern
300
What is it called when the front slip angles are greater than the rear slip angles?
Understeer
300
The number imprinted on the sidewall of a tire that indicates the tread life of a tire’s tread.
Tread ware grade
300
The outer circular lip of the metal on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted.
Rim
300
A tire design that allows the vehicle to keep moving under driver control following a puncture or rapid loss of pressure.
Run-flat technology
300
A tread pattern that is nonspecific, allowing the tire to be placed on any wheel of a vehicle.
Non directional tread pattern
400
The difference in angle between the direction the tire is pointed and the direction the tire is going.
Slip Angle
400
A federal agency that regulates transportation safety in the United States.
US Department of Transportation
400
The outside edges of the wheel that help keep the tire from popping off the wheel.
Rim Flanges
400
A switch in the sensor of a TPMS that allows the sensor to go to sleep when the vehicle stops, which extends the TPMS’s battery life.
Centrifugal switch
400
A tread pattern that differs on each side and therefore is usually directional.
Asymmetric tread pattern
500
What is the pressure on the tire that pushes it to one side of the rim as the vehicle corners?
Side force
500
This grading system (UTQG) provides information on:
-Tread Ware
-Traction Grade
-Temperature Grade
UTQG- Uniform Tire Quality Grading System
500
The distance across the inside of the rim flanges at the bead seat
Tire width
500
Tires with thick sidewalls that allow the tire to be driven on even when it has no air pressure.
Extended Mobility Technology
500
A tread pattern that is both directional and asymmetric. This tire is designed to rotate in one direction and has one side that must face outward to ensure that the tire performs as designed under operating conditions.
Directional and Asymmetric