TOYOTA 4RUNNER 1997 Owners Manual

224

Part 9Reporting safety defects for
U.S. owners
225
REPORTING SAFETY DEFECTS FOR U.S.OWNERS ANDUNIFORM TIRE QUALITY GRADING
Reporting safety defects for
U.S. owners
Uniform tire quality grading
If you believe that your vehicle has
a defect which could cause a crash
or could cause injury or death, you
should immediately inform the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) in addi-
tion to notifying Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
(Toll-free: 1- 800-331-4331).If NHTSA receives similar com- plaints, it may open a investiga-
tion, and if it finds that a safety
defect
exists in a group of vehicles,
it may order a recall and remedy
campaign. However, NHTSA can-
not become involved in individual
problems between you, your deal-
er, or Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.,Inc. To contact NHTSA, you may eithercall the Auto Safety Hotline toll-
free at 1-800-424-9393 (or 366-
0123 in Washington D.C. area) or
write to: NHTSA. U.S. Department
of Transportation. Washington
D.C. 20590. You can also obtain
other information about motor ve- hicle safety from the Hotline.

226This
information has been prepared in ac-
cordance with regulations issued by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-
tration of the U.S. Department of Trans-
portation. It provides the purchasers and/
or prospective purchasers of Toyota
vehicles with information on uniform tire
quality grading.
Your Toyota dealer will help answer any
questions you may have as you read this information.
DOT quality gradesÐAll passenger
vehicle tires must conform to Federal
Safety Requirements in addition to these grades. These quality grades are
molded on the sidewall.
Treadwear ÐThe treadwear grade is a
comparative rating based on the wear
rate of the tire when tested under con-
trolled conditions on a specified govern-
ment test course. For example, a tire
graded 150 would wear one and a half
(1-1/2) times as well on the government course as a tire graded 100. The relative
performance of tires depends upon the
actual conditions of their use, however,
and may depart significantly from thenorm due to variations in driving habits,
service practices and differences in road characteristics and climate. Traction A, B, C
ÐThe traction grades,
from highest to lowest, are A, B, and C,
and they represent the tire's ability to stop
on wet pavement as measured under
controlled conditions on specified govern-
ment test surfaces of asphalt and con-
crete. A tire marked C may have poor trac-
tion performance.
Warning: The traction grade assigned to this tire is based on braking (straight
ahead) traction tests and does not include
cornering (turning) traction.
Temperature A, B, C ÐThe temperature
grades are A (the highest), B, and C, rep-
resenting the tire's resistance to the gen-
eration of heat and its ability to dissipate heat when tested under controlled condi- tions on a specific indoor laboratory test
wheel. Sustained high temperature can cause the material of the tire life, and ex- cessive temperature can lead to sudden
tire failure. The grade C corresponds to a level of performance which all passenger
car tires must meet under the Federal Mo-
tor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109.
Grades B and A represent higher levels of
performance on the laboratory test wheel
than the minimum required by law. Warning: The temperature grades for this tire
are established for a tire that is proper-
ly inflated and not overloaded. Excessive speed, underinflation, or excessive load- ing, wither separately or in combination, can cause heat buildup and possible tirefailure.
Uniform tire quality grading