winter tires CHEVROLET ASTRO 2003 Owners Manual

Winter Driving
Here are some tips for winter driving:
Have your vehicle in good shape for winter.
You may want to put winter emergency supplies in
your vehicle. Include
an ice scraper, a small brush or broom, a
supply of windshield washer fluid, a rag, some winter
outer clothing, a small shovel, a flashlight, a red
cloth and reflective warning triangles. And,
if you will be
driving under severe conditions, include a small bag
of sand, a piece of old carpet or a couple of burlap bags
to help provide traction. Be sure you properly secure
these items
in your vehicle.
Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet
the road probably have good traction.
However,
if there is snow or ice between your tires
and the road, you can have a very slippery situation.
You’ll have a lot less traction or “grip” and will need to be
very careful.
4-24

Mix---J tires could cause yo-. JO lose control
while driving.
If you mix tires of different sizes
or types (radial and bias-belted tires), the
vehicle may not handle properly, and you could have a crash. Using tires of different
sizes may also cause damage to your vehicle. Be sure to use the same size and type tires on
all wheels. It’s all right to drive with your
compact spare temporarily,
it was developed
for use on your vehicle. See “Compact Spare
Tire” in the index.
If you use bias-ply tires on yo^. vet,,Je, the
wheel rim flanges could develop cracks after
many miles of driving.
A tire and/or wheel
could fail suddenly, causing a crash. Use only
radial-ply tires with the wheels on your vehicle.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
Quality grades can be found where applicable on the
tire sidewall between tread shoulder and maximum
section width. For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA Temperature A
The following information relates to the system
developed by the United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, which grades tires by
treadwear, traction and temperature performance.
(This applies only to vehicles sold in the United States.)
The grades are molded on the sidewalls of most
passenger car tires. The Uniform Tire Quality Grading
system does not apply to deep tread, winter-type
snow tires, space-saver or temporary use spare tires,
tires with nominal rim diameters of
10 to 12 inches
(25 to 30 cm), or to some limited-production tires.
While the tires available on General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary with respect to these
grades, they must also conform to federal safety
requirements and additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC) standards.
5-67