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[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3004-3005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-1227]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6685; Notice 1]

General Motors Corporation, Receipt of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    General Motors Corporation (GM) has determined that certain 1999 
Chevrolet vehicles are not in full compliance with Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 120, ``Tire selection and rims for 
motor vehicles other than passenger cars,'' and has filed an 
appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and 
Noncompliance Reports.'' GM has also applied to be exempted from the 
notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301--``Motor 
Vehicle Safety'' on the basis that the noncompliance and defect 
(represented by the failures to meet Part 567) are inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of an application is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application.
    The purpose of FMVSS No. 120 is to provide safe operation of 
vehicles by ensuring that those vehicles are equipped with tires of 
appropriate size and load rating; and rims of appropriate size and type 
designation. Paragraph S5.2 of FMVSS No. 120 requires that each rim or, 
at the option of the manufacturer in the case of a single-piece wheel, 
the wheel disc be marked with specific information, including a 
designation which indicates the source of the rim's published nominal 
dimensions, and the rim size designation, and in case of multipiece 
rims, the rim designation. For example: 20 x 5.50, or 20 x 5.5.
    Between March 1, 1999, and March 13, 1999, GM produced 11,522 
Blazers and S-10 trucks that may contain wheels that are missing the 
width designation in the rim marking on the back side of the wheel. 
GM's wheel supplier, Reynolds-Rualca, Venezuela, produced 3,721 wheels 
that had an error in the rim size designation. Instead of the correct 
rim size designation of ``15x7,'' these wheels have a rim size 
designation of ``15x7''. The error occurred when one the wheel casting 
molds was refurbished. Of the 3,721 mis-marked wheels produced, a 
maximum of mis-designated 1,658 wheels were installed on the Chevrolet 
vehicles. The rim markings other than the rim width designation were 
not affected by the refurbishing error, and the remainder of the rim 
marking information, including rim diameter, is correct on all of the 
1,658 wheels.
    GM supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance by 
stating the following:
    1. ``The tire and rim of the affected wheels are properly matched, 
and are appropriate for the load-carrying characteristics of these 
vehicles. The lack of complete marking has no effect on the performance 
of the tire/rim combination of the subject vehicles.''
    2. ``These vehicles have a placard on the left front door that 
contains the correct and complete tire and rim sizes installed on these 
vehicles. The placard on the subject vehicles shows rim size completely 
and correctly as 15x7J.''
    3. ``The owner's manual provided with these vehicles contains a 
section `Buying New Tires.' The text of this section advises the 
customer that they should look at the Certification/Tire Label to find 
out what kind and size of tires they need. It goes on to tell them that 
they should get new tires with the same Tire Performance Criteria 
Specification (TPC Spec) that the vehicle came with, and that they can 
find the TPC number on each tire's sidewall. Finally it advises them 
that if they were to replace the tires with those not having the TPC 
Spec number found on the original equipment tires, they should make 
sure that the tires they choose are the same size, load range, speed 
rating and construction type as the original tires. Nowhere are 
customers told to look at the wheel to determine the appropriate 
tire.''

[[Page 3005]]

    4. ``General Motors believes that very few of these wheels will 
ever have to be replaced over the life of the vehicle. Nevertheless, 
the owner's manual provided with these vehicles contains a section 
`Wheel Replacement.' This section states that each new wheel should 
have the same load-carrying, diameter, width, offset and be mounted in 
the same way as the one it replaces. It also advises customers that 
their dealer will know the kind of wheel they need. The wheels at issue 
here are not marked with an incorrect width. Rather, they have no width 
marking. Therefore a dealer would not be mislead by a width marking on 
the wheel, but would look at the placard if they were not aware of the 
exact width.''
    5. ``If a customer needs to replace a tire or a wheel, he/she is 
likely to go to a tire/wheel store, or a vehicle dealer. The skilled 
personnel at any of these places know how to determine the correct tire 
or wheel size that they are replacing. For the tire replacement, it is 
highly probable that they will first look at the tire sidewall to 
determine the replacement tire size. They also know that the 
information exists on the placard and may look at the placard. For the 
wheel replacement, they may look at the tire placard or at the wheel 
itself to determine the replacement size. The subject wheels do not 
give incorrect information, however the information is incomplete. 
Since the information on the wheel is incomplete, the person looking at 
it will look elsewhere to find the missing information prior to 
selecting replacement wheel or tire size. For the correct tire 
selection, rim diameter is of primary importance, and the tire diameter 
must be the same as the rim diameter. The information on the subject 
wheels does contain the correct rim diameter, i.e., 15.''
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the application described above. Comments should refer to 
the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC, 20590. It is requested that two copies be submitted.
    All comments received before the close of business on the closing 
date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting 
materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also 
be filed and will be considered to the extent possible. When the 
application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in the 
Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: February 18, 2000.

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: January 13, 2000.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 00-1227 Filed 1-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
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