1997 Chevrolet Malibu Owner's Manual - Page 260

When It's Time for New Tires One way to tell when it's time for new tires is to check the treadwear indicators, which will appear when your tires have only 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) or less of tread remaining. The tread or sidewall is cracked, cut or snagged deep enough to show cord fabric. or The tire has a bump, bulge or split. 0 The tire has a puncture, cut or other damage that can't be repaired well because the size or location of of the damage. Buying New Tires To find out what kind and size tires you need, look at of the Tire-Loading Information label. You need a new tire if any of the following statements are true: 0 You can see the indicators at three more places or around the tire. You can see cord or fabric showing through the tire's rubber. The tires installed on your vehicle when it new had was a Tire Performance Criteria Specification (TPC Spec) number on each tire's sidewall. When you get new tires, get ones with that same TPC Spec number. That way your vehicle will continue to have tires that are designed to give proper endurance, handling, speed rating, traction, ride and other things during normal service on your vehicle. If your tires have an all-season tread design, theTPC number will be followed by an "MS" (for mud and snow). 6-39