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Question on tire load rating

21K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  MontanaSteve 
#1 ·
I'm about to pull the trigger on some Fuel wheels and Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires - 265-65-17. However, Cooper offers several different variations. For reference, I have a Z71 crew cab, do not intend to tow, but do intend to utilize bed payload for overlanding type use (RTT over the bed, plenty of gear) with some light off-roading (gravel/dirt fire roads; no rock crawling if I can help it).

LT265/65R17, 10 ply, load rating E, load index 120R
265/65R17, 8 ply, load rating SL, load index 112T

Local tire shop is recommending the 8 ply if I'm not towing. Do you agree?
 
#3 ·
Absolutely agree with the tire shop. Ten ply tires are for the big diesels towing or carrying massive loads. They're much heavier than an eight ply, and will definitely impact your mileage. I had ten ply tires (and put them to use) on my old Ford, but am specifically avoiding anything that heavy on this truck.
 
#4 ·
Load range E are usually a much harder compound for heat resistance as well. Between the stiff sidewalls and hard compound, they suck in snow and off road. Not that great in the rain either...........
 
#6 ·
8 ply
The 10 ply are better for 3/4 - 1 ton trucks
 
#8 ·
I think that 112 load index is most likely a load range C which is commonly thought of as a 6 ply tire.


None the less I would highly recommend the lighter weight tire, same as everyone else has.


The load range E is a 10 ply tire and designed for up to 80psi and would not only beat you up in the truck it would likely cause some added wear and tear on your steering and suspension components on your truck. I never recommend a load range E for a small or mid size truck.
 
#10 ·
The SL tires are 'P(assenger)' rated, or the same rating that car tires get.
IIRC, they're only like 4 ply.
'LT' stands for 'Light Truck', for good reason.
IMO, you shouldn't be going with anything less than 'C' rated tires when you're gonna be carrying some decent weight in your bed. Not to mention you're gonna have better protection throughout the carcass-something to think about off-road.
FWIW, I have Nitto Terra G's that are 'E' rated, and they're only a few pounds heavier than the next smallest size-which was either a C or D rated tire IIRC.
My mileage doesn't suffer either.
Whatever...they're not for everyone, but if you're given a choice between P and E,and you don't want E's, go with another brand/model.
 
#11 ·
The SL tires are 'P(assenger)' rated, or the same rating that car tires get...
'LT' stands for 'Light Truck', for good reason.
You can go by those very vague guidelines, or you can run some calculations...

I'm away from my truck, so I had to pull numbers from interwebs. The heaviest listed curb weight for our trucks is 4528 lbs.
The max payload is 1581 lbs. Add those together and get 6109 lbs. Split that between four wheels and get 1527 lbs/wheel.

A SL-rated (112 load index) P-series tire has a load rating of 2469 lbs at 35 psi. A XL-rated (116 load index) P-series tire has a load rating of 2756 lbs at 40 psi. Either one of those way more than covers the theoretical max load of 1627 lbs per wheel for our trucks, especially for what the OP said his intentions were - he's not high-speed desert pre-running or adding air bags and packing a payload-exceeding camper.

As for tire weights, I took a quick look at the Falken AT3W specs, as I'll be getting a set of those soon. The same exact tire sizes, in P-rated versus LT E-rated, adds 6-7 lbs/tire to go to the LT E-rated version. That's a 15% increase, and there is no way in hell that increase doesn't adversely impact gas mileage.

Unless aired down tremendously, E-rated tires suck on rough rocky terrain. Been there, done that.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I've never had a problem running P rated tires. I'm running Nitto Terra G2's that are P rated. I wanted to get the BFG T/A 2's, but they don't come in P rated, and these Nitto's were TEN lbs lighter per tire. I don't know how much of a difference that makes in mpg's, but less unsprung mass makes a huge difference in handling. I don't tow though, but do run my motorcycle to the track. I feel that the P rated tires are plenty sufficient for my needs.
 
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