Inadequate tires from the factory

[krzyss]

As you may have noticed it is interaction of wheel and surface.
Steel wheels work on rail cars thanks to rails.

Krzyś

 

[OVERKILL]

You've responded before to my putting the stock E-rated tires on my son's 1500 GMC. Userfriendly's trickle down system.

I mean, an attempted lecture from a guy talking in the third person, while amusing, is getting a bit tiresome at this point. I don't care about what you do on your personal vehicles as long as you do it safely and not from a position of ignorance. This exchanged stemmed from your assertion, in case you've forgotten, that the OEM's are "cheapening out" by putting P-Metric tires on 1/2 tons:

Most cars have cheap tires from the factory

Like half ton trucks with P-rated tires.

Which is nonsense. Full-stop.

Your rant this time again, is just more of the same uninformed opinion.

Again, deferring to the OEM's expertise in properly spec'ing their product with something that will be safe for the vehicles capabilities is the furthest thing from being uninformed. You took the conversation into the weeds yet still can't backup your original claim.

Lots of people over-tire their half ton trucks. Get over it. Do you need a 338 LM to put a hole in a piece of paper?

And lots of them do so from a position of ignorance and are actually driving around underinflated and with LESS load carrying capacity, a point I've made time and time again now and you refuse to acknowledge, I assume only due to your inability to let your ego get out of the way.

If I'm trying to put a hole in a piece of paper 2km away, then yes, a .338LM, .50BMG, .460CT or some other extended range cartridge is required. If I'm hunting squirrels, no, it's probably a ridiculous choice, but I can do it, as long as I'm being safe about it, which again, dovetails with my point about Joe Public and tires.

My coments about E-rated tires on the HDs was to point out the rundant load rating of 1,000 lbs per tire, which you have a problem with on 1500s.

Please, specifically, point out where I said I had a problem with people properly inflating LT tires on 1/2 ton trucks. I've pointed out the foley of underinflation (eg: going by the placard, which was for P-metric tires) for Joe Average knowing SFA about the load tables, because that's factual.

Again, this all stems from your assertion that the OEM's don't put LT's on 1/2 tons because they are cheap. The use P-Metric tires because they ride better and are appropriate for the capabilities of the vehicle, which do not approach those of a 3/4 or 1-ton truck.

 

[OVERKILL]

Explain how you get a better ride with 22" /45s ? No sidewall to absorb much in the way of rough pavement never mind potholes and railroad tracks.
edit; And how long do those paper thin P-rated tires last with 11/32" tread when new?

You're posting from experience which is called an informed opinion. It's the Monday morning quarterbacks I have trouble with.

I take it you've never driven a DT RAM 1500 with the 22's. Speaking of Monday morning quarterbacks without experience.....

There is sidewall:

It's also universally regarded as the best riding truck in the segment (weird, almost like the OEM's know what they are doing...).

A 20" rim is the minimum to clear the factory brakes BTW.

We usually get about 90-100,000km out of LTX's, so I'm expecting to get the same out of the Conti's. These have 12/32nds BTW. The LTX has 10.5/32nds but, because tire life has more to do with just how much tread depth you have, last incredibly well. Will be interesting to see if the Conti's fare as well.

Further anecdote, since we are sharing:
I owned an F-250 before our Expedition, which of course was factory fitted with LT's. It rode like a lumber wagon at 80psi (Ford only spec'd 80psi at the time, for the rear tires, there were no dual recommendations for loaded vs unloaded), so some research had me drop it down to 45 on all corners as being safe for when it was run unloaded. Would bump it back up to spec if towing or carrying significant weight in the bed.

Our Expedition (which was based on a 1500, the F-150) came with LT's on it (Goodyear Silent Armour). It would appear that the PO had fitted them, as the vehicle spec'd P-Metrics. They were underinflated (at placard) when we bought it, and were run that way for a while because I had no idea until I stumbled across @CapriRacer site (Barry's Tire Tech) and learned that they needed to be run at higher pressure. I, like the majority of people, didn't know that this was a thing.

Those tires were reasonably good in snow, but certainly didn't wear any better than the Michelin LTX's that replaced them, which were also better in snow, massively better on ice, and rode significantly better as well.
First set went on in December of 2009:

Michelin LTX M/S's

Installed tomorrow AM. Ford's price couldn't be beat. Cheapest in town. P265/70/17 Came to $1032 after taxes, which includes free install and balancing, as well as free rotation every 10K.

bobistheoilguy.com

I updated the thread three years later in 2012 when they had 60,000Km on them and it was clear they would easily reach 100,000Km.

I replaced them the beginning of 2014 with ~110,000km on them. They still had useful tread left but winter performance was suffering. We then took a trip through an ice storm to the East Coast with their successor, the LTX M/S2:

The trip from H-E double hockey sticks

So, I'm certain everybody is familiar with the ice storm that happened about two weeks ago. Trying to get ahead of the storm, my wife, myself and family all embarked upon our trip down east to NB at about 11:00AM the day it started, as it was initially just supposed to be snow, with the ice...

bobistheoilguy.com

Those tires were sold to my father before we sold the Expedition in 2016, who is still driving on them. They've made at least 6 trips back and forth to the east coast in all kinds of weather and have never suffered a puncture. He is your "typical" user profile, tows U-haul trailers, the boats periodically. Many of those east coast trips were towing large U-haul trailers, as he moved all their stuff using that vehicle.

Having run both LT and P-Metric tires on that vehicle, I experienced no situation where the LT tire was an advantage, based on its use, which I would describe as typical, and what the OEM caters toward. Perhaps if I'd been rock crawling with it or regularly took it off road a more aggressive AT tire, which would likely only be available in an LT, would have produced benefits that would have outweighed the impact on ride quality and of course increase in noise.

So, this brings us back to your original point in this thread, which I addressed, which is in respect to why the OEM's spec P-Metric tires for large SUV and 1/2 ton applications. The above is why. It has nothing to do with being cheap, it has to do with the capabilities of the vehicle (operating within the safety envelope of the 1/2 ton designation) while providing the best ride quality, because it's the largest selling segment and people drive them like cars.

 

[AZjeff]

It rode like a lumber wagon at 80psi (Ford only spec'd 80psi at the time, for the rear tires, there were no dual recommendations for loaded vs unloaded), so some research had me drop it down to 45 on all corners as being safe for when it was run unloaded. Would bump it back up to spec if towing or carrying significant weight in the bed.

This '21 Sierra HD specs 60f/80r with no unloaded provision as well. Road irregularities are jarring for sure. If i drop more than 10 psi under I get recurring warnings on the DIC and it sends text/email warnings through Onstar.

barrystiretech.com is worth a bookmark if you want to learn about tires from a guy who's an engineer at a tire manufacturer.