because manufacturers still consider a 1 ton truck light duty.
Sidewall Pressure or Door Jam
- Thread starter Badlees
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One reason they are sold so frequently is that people want the aggressive tread patterns common to these tires for driving around on dirt/gravel roads or for snow. It is hard to find a P tire with similar tread although General and Hercules, among others, do make them.
Seems to me there is a large untapped market here for a tire company to exploit with a good product and good advertising!
Seems to me there is a large untapped market here for a tire company to exploit with a good product and good advertising!
I for one purposely switched tires at one point to an LT tire on my F150 specifically to firm up the ride. I don't think its a matter of an LT tire not being able to handle shocks as well as a P tire, its just that they do it differently - the LT tires with higher air pressures.
One compensation in the LT tires is that they are commonly offered in various load ranges. In the case I mentioned above, I did not need a full "E" load range carrying capacity / 10 ply tire and all the extra weight that meant. I bought a load range "C" tire instead, got an overall stiffer tire, firmer ride, deeper tread blocks, and not an enormous weight penalty either.
I don't think the issue is a new one - it just seems that way since vehicle tastes changed to SUV's and pickups where there are options for both types of tires. (Kind of like a speed rating on passenger car tires too!)
One compensation in the LT tires is that they are commonly offered in various load ranges. In the case I mentioned above, I did not need a full "E" load range carrying capacity / 10 ply tire and all the extra weight that meant. I bought a load range "C" tire instead, got an overall stiffer tire, firmer ride, deeper tread blocks, and not an enormous weight penalty either.
I don't think the issue is a new one - it just seems that way since vehicle tastes changed to SUV's and pickups where there are options for both types of tires. (Kind of like a speed rating on passenger car tires too!)
I for one think LT tires on a smaller truck are a great idea. Assuming of course you don't mind the harsher ride. There's no chance of worrying about overloading them. When I bought the girlfriend tire recently for her Murano, I wanted to get a LT tire but I knew she would complain.
So, I finally had the tires mounted. I asked for 50 psi in the 80 psi Max load tire and they put in 40 psit. I'm running 53 PSI all around and the ride is very nice. It was a bit "mushy" at 40 psi. I hope this isn't too low or too high. It's right in the middle. Any thoughts?
If the ride is too soft at 40 psi and is very nice at 53 psi, then you got it just right for your truck and your tastes. You should check for uneven wear when you rotate at 5k miles and adjust pressure at that time.
Originally Posted By: grampi
I've found I get the best mix of tire performance (ride comfort, handling, fuel economy, tread life, road noise, etc.) by inflating my tires to about 5 PSI over the pressure listed on the driver's door.
My door pressure is 29 psi. That "ain't" going to cut it on an LT tire towing a boat.
I've found I get the best mix of tire performance (ride comfort, handling, fuel economy, tread life, road noise, etc.) by inflating my tires to about 5 PSI over the pressure listed on the driver's door.
My door pressure is 29 psi. That "ain't" going to cut it on an LT tire towing a boat.
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This thread provoked a lot of thought and led to a very significant discovery and lesson for me.
After reading this thread last night, I got thinking about the tires on the Expedition. They are not original, and the same tires (Goodyear Armour) were on an Excursion we were looking at before we bought the Expedition.
So, today, I made it a point to check: yep, LT265/70/17 Load range C. Uh oh!
I had been inflating them per the door jam, and after checking the spec's via Goodyear's site, they have been under-inflated by 15psi this entire time!!
To get the same load handling out of these tires as the original P-series tires, the rears have to be at 50psi! They were at 35. The front's need to be 45psi. They were 30.
I cannot get over how much this has improved the road feel.
This should be a sticky, as I imagine this occurence is far too common.
After reading this thread last night, I got thinking about the tires on the Expedition. They are not original, and the same tires (Goodyear Armour) were on an Excursion we were looking at before we bought the Expedition.
So, today, I made it a point to check: yep, LT265/70/17 Load range C. Uh oh!
I had been inflating them per the door jam, and after checking the spec's via Goodyear's site, they have been under-inflated by 15psi this entire time!!
To get the same load handling out of these tires as the original P-series tires, the rears have to be at 50psi! They were at 35. The front's need to be 45psi. They were 30.
I cannot get over how much this has improved the road feel.
This should be a sticky, as I imagine this occurence is far too common.
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