clarification on LT vs ST tires please

B.O. Plenty wrote:

mpfireman wrote:
ST tires are made with stiffer and additional plies in the side walls, thus when turning ,your trailer's 2nd or 3rd axle being stationary causes these other tires to slide around corners. LT tires lack these added plies. But again many RV owners have switched from the ST tires to the LT tires. It's your rig, so you have to make that choice. ST tires also contain additional rubber compounds that are designed to withstand long exposure to the sun, thus they say, less sidewall cracking.

Pure BALONEY! Obviously you have never compared a ST tire and a LT tire side by side. The sidewalls on an ST tire are like a bicycle tire in comparison. The only reason they are on there when new is because they are CHEAP and the manufacturers don't want you to know that...Stop drinking the Kool Aide! If you ever ran a set of LT tires on your rig you would never go back.

B.O.

I have an idea. Why not ask someone who designs tires what he thinks?

Glad you asked. It's actually been a while since I was actively designing tires, but the principles haven't changed in the meantime.

And the answer is that for practical purposes, there is no difference in the casings between an ST tire and an LT tire.

But part of the problem here is trying to compare apples to apples. There is hardly any overlap in sizes - and size does indeed change the strength of the casing, which in turn affects the uninflated stiffness.

It also affect the way a tire reacts to load (ie - sidewall bulge) in that a tire with a larger load carrying capacity will bulge less with the same load.

And did I mention that there may be differences from brand to brand? Not huge ones (certainly not on the bicycle tire level), but enough for people to perceive differences.

And I sure hope no one is trying to compare a steel ply tire with one made of polyester.

Flame on!