Michelin tire blow out!!
On a recent trip to the Western end of the Florida panhandle, we had a blowout on the right rear inside tire. Luckily it was on a straight section of Interstate Hwy with very wide and flat shoulders a...
Forum Discussion
That's also why "Ply Rating" is what's important - not number of physical plies.
Actual plies can be made of various materials and amounts of those materials, so one manufacturer be using a larger number of actual plies of whatever materials they are using versus another manufacturer who may be using a smaller number of actual plies of whatever material they are using. Perhaps that's why "ply rating" long ago stopped being connected to any actual number of plies.
My whole discussions on trying to gain some tire strength have been centered around going to higher Load Ratings than necessary for just load carrying alone - not actual number of plies - in order to also gain increased tire strength.
Here's an actual quote clip from TireRack saying about the same thing. Note their use of words like "strength", "heavier duty", and "stronger" when talking about todays Load Range ratings:
"Before load ranges were adopted, ply ratings and/or the actual number of carcass plies were used to identify the relative strength with higher numeric ratings or plies identifying tires featuring stronger, heavier duty constructions.
Today's load range/ply ratings do not count the actual number of body ply layers used to make up the tire’s internal structure, but indicate an equivalent strength compared to early bias ply tires. Most radial passenger tires have one or two body plies, and light truck tires, even those with heavy-duty ratings (10-, 12- or 14-ply rated), actually have only two or three fabric plies, or one steel body ply."
Actual plies can be made of various materials and amounts of those materials, so one manufacturer be using a larger number of actual plies of whatever materials they are using versus another manufacturer who may be using a smaller number of actual plies of whatever material they are using. Perhaps that's why "ply rating" long ago stopped being connected to any actual number of plies.
My whole discussions on trying to gain some tire strength have been centered around going to higher Load Ratings than necessary for just load carrying alone - not actual number of plies - in order to also gain increased tire strength.
Here's an actual quote clip from TireRack saying about the same thing. Note their use of words like "strength", "heavier duty", and "stronger" when talking about todays Load Range ratings:
"Before load ranges were adopted, ply ratings and/or the actual number of carcass plies were used to identify the relative strength with higher numeric ratings or plies identifying tires featuring stronger, heavier duty constructions.
Today's load range/ply ratings do not count the actual number of body ply layers used to make up the tire’s internal structure, but indicate an equivalent strength compared to early bias ply tires. Most radial passenger tires have one or two body plies, and light truck tires, even those with heavy-duty ratings (10-, 12- or 14-ply rated), actually have only two or three fabric plies, or one steel body ply."
