XL vs LT tires?

I only thought your "real truck" comment was the silly part...

I guess if only HD or heavy trucks are "real trucks" then... Well..

I'll just leave it at that...

Mitch

MitchF150 wrote:


Wow Scott.. Never thought you would go there... You been reading too many of oldmans posts I guess.. ;) he likes that "real truck" thing too... I've always respected your posts in the past..

With my 20" wheels the sidewall on my tires are only 4.5"..

I don't recall the actual sidewall height on my old F150 that had 265/75/16 Lt C tires on them, but they were at least an inch or so more sidewall.. They did fine too. Yes, the P rated tires sucked.. I will give you that..

But until you have actually used the tires in question with the vehicle in question, your "real truck" reply is just silly.

Oh, I have used LT E tires on an F150 and they were a complete WASTE of tire and cost me payload and ride comfort and mpgs.. They didn't make a bit of difference towing compared to the LT C tires I had on the truck (that same 97 F150 I had before).

Mitch

Maybe I should have said HD or heavy trucks.
However, I don't think anyone in this whole conversation is "silly". All points are valid and deserve respect except those that employ passive aggresivenes.
No trucks suspension is going to make up for soft sidewalls. There is simply nothing that can be done to compensate for squirm between the tire and the road.
I also know that some simply wont notice the difference. They may not even notice they're sawing the steering wheel back and forth and making constant corrections. That's not an insult - some people just don't notice these things.
My mechanic buddy thought his TT towed fine until he installed a WDH and realised how much better it could be.

ScottG wrote:

MitchF150 wrote:

Since the rear axle rating is only #4050 I'd say the tires far exceed the axle rating so why get LT E tires???

Mitch

For the handling associated with the stiff sidewalls. If you haven't tried LR E tires then you don't know what a difference they make.
That's the reason real trucks use truck tires.

Wow Scott.. Never thought you would go there... You been reading too many of oldmans posts I guess.. ;) he likes that "real truck" thing too... I've always respected your posts in the past..

With my 20" wheels the sidewall on my tires are only 4.5"..

I don't recall the actual sidewall height on my old F150 that had 265/75/16 Lt C tires on them, but they were at least an inch or so more sidewall.. They did fine too. Yes, the P rated tires sucked.. I will give you that..

But until you have actually used the tires in question with the vehicle in question, your "real truck" reply is just silly.

Oh, I have used LT E tires on an F150 and they were a complete WASTE of tire and cost me payload and ride comfort and mpgs.. They didn't make a bit of difference towing compared to the LT C tires I had on the truck (that same 97 F150 I had before).

Mitch

Stiff sidewalls come from a variety of things. You can Have LR G tires, and have soft sidewalls. IE a Michelin XRV, designed for cushy rides for motor homes. Suck on a truck trying to carry a load per say, like my IHC Dump truck. On the other hand, staying in Michelin land, Not made anymore, but the XDE M+S traction tire I have on the rear of the IHC, with the all steel casing, sidewall and tread, they are very stiff! Do not compress with a load on them etc. A much better tire than the XRV IMHO!
On some SW GM's I have had in the past, I had both LR D and E 265-75-16 tires on them. I was usually running at 60 front, 45-60 in the rear depending upon the load. I even had the same brand and tread pattern in a D THen an E when they started being made. Generally speaking, I noticed no handling differences. EXCEPT, when I put 3 yards of topsoil in the bed, ie ~6000 lbs, or 2 yards of rock, also ~6000 lbs. A couple of times two 3600 lbs pallets of Allen Blocks! THEN and ONLY THEN, did I notice the difference between the 8 and 10 ply tire, as the one I could air up to 80 lbs, vs 65 for the other. Otherwise, save the $10 per tire, take your spouse out to dinner!
My son has 10 ply 265-70-17s on his 4wd GM 1500.....only has 35-40 lbs in them! In reality, no need for 10 ply tires, dealer had them in stock, no LR C like he wanted. Would have saved $15-20 per tire. Why?

Marty

MitchF150 wrote:

Since the rear axle rating is only #4050 I'd say the tires far exceed the axle rating so why get LT E tires???

Mitch

For the handling associated with the stiff sidewalls. If you haven't tried LR E tires then you don't know what a difference they make.
That's the reason real trucks use truck tires.

I actually have XL rated tires on an F150.. It's a 13, but it's a MaxTow with 7700 GVWR... It has the OEM 20' wheels with 275/55/20 tires on it. Also the OEM size.

The XL rated tires I have is 50 psi max and #2833 max load per tire...

Since the rear axle rating is only #4050 I'd say the tires far exceed the axle rating so why get LT E tires???

I think all the LT E tire recommendations came from those that don't have a late model F150, or ever towed with one... ;)

Anyway, do whatever you want to do.. Get some heavy E rated tires and pump 'em up to 80 psi and be happy.

I did what I did and I'm happy as it's what works for me.

Good luck!

Mitch

Forgot to include this article....

Understanding Tire Load Ratings

ScottG wrote:
I think some get hung up on the wheels rating but I suspect the rating is just a minimal spec.
A welded metal wheel that says 50 psi is probably just tested to that limit. It's still a solid metal piece that's welded just like any wheel.
That same wheel could probably take several hundred pounds of pressure without exploding, cracking or otherwise failing. (same for aluminum wheels)
It doesn't mean the wheel will fail at any pressure above 50 PSI.

and....

I'm not. If there were load range f tires for my wheels, I'd install them on my wheels and air them up all the way without a doubt.

It is the spec...not max, nor min...it is the specification for a dynamic application

Within that specification are dialed in margins by design

Your example is for a static condition and again, just the specification without any min/max notation

Dynamically...that one tire/wheel takes, say: a 2018 F150 with a GVWR of 7,000 lbs...going 100MPH (typical for trucks dialed in max speed before the computer shuts down fueling), on a curve (so most of the weight and energy is on the outside tire/wheel), hits a pot hole...many, many, many occurrences over the life of that tire...

Now step back to where that tire/wheel is before setting off on this test drive...

Air it up to a high as someone said for their "F" load range tire, which is 95PSI


Vs "P" class XL tires max rating:

Tire Tech: Tire Specs Explained: Maximum Load




Article on this topic from TireRack.com, 2 pages


Click For Full-Size Image.


Click For Full-Size Image.


If interested in learning (have just blocked those who are resistant to that, but they show up when expanding the thread to see what has been said) check out this book I've been reading and referening for years and years on my boy racer forms (closed to non-members)

Understanding the Influence of Pressure and Radial Loads on Stress and Displacement Response of a Rotating Body: The Automobile Wheel

Within that book are these images explaining how PSI inside the tire acts on the wheel....



Click For Full-Size Image.


This one has to do with the beam loading on the wheel rim


Click For Full-Size Image.

ScottG wrote:
I think some get hung up on the wheels rating but I suspect the rating is just a minimal spec.
A welded metal wheel that says 50 psi is probably just tested to that limit. It's still a solid metal piece that's welded just like any wheel.
That same wheel could probably take several hundred pounds of pressure without exploding, cracking or otherwise failing. (same for aluminum wheels)
It doesn't mean the wheel will fail at any pressure above 50 PSI.

EVERYTHING that has a rating is tested BEYOND what it's rated for.

Watched "How It's Made" last night they were showing how they make beer Kegs, they test to 3x what the keg will ever see.

I towed 19k with my B&W 18k, did it fail? HE!! NO

I think some get hung up on the wheels rating but I suspect the rating is just a minimal spec.
A welded metal wheel that says 50 psi is probably just tested to that limit. It's still a solid metal piece that's welded just like any wheel.
That same wheel could probably take several hundred pounds of pressure without exploding, cracking or otherwise failing. (same for aluminum wheels)
It doesn't mean the wheel will fail at any pressure above 50 PSI.