Changing just rear tires for higher load rated tires?

XL is a P tire with more pressure and weight rating. Not an LT.

Ulvik nothing in your posts make any sense, newer herd of a xl rated tier and 50 psi is not much,sounds like your tiers no good for what you are trying to do.
Frank.

Thanks everyone for the advice but here is what I have found out. The tires I have are already XL rated tires with the tire pressure set at 50 PSI and regretfully they are the highest load rated tires they make in my tire size of 275/55/20 so it looks like I will just have to live with the little bit of sway I have.
I have towed travel trailers for well over 20 years and the setup I have is correct so I am beginning to think it is just the characteristics of the travel trailer we bought. May add a second sway control to the setup and see if that will take out the additional way I have with this unit. Then just get a little stiffer tire on the TT when we return from our trip out west. Thanks again.

ulvik wrote:
Need some advice. I have new tires on my truck...bought another camper....light load rated tires.....My question is if I replace just the rear tires with a higher load rated set will this alone help with some of the trailer sway I have been experiencing?

By 'Light Load Rated' I assume you mean P-rated tires.

My first question is: "did you re-adjust your weight distributing hitch for new trailer"? If not, that is the first thing you need to do. If the hitch is not set properly you can be all over the place with sway.
If you need help with this, see the post by BarneyS for Travel Trailer Hitch Setup Procedure.

If you don't have a weight distributing hitch, then you need to get one. On any vehicle, if your trailer is within the towing limits and you have a WD hitch properly set you should not experience sway.

Now, assuming you have the WD hitch set up and things still feel "squishy", your issue could be tire related. I always recommend running P-rated tires at the max pressure printed on the tire side wall. Most truck brands suggest 35PSI on the door pillar sticker and in the manual. Thats fine for a smooth ride, but the side wall really flexes when carrying a load. Most P-rated truck tires have a max pressure of about 44PSI. Running at the tire max pressure will help stiffen the sidewall and eliminate that squishy feeling.

You should see improvement after doing all this. If not, higher rated tires might be an option. Or, the other possibility is that your trailer is too much for your truck and stiffer tires won't make a difference.

KJ

wing_zealot wrote:
Welcome back SoCalDesertRider. I haven't seen you post in a couple of years. I always appreciated your comments and perspective; and trusted your advice.

Thank you, Wing_Zealot! :)

smkettner wrote:
Heavy tires are a Band-Aid. Fix the sway issue. Post the equipment specs for best suggestions.

Maybe, but no more than a sway control hitch is a band aid for the same condition.

Start by coming back and providing enough information to get sound advice.
In the meantime, fundamentally, yes you can put heavier rated tires on the rear without any issue.
Considerations, if 4wd they need to be the same diameter or close if you use 4wd at all.
You just now limited your tire rotation options unless you run em backwards with the heavy tires up front when not towing (like in the winter).
Sounds like you don't really know the source of your sway issues, if you have any issue at all. There's a difference between being blown back n forth on the road and trailer sway. It may feel the same to someone inexperienced but, in short, if the "sway" is caused by something in particular like cross winds or passing a semi then you don't really have a problem. But if the trailer starts tail wagging at a certain speed every time, it's typically a tongue weight issue. If the tail wags more than it should with wind/semis but comes back in line on its own then soft tires could difinatley be part of the problem.
If you have everything else set up correctly and are pretty certain it's soft tires, air them up more and take a little test drive. If putting extra pressure in the rear tires helps considerably then you'd benefit by having heavier tires. And no you won't blow out a P rated truck tire if you run it up to 60psi. I don't reccomend doing this for extended periods even though I've done it a lot in the past when overloading a half ton with P tires.
Better yet, provide all the pertinent info on your setup and let the smart people here guide you through set up options. May save you buying a pair of mis matched tires....

Heavy tires are a Band-Aid. Fix the sway issue. Post the equipment specs for best suggestions.

WNYBob wrote:
IMO the front tires also play a role in sway. I run 4 'E' tires at full (max) pressure to minimize sway.

:h

You do realize that at 80 psi the "E" rated tires on your 1500 are well over inflated! Minimum max load on a 16" "E" rated tire is about 3,000# so you have about 12,000# of capacity carrying about 7,000# of load. Over inflation reduces the tires contact patch reducing traction for braking and handling, not to mention greatly reduced wet traction!

I've run different load rating without problems, but without weighing/knowing your rig's axle weights??? How do you know you need higher rated tires on the rear? Excessive sway is caused by not enough tongue weight... I have not used WD in 25 years, especially towing with a PU that handles better with plenty of weight on the rear axle.

Spend the $10-15 at a truck stop to weigh your axles and then ask your question. Tongue weight would help too but harder to weigh. You can use a bathroom scale and a board/lever to give you a 1/3 or 1/4 ratio.

If there is not any scales close by then I would shift 200 lbs from the back of the trailer to the front and see if you still have excessive sway BUT this does not answer your question of needing better tires on the rear.