P tires vs LT tires - tire sales conflicting info

CaLBaR wrote:
I changed from P to LT tires on my Tundra. They cost more and I didn't notice any difference in towing stability. I listened to many people on the forum say that towing stability will be better. Just did not see it. The Tundra was very stable with the P tires and is still very stable with the LT tires. If I ever wear out these Michelin MS2 tires I will end up going back to P rated tires as I just didn't see the difference.

I had the same issue with this forum, I upgraded to dual cam sway control because I heard that using dual friction bars was dangerous.... Hated it and had a worse tow than with the dual sway bars. Went back to the sway bars and life was good again.

I had "squishy" (not really, but that's what they are called on here) P rated tires, I loaded up my truck and trailer and was nearly 800 lbs under my tire load rating...I couldn't see upgrading the tires to LT since everything was great.

RV.net did help me with my brake controller issues. Time based = junk. Get a proportional controller.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Another case of the LT crowd being confused to the point of no knowing up from down.
MM49

I changed from P to LT tires on my Tundra. They cost more and I didn't notice any difference in towing stability. I listened to many people on the forum say that towing stability will be better. Just did not see it. The Tundra was very stable with the P tires and is still very stable with the LT tires. If I ever wear out these Michelin MS2 tires I will end up going back to P rated tires as I just didn't see the difference.

I wouldn't worry about not having LTs with the light load you have plus you already have lo-pros which should feel pretty solid. I won't say how much I used to overload P tires of F150 service vans with helper springs and 50psi in the tires, when I was doing a lot of commercial gas piping jobs! I also won't say how many plugs I put in those same tires and blew them up with R-22 from driving on construction sites! I regularly drove across state and out of state at interstate speeds and never had a problem. I wish I could say that for STs. I can't even run them well under weight w/o them flying apart. Craig

Not pay attention to load rating?

Well, last time I got tires for my 3/4 ton Burb, Goodyear put on C load range tires. I only noticed it after I'd returned from a 2000 mile trip with my trailer. Tires were overloaded by ~20%, based on the scale weight. Rear tires were also inflated to 71 psi (limit for that tire is 50). Fortunately, nothing happened.

So, yeah, I think it might be a little important.

CapriRacer wrote:

BenK wrote:
Mis conceptions and out of context info here on tires...as usual...

Stay away from the Load Range letter designations...they are going away because of the misconceptions.....

Quite the opposite. Load Ranges were invented because there was confusion about the other way of doing it. For some reason, that old way hasn't died out - and apparently, some folks think it's the new way. Sorry to inform you otherwise.

It would be wise to stick with the load range system as the load index system says nothing about the tires ply rating.

I see a 5th wheel toy hauler/truck owner mounted a large off road C load range @ 3400 lbs tire on his F350 SRW because it had the same load index as his OEM load range E tire. The truck wallowed on the road so bad he went back to his OEM load range E tires. He didn't do his home work and was bitten by the load index thing.

BenK wrote:
Mis conceptions and out of context info here on tires...as usual...

Stay away from the Load Range letter designations...they are going away because of the misconceptions.....

Quite the opposite. Load Ranges were invented because there was confusion about the other way of doing it. For some reason, that old way hasn't died out - and apparently, some folks think it's the new way. Sorry to inform you otherwise.

PS...am looking for new tires for my Odyssey Mini Van and sticking with 'P' class,
but moving up to higher load rating while keeping the same size tire

Going up to 'LT' class isn't needed or justified. Don't tow, but do have a bike
rack on the 1.25" receiver. Some times think have around 170 lbs of bikes on it
along with 7 people. Do notice the softness and wallowing of 'P' class tires, but
since there are higher load rated 'P' class of the same size, not going to 'LT'
class on my mini van

Never would I ever go back to 'P' class on my Silverado C10 (fake half ton, as
it has a higher GVWR than the regular half tons of that era)

The Silverado has 33/12.5R15

LT

Load Range C that has a max sidewall rating of 35 PSI

Mis conceptions and out of context info here on tires...as usual...

Stay away from the Load Range letter designations...they are going away
because of the misconceptions

Better to use the 'new' numeric designations and know that folks will
continue to us the letter designations

ON that, suggest to change from 'E' tires, to '10 ply rated' tires. That
is the correct translation for what an 'E' rated tire is...a 10 ply rated
tire

'LT' tires are installed by the OEMs (stock tire for 'that' vehicle)
for serious off road optioned vehicles and on the 'fake' half ton
vehicles

Fake half ton, because they have +8K GVWR ratings

'LT' class tires do come with speed ratings. I only purchase HD 'LT'
class for my Suburban and they have a speed rating of 'R', or 107 MPH

There are 'LT' class tires with a max sidewall PSI rating of 35 PSI
as there are 'P' class tires with +50 PSI ratings

Dealers, tire shops, mechanics, etc 'generally' will only sell what
they have in stock...or...what their supplier has in stock...or what
their supplier is willing to get...

So they generally will say theirs is the best or only. Some shops
will tell the whole story and even send you to another dealer who
does carry whatever it is they don't...but...this is a very rare dealer

Generally, I don't try to change a 'half ton' owners mind from 'P'
over to the next higher class 'LT'. As they purchased a 'half ton'
with 'ride quality' and 'MPG' very high on their have to have list

Few if any of these folks understand and believe even feel that 'push'
from the trailer...even a PUP...when maneuvering at speed. So generally
don't bother to try and explain why a higher class 'LT' manages that
better than any same sized/OEM/model/etc 'P' class would on the same
setup

Recommend to the OP...stick with the OEM tires for your TV...unless
you wish to upgrade...but that is re-engineering. So read up and
educate yourself in order to make the correct decision for 'yourself'
instead of following consensus voting/recommendations

DiskDoctr wrote:
I'm amazed at the "stick with P rated oem" posts. I have to suspect these are folks with limited towing experience.

Does that limited experience include FORD that rates the vehicle for towing?
Does Michelin also recommend against towing when equipped with their P tires fitted at OEM equipment?