Load Rating Help Please

1calkid · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:44 am

Okay, I have been searching tires and specs and am wondering if that load rating makes any difference for actually off roading and derability of the tire itself. I was told by a tire place guy that the load rating only pertained to the tread part of the tire. I'm a bit worried that if I run a P rated tire that the sidewall may not hold up while off roading.

I looked at tire rack for specs on a tire I'm looking at. I'm looking at either a 245/75 or 255/70. The 245 is E rated and the 255 is P rated.

Can someone give me some down to earth input about this please. Sorry, I really don't trust any tire guy that works for a company but, I do value the opinions and advice I have gotten from the PRO's here.

thanks for the help and input.

So, will a P rated tire actually hold up to off roading or should I spend the few extra bucks and get the E rated?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp? ... R6GRAT2OWL

PCTim · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:53 am

Wayne,
From what I understand, the load rating is in relation to the sidewall. Therefore, an E rated tire would have a thicker sidewall (more plys) than a C rated tire. There is a post here http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3839 that talks about load ranges. One of the posts in there explains it all.

Quote:

Any tire with a 'p' in front of the size is a 4 ply tire. 'p' stands for passenger.older tires will have a 'b' for the load range.For every letter in the load range = 2 plys .so a 'b'= 4 plys 'c' = 6 plys 'd'=8 plys 'e' = 10 plys and so on.just keep in mind that if you put on a E range tire on your libby.

BTW, my Revo's are P rated, and I didn't have any issues the time I took it out.

Hope this helps!

ps, I also voted for you in the ROTM (my daughter took one of the pics after all) :lol:

krazz1e · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:19 am

yeah it does. more load = more plys therefore a tuffer tire to puncture. However, more plys also equals heavier and louder...... At least a 5 ply with 2 ply sidewall would be consider min to my standards for offroading.

I have a LT245/75/16 big-o all terrian 6 ply (2 steel-2 nylon-2 poly) and 2 poly sidewall tires (E RATED) and they have yet to fail offroad, and I have done a lot on sharp rocks.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:32 am

Yes the higher the load rating the tougher the tire is going to be.

My tires are 5 ply tread/2 ply sidewall...and even at that they weigh almost twice as much as the stock Goodyear junk I replaced.

You don't need range D or E for carrying capacity on a jeep...but it does help off road. Mine are "Standard Load" but that's OK with me.

1calkid · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:56 pm

Thanks everyone for the replies. I just read through the links that you all sent as a reference. It really does make good points and answers my questions. Thanks for all the help. But, any additional input anyone has is always appreciated as well.

Tim, thanks for the vote. Yes, your daughter did take one of the pics. She should get into photography, she's good at it. We need to all get together to get some updated pics.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

dano104 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:45 pm

I think the only draw backs of having a Higher ply rating is in the softness of your ride. My BFG's are load rating of d which equals 8-ply. So she rides a little rougher than she did on the GoodYears. But we all bought jeeps not buicks right?

1calkid · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:04 pm

You would be right dano. "We all bought jeeps not buicks."

onthehunt · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:43 pm

Another thing that should be considered when changing from a P-metric to a D or E load rated tire is the significant ding on your mpg. Especially with the E load rated tires. Yes, they are stronger and can handle heavier loads, but look closely at how much they weigh. Two to three times heavier than a stock tire will affect your gas milage and performance. I installed E rated tires on a pickup that had stock P-metric tires on it and it took a conservative 2-3 mpg off. They also bounced the heck out of me. I had to air them way down just so the tire wouldn't come off the road when hitting a bump. Had several close calls with my abs going off when hitting bumps and braking hard. I won't say that P-metric tires are the way to go-it's scary how thin the sidewalls were on them, but I wouln't buy E-load rated tires again unless I really had a need for them. They really shine when you tow with them. No sidewall flex= no wind sway.

Load Rating Help Please

Who is online