Tire load Range

Hood297 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:51 pm

what is the importance of load range.

I read some where that load range E was very heavy and not great for off-roading, is this fact or fiction?

would a load range c be lighter and now hinder fuel economy so much ?

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:59 pm

Hood297 wrote:

what is the importance of load range.

I read some where that load range E was very heavy and not great for off-roading, is this fact or fiction?

would a load range c be lighter and now hinder fuel economy so much ?

Load range is kind of a give and take deal.The higher the load the heavier the tire.Sidewalls are thicker,and would be less prone to side puncture,but adding any more weight to the KJ will jeperdize some fuel economy.Higher load ranges are only profitable when your hauling heavy loads.Just my opinion.

unixxx · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:04 am

I would guess you'd get less flex with the higher load ranges. Load range C is a popular choice and what I'm running. With load range E, you lose more money to lower mileage than you gain from less tire punctures. I actually did a calculation :lol:

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:18 am

I think load rating is related to the number of sidewall plies in a tire. I've been told that 10-ply tires are bad for offroad because when you air down and try to flex the stiff sidewalls, you will debead your tire. That's what I've heard. This guy works at Discount Tire and I was talking tires with him and told him I wanted to try 235/85R16s and he told me all tires in that size will be 10-ply, because it's a common truck/diesel tire, and that was bad offroad for the previously stated reason. I've looked, and he was right about that size, they're all 10-ply. I've never seen/read any confirmation on the debeading issue. This would be my main concern when looking at Load Ratings and the # of sidewall plies of a tire.

unixxx · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:59 am

You can still benefit from the increased plies of load range C, even if you won't be hauling a lot. For protection off-road, sidewall plies are almost as important as tread plies. The only puncture I've ever had was in the tire sidewall.

moose · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:17 am

Well, my 235/85r16's are "E" and they grip just fine. The extra sidewall does provide more protection, plus extra height. Yes, the sidewall wont flex like a "C", but it depends on what you are looking for.

Kugellager · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:28 am

I'm sure the lower load range is great if you don't have to deal much with rocks when you are wheeling. But if you wheel out here (Colorado) you definitely want all the sidewall protection you can get. I have the GY MTR 245/75 R16 E's and they do very well. The sidewalls seem to flex fine...A most of the regular LOST Rockies guys have them.

John
];')

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:44 am

So I shouldn't worry about airing down 10 ply 235/85R16s?

jason thompson · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:35 am

RespectMyLibertay wrote:

So I shouldn't worry about airing down 10 ply 235/85R16s?

No you should air down the 10 plys to probably 16 psi
the idea behind airing down is to allow the tire to flex more and cover more surface area
at any given psi a C or 6 ply tire will flex more than a E or 10 ply under the same load

jcphoto20 · **Joined:** Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:36 am **Posts:** 507

for your further information, E rated doesnt necessarily mean the tires actually have 10 plies in the sidewall, it means that is the strength they are rated at. i had dunlop radial RTs 245 75 16s, E rated, if i recall correctly, they only had 4 actual plies in the sidewall and 6 in the tread.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:50 am

I've been watching this thread as well...I've been wondering:

A load range E tire can carry something like 3,000 lbs. per tire! I suppose I see the need for added protection off road but what would be the bennifit if the sum of all 4 tires could carry ~12,000 lbs?

Kugellager · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:26 am

sleeve84028 wrote:

I've been watching this thread as well...I've been wondering:

A load range E tire can carry something like 3,000 lbs. per tire! I suppose I see the need for added protection off road but what would be the bennifit if the sum of all 4 tires could carry ~12,000 lbs?

The 3000 pounds is a maximum. Its always good to have a large margin of safety.

Imagine you are wheeling and you are going down on a steep downward incline and then the right front tire (could also be the left) falls down into a small rut or hole. In a situation like this the weight shifts and you may or may not get a wheel off the ground. When this happens, a significant portion of the weight of our 4000+ pound vehicle will be on that one tire. Plus as others mentioned...every little bit of strength helps.

A similar, but lesser, situation can happend when you are just driving down hill or towing. The weight gets shifted forward or backward.

John
];')

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:32 am

In that particular situation has anyone really experienced any type of blow out? (for clarification purposes on my behalf) While I understand the situation you are describing, I would think that the increased load would only be for a brief second or so and this would not exceed the built in safety margin if a load range C tire...

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:54 am

I understand the idea of airing down, why you do it, etc, and obviously a 10 ply tire won't flex as much as a 6 ply, etc. What I was wondering was will a 10 ply tire debead easily if aired down? I looked, and most tires in the 235/85R16 size are infact 10 ply. But, now that I think of it, that probably isn't the sidewall ply rating. Either way, I've heard this happens when aired down because they can't flex enough to hold to the rim. This is keeping me away from that size, but I really want to go with it since most tires are cheaper in that size (compared to 245/75R16) and I like the look of tall, narrow tires.

BCool · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:30 am

All I can say is that neither I or Moose have had problems and we run them as well as alot of MTR guys. You will be fine, that why we carry spares, if it de-beads, just change it out and reset it later. I'm going out on Sat. and will air them down and let your know what I think.

Kniggit · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:42 pm

Don't forget narrower tires are cheaper to turn.

K

jcphoto20 · **Joined:** Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:36 am **Posts:** 507

the E rated ones i had were 3042 lbs at 80(!!!) psi. i ran them at 35 unless it was snowing then usually 25-30, 12-15 in the fronts if i needed extra traction to back up my driveway. they were very heavy.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:18 pm

You have to really go back to why we have 4/6/8/10 ply tires. Before they started running all these different sizes on SUVs they were first designed to be on 1 ton and heavier trucks where you needed a vehicle to haul 12,/16/20,000 lbs. or more.The real narrow tires say like the 235 85s were really designed to run on the rear of duallys and again haul very heavy loads. They are not really made for a light Liberty but all in the same you can use them with good results. As far as airing them down yes a 10 ply will come off the bead quicker than a say 6 ply just due to the fact that the 10 is a whole lot stiffer and will not "bend" as well. BUT the difference would be real hard to guage due to differences in vehicles, width of wheels, the angle you would go over a rock etc. 10 plys will give you less MPGs due to the weight and the give out on the road. Kind of like going ground hog hunting with a 30-06 you can kill them with a 22 but the 30-06 is a whole lot more fun! :wink:

Tire load Range

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