P Rated Tires vs. LT Rated Tires......necessity vs. look vs. added weight.

[Onlyone]

I installed 10 ply rated Firestone’s in a bigger 265/70/17 and can’t tell the difference in anything but a barely noticeable change in sharp, deep potholes and such.

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[Dokkenmire]

I bought 265/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers and opted not to go with the LT version. Mine have a 65,000 mile tread life vs 50,000 and were cheaper too. Honestly I couldn't tell a real big difference between these and the stock highway tires besides more road noise.

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

Big MPG hit?

Not sure why but the dealer that ordered our truck, ordered it with LT Hankook Dynapro's. We've almost got 4,000 miles on the truck and it's averaging 25 mpg.

Funny thing is when you look at the spec's. the LT's have a lower Max Load capacity?

Do all rangers come with a 265/65R17 112T spare tire? Irregardless of the other four tire sizes and wheel size?

Would your 1536 payload have been 4x9=36 higher with four lighter P tires?

 

[Sandman Ranger]

These.
Bridgestone Dueller AT Revo 3
Much more of a truck look at OE size. A new tire in 2019.
Ride is good.

 

[Hounddog409]

You don't need an LT tire on anything smaller than a 3/4 ton truck.

This.

 

[THLONE]

You need to go to a tire site such as Discount and learn what the new tire coding is. It is confusing, you need a chart to read the load ranges. Tire construction has changed as to the number of plies also. LT and P doesnt mean what it used to, Load range is a number with a letter .

Lots of people put too much tire on their trucks because it "looks better". They lose performance. Many people make their trucks look like hard core off roaders and never leave the pavement.

 

[HenryMac]

Do all rangers come with a 265/65R17 112T spare tire? Irregardless of the other four tire sizes and wheel size?

Nope. Here's a door jamb sticker from a truck with 18" wheels.... and the spare is a 16".

Would your 1536 payload have been 4x9=36 higher with four lighter P tires?

I don't know....... The above sticker shows 1537 lbs?

View attachment 31837

 

[Beez]

I found Tire Size Calculator on-line to be a huge help: https://tiresize.com/calculator/
I've modified my Lariat with a 2.5" leveler kit, removed the crash bars and am running 1.5" spacers. Based on my research from Tire Size Calculator and the comparisons, it looks like I should be able to fit a 285/70R18, 305/65R18, or 33/12.5R18. - A 2" gain in tire must be divided across the center of the tire, so you are only really getting 1" closer to hard parts. Same goes for width. If you're upgraded tire is 1" wider, then you have to devide that across the center of the tire, which equates to 1/2" to the inner and outer side walls. Also, (very important), if you notice, your stock tire (265/60/r18) might have listed, that it does 639 revs/mile, while the larger tire, say a 305/65R18 has 600 revs/mile. What happens is that although you may have covered a mile in only 600 revs, but your computer thinks you need 39 more to complete the mile. In reality, your going further with the computer thinking otherwise. Although your new tire might be heavier, it's the true revs calculation that is throwing off and skewing what most are thinking are huge losses to their fuel economy.

That all being said, I've still got my factory installed Hankooks, and have seen the Toyo, Falken, Nitto, & Yokohama's and although they look good, (being old school) I just can't stomach the thoughts of going with an Asian tire on my truck. I've always liked BF Goodrich, but the KO are too aggressive for my daily use and they don't make the "Trail-Terrain" in anything above a 285/65/18. Given the tires manufactured within the good ol US of A, I've been leaning toward Cooper (now owned by Goodyear). I've read allot of great reviews about their Discoverer AT3 XLT's and have seen them fitted up to other trucks. They are a more street friendly than most A/T's, and don't have tread singing complaints common to many other A/T's. Additionally, they come with a 60k warranty. I hope to have a set of 275/70R18's or more preferably, a set of 305/65R18 fitted in the coming months. (Can't find much in 285/70R18, unless I go Asian)

 

[HenryMac]

I found Tire Size Calculator on-line to be a huge help: https://tiresize.com/calculator/
I've modified my Lariat with a 2.5" leveler kit, removed the crash bars and am running 1.5" spacers. Based on my research from Tire Size Calculator and the comparisons, it looks like I should be able to fit a 285/70R18, 305/65R18, or 33/12.5R18. - A 2" gain in tire must be divided across the center of the tire, so you are only really getting 1" closer to hard parts. Same goes for width. If you're upgraded tire is 1" wider, then you have to devide that across the center of the tire, which equates to 1/2" to the inner and outer side walls. Also, (very important), if you notice, your stock tire (265/60/r18) might have listed, that it does 639 revs/mile, while the larger tire, say a 305/65R18 has 600 revs/mile. What happens is that although you may have covered a mile in only 600 revs, but your computer thinks you need 39 more to complete the mile. In reality, your going further with the computer thinking otherwise. Although your new tire might be heavier, it's the true revs calculation that is throwing off and skewing what most are thinking are huge losses to their fuel economy.

That all being said, I've still got my factory installed Hankooks, and have seen the Toyo, Falken, Nitto, & Yokohama's and although they look good, (being old school) I just can't stomach the thoughts of going with an Asian tire on my truck. I've always liked BF Goodrich, but the KO are too aggressive for my daily use and they don't make the "Trail-Terrain" in anything above a 285/65/18. Given the tires manufactured within the good ol US of A, I've been leaning toward Cooper (now owned by Goodyear). I've read allot of great reviews about their Discoverer AT3 XLT's and have seen them fitted up to other trucks. They are a more street friendly than most A/T's, and don't have tread singing complaints common to many other A/T's. Additionally, they come with a 60k warranty. I hope to have a set of 275/70R18's or more preferably, a set of 305/65R18 fitted in the coming months. (Can't find much in 285/70R18, unless I go Asian)

Have you considered Michelins? I put a set of LTX A/T2 on our Ranger a few months ago. American made.

 

[Beez]

I did look at some Mich's stuff, but I wanted a bit more of an aggressive look, without getting crazy. Many of the Michelin's that I looked at seemed to resemble an over-sized radial car tire, than the look of a truck tire... Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, I'm sure they are among the best in fuel economy, if that's what you're aiming for. Even the BF Goodrich All-Terrain is a bit muted for a truck tire, but it does have a little splash of an off-road tire on the sidewall. I would have went for it, if they offered it in larger sizes..

 

[brroberts]

P tires are fine for the truck, but you do give up some toughness. I had a flat on my new Continental Terrain Contact AT’s that might not have happened with a true LT.

 

[Blmpkn]

I did look at some Mich's stuff, but I wanted a bit more of an aggressive look, without getting crazy. Many of the Michelin's that I looked at seemed to resemble an over-sized radial car tire, than the look of a truck tire... Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, I'm sure they are among the best in fuel economy, if that's what you're aiming for. Even the BF Goodrich All-Terrain is a bit muted for a truck tire, but it does have a little splash of an off-road tire on the sidewall. I would have went for it, if they offered it in larger sizes..

Are you buying your tires as a fashion accessory or are you buying them because you need some that function?

The BFG A/T is the world's best selling all terrain for a reason. If you like to go off road but don't need to deal with deep mud, they're an excellent choice. They also go up to 35" at least.. not sure how big of a tire you need.

 

[Todd Chapin]

I have Cooper Rugged Trek XL 265/70/17 that are 6lbs a piece heavier than the oem Hancraps. Lost a bit of milage but I prefer a stouter tire for offroading, obsticles and the terrible roads and potholes here on the East Coast. For me a worthy compromise for having a more rugged truck.

 

[Beez]

I don't have much call for a hardcore off road tire, but do wish to have a "stouter" (as Todd so appropriately describes) to my Ranger... Something a bit more worthy and "truck like". I have always been a fan of the BFG line up, but the KO's (Which I've had before) are a bit too aggressive for my needs and, as I recall, sing a little due to the heavier tread. The Cooper Discoverer AT3's seem a slight bit milder in tread design and the customer reviews are very high. I'm leaning toward the 277/70R18's, or 306/65/R18's. Both are close in size comparisons a,d should fit with the mods I've made.

 

[Todd Chapin]

I don't have much call for a hardcore off road tire, but do wish to have a "stouter" (as Todd so appropriately describes) to my Ranger... Something a bit more worthy and "truck like". I have always been a fan of the BFG line up, but the KO's (Which I've had before) are a bit too aggressive for my needs and, as I recall, sing a little due to the heavier tread. The Cooper Discoverer AT3's seem a slight bit milder in tread design and the customer reviews are very high. I'm leaning toward the 277/70R18's, or 306/65/R18's. Both are close in size comparisons a,d should fit with the mods I've made.

Maybe bfg trail terrains? They are light, less aggressive/ noisy
and less expensive than bfg ko. They were on my short list when I was thinking about going 285/70/17 but went smaller because did not want to worry about the crashbars yet. I had the older version of these, long trails on my frontier and they were good tire other than they did not like cactus needles.

Tire noise is subjective. The Cooper rugged treks have a agressive tread. A hybrid between at and mt but relatively quiet for a offroad forward tire. Some ats are noisier than others. Also even light offroading can and will lead to rock contact which is not tire and sidewall friendly, hence why I run xl.

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