LT tires

anybody switch their tires out for lt's. I bought my ram truck mostly for towing our travel trailer and a few folks have told me I should swap out the Falken all terrain 20's for lt's. kind of a pricey mod so I was wondering what would be the problem with just changing out the rears to a matching Falken tire but in an LT.

wow. nobody has a theory one way or another..

I run LT's on my 1500, I went with245/75R17's.
I don't like wide low profile tires on a pickup.
In your case an LT would handle tongue weight better, if you are 4wd even with the same brand and size going to an LT would most likely get you a different loaded radius. Also your handling would be different with a stiffer tire on the rear then the front.
If your trailer is heavy a weight distribution hitch would load your tires more evenly.

I put Michelin LT 10 ply tires on mine. I do go off road and wanted the better sidewalk and IT tires have an extra 4 to 5 32/seconds of tread so that helps off set the added cost. The ride is only slightly stiffer but very good. I am having 10 ply snow tires out on the stock 18 inch rims which should ride a little better with more sidewalk compared to the 20 inch michelins.

thanx for the input. my travel trailer is about 6000# when towing it and I have a nice WDH. I have the 5.7 and 3.92's so it pulls well but even after I swapped sway bar to the hellwig upgrade and run a little more air in the rears, I am still trying to get that last bit of shimmy out for a more solid feel. sounds like I might want to find a buyer for the Falken all terrains and get some LT's all the way around while my oem's are still low mileage.

FWIW - I occasionally pull a horse trailer, and I do like to get out and about on forest service roads all summer long. I upgraded to Toyo Open Country AT II in a P-metric (non LT) size. I wanted a bit more aggressive tire, but not the MPG hit of LT tires. So far they have worked out just fine.

Only open item on my wish list is a 5th rim/tire combo to replace the temporary spare that is standard on my truck.

runamuck said:

anybody switch their tires out for lt's. I bought my ram truck mostly for towing our travel trailer and a few folks have told me I should swap out the Falken all terrain 20's for lt's. kind of a pricey mod so I was wondering what would be the problem with just changing out the rears to a matching Falken tire but in an LT.

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I switched my p-rated Goodyear’s for a LT rated bfg at; biggest mistake ever. Lost mileage, lost my good ride quality- even with air suspension. Pulled them off after 12000 miles and 9 months later for a 4-ply Michelin Defender. Granted, I don’t tow- and when I do, it’s just a dinky little single axle utility trailer but, for a halfton, those stock Goodyear’s(and anything equivalent) are just fine for towing. Again, it’s a halfton. You really shouldn’t even be pulling anything heavy enough to warrant an eight ply tire. ‘Bout the only time 8-ply tires are good for a halfton is heavy off-roading in places where the terrain is extremely hard on tires.

Maybe that’s partly the reason why heavy off-road tires like the stock sized 20’s in the bfg are an 8-ply, and why pretty much anything in a 35 these days anymore is a 10-ply because the tire manufacturers think you’re gonna be using the tires for what they were meant for.


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LarryA said:

FWIW - I occasionally pull a horse trailer, and I do like to get out and about on forest service roads all summer long. I upgraded to Toyo Open Country AT II in a P-metric (non LT) size. I wanted a bit more aggressive tire, but not the MPG hit of LT tires. So far they have worked out just fine.

Only open item on my wish list is a 5th rim/tire combo to replace the temporary spare that is standard on my truck.

Click to expand...

Hell, I pulled a fully loaded 10 or 12 foot U-Haul trailer, or whichever one of the longest size is with the tandem axle, all the way down here to Oklahoma from Colorado Springs Colorado, in at that time, my new to me 08 Ram 1500 that was still rolling on the four year old factory Goodyear’s. I ignored that little sign on the fender that recommends 55 miles an hour, and drove that truck pretty much 70, 75 miles an hour all the way down here without one problem at all. Hell, I don’t think I even check the pressures of the tires, or even bumped the back what’s up to the full 44 psi just to make it a little bit more stable back there. I just hopped in it, loaded the trailer, and I hit the road petal to the metal. Lol. 880 miles later I was pulling into my mom’s driveway. lol.


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I put Goodyear wrangler Trailrunners on my 15 model and then traded it in on the 19 I now have! I will be putting a set of of the Trailrunners on again, they were very quiet, more stable, great wet traction in rain and snow, and didnt affect my mpg at all. mine were 275/60/20 and the new truck has 275/55/20 lol...

ST Trailer tire are rated for 65 mph maximum speed,
But most all of us pull 65 mph, some fast,

Tire shop almost way try sell ST tire,
I think most all ST tire junk to okay at
Best, Europe van tire or light truck tire

Are better tires and safer, ?
But cost bit more money ,

The Carlisle radial trail 6H04621 have a speed rating of 81mph... they work just fine.

Willie Mosher said:

ST Trailer tire are rated for 65 mph maximum speed

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runamuck said:

thanx for the input. my travel trailer is about 6000# when towing it and I have a nice WDH. I have the 5.7 and 3.92's so it pulls well but even after I swapped sway bar to the hellwig upgrade and run a little more air in the rears, I am still trying to get that last bit of shimmy out for a more solid feel. sounds like I might want to find a buyer for the Falken all terrains and get some LT's all the way around while my oem's are still low mileage.

Click to expand...

If you have 20" wheels, you can also run X-load tires instead of LT. Just depends on the style tread you want.
I have 275/60/20 General HTS-60 X-Load tires on mine - the load rating is only about 400 lbs less than the E-Loads. They handle the towing well but are more of a all season tread vs. off road tread.
Still gives you almost 6000 lb. tire capacity for the axle on a 3900 lb rated axle.

LarryA said:

FWIW - I occasionally pull a horse trailer, and I do like to get out and about on forest service roads all summer long. I upgraded to Toyo Open Country AT II in a P-metric (non LT) size. I wanted a bit more aggressive tire, but not the MPG hit of LT tires. So far they have worked out just fine.

Only open item on my wish list is a 5th rim/tire combo to replace the temporary spare that is standard on my truck.

Click to expand...

If you are running 275/60/20's still, you can put a 285/70/17 E load tire on that temp. spare wheel and have a full size spare tire.

pacofortacos said:

If you are running 275/60/20's still, you can put a 285/70/17 E load tire on that temp. spare wheel and have a full size spare tire.

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Regrettably I have the temporary spare tire/rim combo. So I need a new rim as well.

Is it the standard 17" temp spare?
If so, you can reuse it.

My 16 Outdoorsman came with a temp spare tire on an aluminum rim - took off the temp tire and put a 285/70/17 E-Load tire on it, worked perfectly.
It is the same size tire (diameter) as a slightly used 275/60/20 tire.

IF you have 275/55/20 tires, a 265/70/17 tire is the same diameter as those.

If you want a 20" spare rim, there are 2 options. A spare 20" steel wheel (relatively rare) or a chrome clad stock aluminum wheel BUT you have to remove the chrome cladding to be able to use it as a spare - the center hole on the chrome cladding is too small but the hole in the aluminum is the right size to fit. I guess you could make the chrome clad hole larger instead of removing the entire cladding.

If you want to play around with tire sizes, here's a free calculator:

https://www.americastire.com/learn/tire-size-calculator

Once you get the miles per hour comparison, you have the same rolling diameter so all else should stay the same. I used it for my 2001 Ram to get winter off-road tires that would stand up to big loads on bad roads, meaning ones with taller sidewalls, going from 17" stock mag wheels to 16" Ram steel wheels for strength.

P-metric tires that are sized for half ton trucks have a higher rating that the axles on your truck. Inflated to max, they should perform admirably with a 6000 lb trailer. They will provide a nicer ride the rest of the time. They typically come with a longer warranty that LT tires too. I experimented with LTs several times, and have ultimately ended up back in P-metric land. JMHO

billyw said:

P-metric tires that are sized for half ton trucks have a higher rating that the axles on your truck. Inflated to max, they should perform admirably with a 6000 lb trailer. They will provide a nicer ride the rest of the time. They typically come with a longer warranty that LT tires too. I experimented with LTs several times, and have ultimately ended up back in P-metric land. JMHO

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I agree with ya. I don’t know why some people think a p metric tire on a pickup is reduced just because it’s mounted on a pickup because when I questioned it and called up three different tire manufactures asking them about it, they all three told me pretty much the same thing that if a tire is rated for X amount of pounds... AT... the maximum tire pressure stamped on the sidewall, it doesn’t matter what they hell they’re on. I’m in no way praising those stock 20” Goodyear SRA’s that come factory on our trucks but, if you air those puppies up to 44psi in the back, that’s a combined weight-handling capacity of 5,202 pounds(2,601 per tire). The axle itself is only rated at 3,900, ain’t it?

I mean, I guess if you were approaching the maximum trailer weight of these half-tons of around 10,000 pounds- upwards of over 1,500 pounds of tongue weight- a lot of times, for long distances, guess I could see the benefit of a stiffer sidewall’d LT tire reducing a little bit of rear tow-vehicle sway but for the average Joe who does that every once in a while, I really think LT tires are overkill if you’re running them just for towing purposes if ya ask me but to each is own, I spose.


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corneileous said:

I don’t know why some people think a p metric tire on a pickup is reduced just because it’s mounted on a pickup because when I questioned it and called up three different tire manufactures asking them about it, they all three told me pretty much the same thing that if a tire is rated for X amount of pounds...

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Some people not only think but actually know that the 10% derate is fact:
A quick Google an it shows up on Tire Rack webpage: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=70

Right from DOT regs:
S4.2.2.2 When passenger car tires are
installed on an MPV, truck, bus, or
trailer, each tire’s load rating is reduced
by dividing it by 1.10 before determining,
under S4.2.2.1, the sum of
the maximum load ratings of the tires
fitted to an axle.
https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/UpgradeTire/Final/Index.html#toc74

crash68 said:

Some people not only think but actually know that the 10% derate is fact:
A quick Google an it shows up on Tire Rack webpage: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=70

Right from DOT regs:
S4.2.2.2 When passenger car tires are
installed on an MPV, truck, bus, or
trailer, each tire’s load rating is reduced
by dividing it by 1.10 before determining,
under S4.2.2.1, the sum of
the maximum load ratings of the tires
fitted to an axle.
https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/UpgradeTire/Final/Index.html#toc74

Click to expand...

Well, pretty much what I told the last guy who started spouting this stuff, is that you’re taking what the government is saying and is using that to argue with what the actual manufacturer of the tire says.

Bottom line, if your tire says 2,601 pounds at 44psi, that’s what your tire will safely support at that pressure.

Do we run our tires at that higher pressure all the time?? I’m sure some people do but the majority of us who run OEM tire sizes and load ratings run them at whatever the door sticker says, which is 39psi.

If you’re hooking up to a fairly heavy trailer and wanna pump your rear p-metric tires up to their max pressure for their maximum weight-carrying capability for the tire’s full potential- well, if you ask the company that makes those tires, they’ll tell ya the same thing, that it’s a good idea to do that to keep friction down and make the tire stiffer, and less prone to sidewall roll.

I mean, we’re talking some government agency saying something totally different from what the company who made the tires is saying. You be the judge.


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