Truck tires

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by althebuilder

Don't want to sound like an ad for them but I have put a few sets of Firestone Transforce AT tires on our trucks and they are LT load range E and work great for long service life (about one year or 100,000 km per truck) they are perfect towing, or loaded for bear. I think other companies may make similar ones but I havent tried anything that worked as well. One of our trucks (Tundra) came with P rated tires and I swapped them off after just 60,000 km, badly worn and I just didn't trust them anymore. I don't know if other people put their trucks and tires through what I do (driving heavy loads on them all day long every day) but if you do don't stick with the P's go LT and if you want to save a lot of money on long term tire replacement, spend a lot of short term money on tire replacement $0.02 won't get you a valve stem though.

good info - the unfortinate part for him is that there are not many LT choice's in a 20" tire - he will have some homework cut out for herself

[boubou]

Might just change to 17"
Better tow ratio
And... I'm not an him
Am a her

[boubou]

P275/60R17 110T BFGoodrich® Long Trail T/A® Tour

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by boubou

Might just change to 17"
Better tow ratio
And... I'm not an him
Am a her

Oops - I apologize - didnt realize you were a Lady - I just assumed which was a bad assumption on my part

you will have alot better tire choices in the 17's - bad part though is it will have more side wall to flex and your ride will be mushier then what you have with the 20's.

the 275/60/20 is a 33" tire in case you didnt know
Also check your truck to see if it has the 3.55 or 3.92 gears - have noticed alot of the new trucks have the 3.55 gears with the 20's where my truck came with 3.92's with the 20's.

I am running 18"s and wished I was still running the 20's - I got such an awesome deal on the 18's I couldnt pass them up.

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by boubou

P275/60R17 110T BFGoodrich® Long Trail T/A® Tour

that tire size is smaller then what you are presently running for tire size

use this to help with matching tire sizes:
Tire size calculator

hope you dont take this the wrong way - you do know you will need to get new rims to accomodate a 17" tire right?

as I wait for her to call me the idiot for asking that question

[althebuilder]

And... I'm not an him
Am a her

When it comes to towing it's not what's in your shorts that counts but what's under the hood and what is between your ears.

I forgot the part about 20" rims, I guess you are stuck with what ever rubber bands they are putting on bmw's My truck has old school but selection rich 16" rims (got two sets for easy switch overs to winter tyres)

I don't understand though how 17" rims give better "tow ratio" than 20", is the overall diameter of the tire not going to remain a constant? if the gears in the rear diff are the same, and the gearing in the tranny is also unchanged in gearing then the ratio of each axel revolution to ground covered stays the same with an identical circumference?
If you don't keep the same circumference though you will have to recalibrate the speedo and odo. There must be a thread about all this already.

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by althebuilder

When it comes to towing it's not what's in your shorts that counts but what's under the hood and what is between your ears.

I forgot the part about 20" rims, I guess you are stuck with what ever rubber bands they are putting on bmw's My truck has old school but selection rich 16" rims (got two sets for easy switch overs to winter tyres)

I don't understand though how 17" rims give better "tow ratio" than 20", is the overall diameter of the tire not going to remain a constant? if the gears in the rear diff are the same, and the gearing in the tranny is also unchanged in gearing then the ratio of each axel revolution to ground covered stays the same with an identical circumference?
If you don't keep the same circumference though you will have to recalibrate the speedo and odo. There must be a thread about all this already.

I can answer your questions - this info goes for a Dodge - not sure about Chevy and Ford's though
the newer trucks have what is called a pinion factor which is calculated by the PCM so to get the speedo corrected the dealer would have to correct that by reprogramming the PCM for the new tire size or could get a superchips to reprogram that as well - the days of the gear in the side of the tranny is gone - everything is computer controlled now in the newer trucks.
Also when they adjust for the tire size it will also adjust for the ABS as well.

[boubou]

Originally Posted by sherdep

oops - i apologize - didnt realize you were a lady - i just assumed which was a bad assumption on my part

you will have alot better tire choices in the 17's - bad part though is it will have more side wall to flex and your ride will be mushier then what you have with the 20's.

The 275/60/20 is a 33" tire in case you didnt know
also check your truck to see if it has the 3.55 or 3.92 gears - have noticed alot of the new trucks have the 3.55 gears with the 20's where my truck came with 3.92's with the 20's.

I am running 18"s and wished i was still running the 20's - i got such an awesome deal on the 18's i couldnt pass them up.

3:55

[boubou]

Originally Posted by sherdep

that tire size is smaller then what you are presently running for tire size

use this to help with matching tire sizes:
Tire size calculator

hope you dont take this the wrong way - you do know you will need to get new rims to accomodate a 17" tire right?

as I wait for her to call me the idiot for asking that question

I think that I'll tow a while with the 20's and see what it feels like. If I find it ok, I'll get proper tires to tow with or if not, then get a new truck? Jus kidding, get the 17 and (rims...)

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by boubou

3:55

I know your truck is rated for more horsepower then mine is (Mine is rated at 345hp) so that may be the diffrence of why you have the 3.55 with the 20's - for better fuel economy at highway speeds plus you have MDS which cuts off 4 cylinders or two banks if I remember correctly.

I say drive it with 20's and see how it performs - I know Labzy is running the same setup as you are except she has a Mini Lite 2306 - you might be able to get some info from her on driveability issues if she has any - she does her homework so she will tell what she has dealt with.

[boubou]

Originally Posted by sherdep

I know your truck is rated for more horsepower then mine is (Mine is rated at 345hp) so that may be the diffrence of why you have the 3.55 with the 20's - for better fuel economy at highway speeds plus you have MDS which cuts off 4 cylinders or two banks if I remember correctly.

I say drive it with 20's and see how it performs - I know Labzy is running the same setup as you are except she has a Mini Lite 2306 - you might be able to get some info from her on driveability issues if she has any - she does her homework so she will tell what she has dealt with.

We did the same as a lot of people, didn't look around that much. Really liked the Shasta revere and wanted the slide. Ended up with a heavier tt thay I wanted to pull. It will be ok, within my truck's limits but lighter would have made me feel more at ease. I did not realize the tongue weight was so high 750 dry) so a bit challenging with wd but that's a different thread.

Thank ya all friends, bed time for me. I'm sure I'll be counting trailers to fall asleep

[boubou]

Oh and reason i got a non lite tt is my brother in law sold tt for a few years with his familly business and suggested I stayed with conventional tt stick and tin

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by boubou

Oh and reason i got a non lite tt is my brother in law sold tt for a few years with his familly business and suggested I stayed with conventional tt stick and tin

no need to explain - it is all good

I doubt its really gonna make that much of a diffrence since it is a 21 footer - if it was a 25 to 30 footer it would

your trailer weighs 7,500 pounds - tongue weight is usually 10% since you said 750lbs

oh and good night

[SaskCampers]

Originally Posted by sherdep

I know your truck is rated for more horsepower then mine is (Mine is rated at 345hp) so that may be the diffrence of why you have the 3.55 with the 20's - for better fuel economy at highway speeds plus you have MDS which cuts off 4 cylinders or two banks if I remember correctly.

I say drive it with 20's and see how it performs - I know Labzy is running the same setup as you are except she has a Mini Lite 2306 - you might be able to get some info from her on driveability issues if she has any - she does her homework so she will tell what she has dealt with.

Still have the same poorly geared tranny though and with 3:73's and the 32 inch factory size tires is not ideal so I cannot imagine having 33's with 3:55's being a great combo. Seems like it could be a recipe for tranny overheating down the road with a heavy load.

[Malco]

If you stay off gravel roads while towing your trailer your wranglers should be alright,we have the same tires and have had no issues but a friend drove a stone through one of his while towing on a gravel road because of the extra weight on quite a soft tire.

[chadster1]

I have a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 QC with 3.93 gears. I upgraded my tires to the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac LT 275/65 r 20. They fit......barely in the wheel well. As someone else has mentioned, you are limited in LT tire selection in 20". I used my Superchips Flashpaq to reprogram the computer since these tires are taller than the stock size.

[Labzy]

I have a question that relates here.

My Ram tires are the same as boubou's, rated 114, (2600lbs per tire at max pressure of 44psi).
Inside the door is the recommended psi for the tires which is 35psi.
I know you are supposed to add a bit for towing, so I was wondering how much extra psi do you guys/gals put in?

Also, how much does this effect the load rating (lbs per tire)?

Thanks in advance for your help

Kim

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by Labzy

I have a question that relates here.

My Ram tires are the same as boubou's, rated 114, (2600lbs per tire at max pressure of 44psi).
Inside the door is the recommended psi for the tires which is 35psi.
I know you are supposed to add a bit for towing, so I was wondering how much extra psi do you guys/gals put in?
Kim

35psi is the cold max so its advised that you inflate to 35psi; but no more. The tire is built to go beyond that as its heats up so you don't need to inflate more than it's max.

Also, that's the door sticker, which is the correct PSI assuming those tires are OEM. Follow the max psi on the tire when and if you change from the OEM tire.

Originally Posted by Labzy

Also, how much does this effect the load rating (lbs per tire)?

Thanks in advance for your help

Kim

The load rating is based on your max psi. You cannot increase the load rating by inflating beyond this max. However, you can decrease the load rating if you underinflate.

Replacing your tires is the only way to change the load rating.

[Labzy]

Thanks Scott

But I have yet another question now.......
How much do I lose from the load rating at 35psi?
Do you guys not add a few more pounds when you tow? (like up to 38psi?)

[chadster1]

Originally Posted by Labzy

Thanks Scott

But I have yet another question now.......
How much do I lose from the load rating at 35psi?
Do you guys not add a few more pounds when you tow? (like up to 38psi?)

You do not want to inflate over the max psi stated on the tire or you will get premature wear down the center of the tread pattern. I found this out the hard way on my tires before I upgraded to LT tires. I killed a set of BFG 275/60/R20 in 20k miles by running 40psi when towing.