Significant weight difference in tires affects your ride quality
Q. I’m considering new tires for my twowheel drive Toyota Tundra pickup now that the winter tires and wheels are coming off. The factory size is P275/65R18. I always go for Michelin and am looking at the LTX MS2. This popular light truck tire looks perfect.
I see that this tire/size is available in passenger (P) and light truck (LT) designations. I like the idea of LT for puncture resistance and increased load capacity. Can you tell me if the comfort level and fuel consumption will suffer noticeably if I go with the LT rather than the P version? The LT must be a much heavier tire? I’ll pay for good quality, but I’d sure like to avoid a mistake when it comes to this kind of money.
A. You are correct about a weight difference between LT and P rated truck tires. In this case, the Michelin LTX MS2 weighs 42 pounds in P designation and 50 pounds in the LT version. So an extra eight pounds of unsprung weight per corner of the truck is significant. That is almost 20 per cent more weight. Fuel economy drops, ride quality falls off and the truck will lose some agility.
LT tires should be used if you are planning on heavy loads. The P version of the tire maxes out at carrying 2,601 pounds at 44 psi. The LT tire can handle up to 3,415 pounds at 80 psi. So the difference again is huge. Note too, the pressures the LT tire can handle are 80 psi. That kind of number equates to a rock hard ride. They can be run with less air but then the load capacity goes down.
Fundamentally you need to analyze how you drive, what you carry and just how important comfort is to you. Send your tire questions to: thetireguy_1@hotmail.com. Mail volume prevents personal replies.