P Rated vs. Load Range C at Uwharrie

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Four-CLT

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So, I know this subject has been covered numerous times, but the Googling I've done only produces results for D and/or E rated LT tires. What I want to know is would I gain enough sidewall stiffness/strength by going to a C Load Range LT over a P Rated tire?

Some more detail about what I'm looking for:

I would like to up my offroad game to rockier sections of Uwharrie, but I have concerns about using a P Rated tire. I do mainly city driving so 1-2 mpg loss from LT tires doesn't really bother me, but I'm sure I wouldn't want to go to D or E because of a stiffer daily ride. I just want to make sure that I'm not wasting $$ on LT tires if it's not giving me a susbstantial advantage over P Rated for offroad use. Thoughts?
 
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If the thought of a stiffer ride is disconcerting to you, you shouldn't be wheeling your daily driver. Having had my share of pinch flats and sidewall gashes, I wouldn't ever mess around with anything but an E rated tire for a truck that sees significant offroad time.

It's not a horrible thing for a truck to feel like a truck on the road, you know.
 
^^^ thank you!

yeah i dont run anything but e rated tires, if you want a softer ride with them, just run them at a lower psi... with LT vs P tires, there are several gains, on being that the LT tire will have deaper tread for better traction, also subsequently they will last longer due to the deeper tread.
 
the kid said:
with LT vs P tires, there are several gains, on being that the LT tire will have deaper tread for better traction, also subsequently they will last longer due to the deeper tread.
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I never thought about it that way. I just assumed that I would be robbing myself of tread wear by running them at a lower psi. In your experience, do you loose much treadlife by doing that with E rated?

FYI, It wouldn't bother me if the 4Runner rode like a full-sized truck with offroad suspension; however, it would bother me it it rode like an unloaded Uhaul.
 
Four-CLT said:
FYI, It wouldn't bother me if the 4Runner rode like a full-sized truck with offroad suspension; however, it would bother me it it rode like an unloaded Uhaul.
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My wife's 3rd gen has the OME light duty springs and shocks and E rated 265/75 KM2s. It doesn't ride like a Cadillac, but it's well within the realm of freeway comfort.

Buy yourself a set of used E rated somethings with a couple thousand miles left on them. If you can tolerate the ride, then get a set of KM2s or Duratracs when they wear out.
 
KidVermicious said:
My wife's 3rd gen has the OME light duty springs and shocks and E rated 265/75 KM2s. It doesn't ride like a Cadillac, but it's well within the realm of freeway comfort.

Buy yourself a set of used E rated somethings with a couple thousand miles left on them. If you can tolerate the ride, then get a set of KM2s or Duratracs when they wear out.
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Thanks. Your last suggestion sounds like a good plan.
 
no i have not noticed any loss of mileage -either from the tire life, or fuel consumption. obviously dont go too low, but for what its worth, back when i had my E ratted maxxis bighorns i noticed a few tanks of fuel where my mileage wasnt where i i thought it should be, i checked tire presure and i was at 22psi, but you could not tell by looking at the truck, it had no abnormal tire squat, and the ride and handling was fine. put them back up to like 32psi and it was fine, my mileage came right back up. -there were that low, cause i had just been out wheeling it and yeah forgot to air all the way up when i got home.

i typically run my nittos at around 45psi cause i like to get better mileage and i really dont notice a difference in the ride honestly. but on long road trips i will bump them up to 80psi or so and i can typically pull like 17-18mpg fully loaded with 4 people. just cause the tire says max psi of 80 or 85 does not mean you have to run them at that, in fact you can run them at a lower psi than a P rated tire and still be fine, the side wall is stiff enough to support the weight. and running them at a lower psi will also help the "break in" faster and give you much better flex when aired down off road, thus allowing for better traction
 
I've cut down many C rated tires at uhwarrie. As well as how wet it is this year you definitely want a tire that can handle spinning on some rocks. Galloway's 4wd center has a ton of used offroad tires to pick from if your in a budget crunch.
 
yeah if they are carrying their max load... dude think about it, this is a simply physics equation... if we were talking about a full size diesel truck then you would be correct. but the issue is a p rated tire can only carry what 2200lbs? an an e rated tire can carry 3600lbs+ (per tire) so two of my tires ca carry the weight of my 4runner easily, while it would take 3 P tires to do the same... they do not need the same amount of air, and you can run the E rated tires at a lower tire pressure to do the same work.
 
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