Tire load range and ply..??

Flatblack83 · April 26, 2020

Not sure how to start this...On my 19 1500 I have an icon 3 inch. I put on wildpeak at3w 295 60 20s. They are a 10ply load range e. They ride firm unless I run 35 psi in em. I'd like to go to something with a less load range but won't effect using it as a truck. I see most tires in that size are 10 ply e, so i thought about going to a 275 65 20 in a terra grappler g2 but they are a 4 ply load range b. Sounds kinda hairy but I see guys running them.

Any suggestions on a tire they know of runs smooth in a 34 tall 20..??

Edited April 26, 2020 by Flatblack83

topgear1224 · April 26, 2020

Not sure how to start this...On my 19 1500 I have an icon 3 inch. I put on wildpeak at3w 295 60 20s. They are a 10ply load range e. They ride firm unless I run 35 psi in em. I'd like to go to something with a less load range but won't effect using it as a truck. I see most tires in that size are 10 ply e, so i thought about going to a 275 65 20 in a terra grappler g2 but they are a 4 ply load range b. Sounds kinda hairy but I see guys running them.

if you're just running your tires at the max PSI listed on the side while you're already doing it completely wrong.

load range won't really tell you what PSI to run for instance there's load range E tires that are sometimes called "E2" ,even though that is not an official load rating, they have the maximum carrying capacity at 65 PSI which is actually higher than a normal E rated tire at 80 psi.

Okay so what you first need to do is figure out how much your truck weighs per corner. Then from there you will be able to look up the tire pressure chart for the specific tire that you're using and its load range and then select a safe cold PSI based off of that chart.

As far as the "load range B" as long as it doesn't go under the weight capacity what your stock tires are rated for you shouldn't have a problem running them but again you need to look at the tire chart for the correct PSI

if your vehicle originally came with P tires and not LT tires then you also need to look at this.

" It may be tempting to run the LT-Metric tires at the 35 psi placard pressure, but at 35 psi, they would be 27% underinflated according to the tire design rules."

From this test.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=249

TLDR; if you still can't figure it out you can always call tire rack will be able to direct you to the correct PSI to run with your newly selected tires.

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topgear1224 · April 26, 2020

Not sure how to start this...On my 19 1500 I have an icon 3 inch. I put on wildpeak at3w 295 60 20s. They are a 10ply load range e. They ride firm unless I run 35 psi in em. I'd like to go to something with a less load range but won't effect using it as a truck. I see most tires in that size are 10 ply e, so i thought about going to a 275 65 20 in a terra grappler g2 but they are a 4 ply load range b. Sounds kinda hairy but I see guys running them.

Any suggestions on a tire they know of runs smooth in a 34 tall 20..??

Which Icon kit did you get, do you like it and what kind of driving have you subjected it to.

I know I want a suspension system and not a lift kit so this is one of the things that I am very interested in knowing.

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Flatblack83 · April 26, 2020

No my truck didn't come with an lt tire, i really don't think any of the 1500s do.. but I could be wrong.

I had a readylift 2 inch and with stock tires it drove pretty smooth, I put the lt tires on and it firmed up enough that I backed the pressure off. Maybe not right but I bet 9 out of 10 times thats what many do here. I'm fine with them and having them that way. I have new replica wheels coming and was going to decide so I reuse the wildpeaks or leave them on my stock wheels for winter. If I buy tires I'll buy something different.

I have an icon stage one set to 3 inch, I didn't like the rear shocks so I put bilsteins on with 1.5 blocks to raise the rear up more. The icons make the truck handle good and on rough roads you can really drive the ****** out of it..lol. well worth the money.

eppieguy · April 26, 2020

Just as a FYI, I’m running my 10 Ply E Nittos at 32 psi and have almost 10k on them and they are wearing perfect. I’ve run them before on a Tahoe running the same PSI and got over 50k miles on them and still sold them on CL since they still had decent tread. Also they ride just as nice as my stock tires did.

topgear1224 · April 26, 2020

No my truck didn't come with an lt tire, i really don't think any of the 1500s do.. but I could be wrong.

I had a readylift 2 inch and with stock tires it drove pretty smooth, I put the lt tires on and it firmed up enough that I backed the pressure off. Maybe not right but I bet 9 out of 10 times thats what many do here. I'm fine with them and having them that way. I have new replica wheels coming and was going to decide so I reuse the wildpeaks or leave them on my stock wheels for winter. If I buy tires I'll buy something different.

I have an icon stage one set to 3 inch, I didn't like the rear shocks so I put bilsteins on with 1.5 blocks to raise the rear up more. The icons make the truck handle good and on rough roads you can really drive the ****** out of it..lol. well worth the money.

yeah I keep hearing that and I have a theory about that.

so most people go with much larger tires which also tend to have higher load ranges vs factory. (unless you have one of the unicorn trucks like the f150 heavy payload package).

the tire shops are way too lazy to do it the right way so they just set them to max PSI. which on some of these tires are rated for like 3800 lbs PER tire. This means a tire installer can never get sued for a failure. The issue is it makes him ride like crap since the tire doesn't flex when it's that lightly loaded. and they bounce around like basketballs.

That's actually really interesting because I know that you can re-valve/rebuild the "icon" shocks but I've also heard that they're only good for up to one inch of rear lift. Because of my payload needs I need to keep the factory rake.

I'm currently looking at their stage 3 or stage 4 setup as I'm a sucker for a remote reservoir shock. I really like the idea of the stage 4, and being able to control the dampening. that way when I drive around unloaded I got a nice comfortable ride but when I actually max out my payload and towing a trailer across the country I don't have to worry about the lack of control you would normally get from such a soft shock. Airbags is an option that I've come across as well, however they tend to hurt the articulation of the rear axle.

I am also looking closely at filthy Motorsports options as well.

since I bought a GMC I'm told that I have to have at least a six inch lift if I want to move up to a 35. Having owned a 2500 HD that's 6 inch lifted for a while now I don't think I want to do that with my new truck.

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Flatblack83 · April 26, 2020

So I knew I wasnt the only one running lower tire pressures. Same as we do with our jk on 35s duratracs, 32 psi and it drives great..!! Plus I run 35 psi in my 37 13.50 20 stt pros on my hd.

I couldn't find a tire that wasn't a 10 ply or e rated in the size I wanted so I settled and lowered the air pressure. They are fine and wear ok so far with the 4k miles I have on em.

Onto the icons, i bought the stage one for 1250.00 on black Friday. With the non reservoir and non adjustable coilovers their setting is like 4.5 on the dial on the adjustable. Adjustable is nice but to me not needed. I towed my car trailer a few times with 5k lbs and it does fine with out airbags. You need tho to have the weight on the trailer at the right spot. I used rough country control arms, I wanted ball joints for the winters here not those fancy wear out joints.

The rear icon shocks made noise with my 1.5 blocks, so I bought shocks for 1-2 inch in bilsteins. Worked out perfect for what I needed.

On a side note... I have an 03 2500hd too..lol. 7 inches of lift, 4 linked , king coilovers, straight axled Dana 60, 513 gears. Air bags fox shocks, 37 Cooper stt. 408 stroker supercharged... put down 580 to the tires on 9psi.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Flatblack83

topgear1224 · April 26, 2020

So I knew I wasnt the only one running lower tire pressures. Same as we do with our jk on 35s duratracs, 32 psi and it drives great..!! Plus I run 35 psi in my 37 13.50 20 stt pros on my hd.

I couldn't find a tire that wasn't a 10 ply or e rated in the size I wanted so I settled and lowered the air pressure. They are fine and wear ok so far with the 4k miles I have on em.

Onto the icons, i bought the stage one for 1250.00 on black Friday. With the non reservoir and non adjustable coilovers their setting is like 4.5 on the dial on the adjustable. Adjustable is nice but to me not needed. I towed my car trailer a few times with 5k lbs and it does fine with out airbags. You need tho to have the weight on the trailer at the right spot. I used rough country control arms, I wanted ball joints for the winters here not those fancy wear out joints.

The rear icon shocks made noise with my 1.5 blocks, so I bought shocks for 1-2 inch in bilsteins. Worked out perfect for what I needed.

On a side note... I have an 03 2500hd too..lol. 7 inches of lift, 4 linked , king coilovers, straight axled Dana 60, 513 gears. Air bags fox shocks, 37 Cooper stt. 408 stroker supercharged... put down 580 to the tires on 9psi.

I have a 110gal tank in the bed. So about 800lbs in the bed. (When full, I only use the tank while towing) I have a payload rating of 1580.

My trailer is a steel 17 +4ft dovetail weights 3k empty. Sadly all the scales up here are total weight scales none of them have a way to check your rear axle weight. Total weight truck and empty trailer was 8760. So that give me 6240 total capacity till I hit the 15k GCWR limit. Put my 4400lb car on it, and she had less than an inch to bump stop. Definitely tail down. So I pushed weight as far back as I safely could (as this is the weight that I use for pre trip testing I'm pretty familiar about how far back I go before the trailer will sway). Still tail down though not quite as bad maybe 2in till bump stop.

ran my loop all the way up to 70mph but you could tell that the trailer was right on that ragged edge of instability. Could definitely make the trailer wag with medium level inputs. Didn't try any accident maneuver inputs. This was with no tank in the bed.

I have the X31 package and I've had a very big problem with the rear end bottoming out on normal highway (50mph here) driving without the trailer. It'll slam its rear bump stops go full extension and then slam it again. Never ever have I had a stock truck that road like this especially when empty.

Dealer says "normal" only one local dealer, other dealer is a 6 hour drive each way and they will not allow a loaner car to be brought all the way up to my city. Non Z71/X31 loaners don't do this. in fact I find them to be almost perfectly damped.

I need to find a solution in the next 30 days before I take this trailer all the way down from Alaska on the ALCAN to Arizona.

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Flatblack83 · April 26, 2020

On that subject my truck used to bounce hard stock. Stock height the icons made noide on the one side. Since I put the 1.5 block in with the longer biIsteins its been good.. I wouldn't hesitate and install airbags. I put them on my hd for towing and never looked back. With a trek that far i would prob have a weight distribution hitch and would want a lighter trailer. My pj trailer is only 1800lbs, tows really nice.

Back to the tires, come on guys. Inputs needed..lol.

AJMBLAZER · April 26, 2020

1 hour ago, Flatblack83 said:

On a side note... I have an 03 2500hd too..lol. 7 inches of lift, 4 linked , king coilovers, straight axled Dana 60, 513 gears. Air bags fox shocks, 37 Cooper stt. 408 stroker supercharged... put down 580 to the tires on 9psi.

Hey man, knew that description sounded familiar. Good to see another CK5 alum.

I’d run the E tires at 35-40 psi all day.

Flatblack83 · April 27, 2020

5 minutes ago, AJMBLAZER said:

Hey man, knew that description sounded familiar. Good to see another CK5 alum.

I’d run the E tires at 35-40 psi all day.

Lol, I knew I recognized the name when you liked the post above. Ck5, ahh the hd..lol.. i also gotta get after my 83 poor thing just sits in the corner. I'm thinking ill just keep running the wilpeaks at 35 and be done with it I guess.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Flatblack83