Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 00:49
Brucek - The Geolandars with a 98 load index rating are not a light truck tyre.
They are an SUV tyre, with a slightly heavier construction than regular passenger tyres.
They are still rated as a passenger tyre.
If a tyre is rated as a "light truck tyre" it often (but not always) has a "ply rating" stamped in the tyre sidewall.
You can never rate a 6 ply tyre as an 8 ply - there's a major difference in construction, in the thickness/number of the cords.
Some light truck tyres rated under the TRA (Tyre & Rim Association) code (which is American) have "LT" placed before or after the tyre specification code (typically - LT265/75R16 - or 265/75R16LT if it's a high flotation tyre) - but a lot of tyres sold in Australia are rated under the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization (ETRTO) - which does not use the "LT" coding.
The Euro-rating light truck tyres will carry a "C" designation in the tyre specification (typically, 215/65R16C)
The TRA-rated tyres have a Load Index that is a letter - Load Range A, B, C, D, or E.
The TRA letter code is an alternative load/speed rating code to the ETRTO and Metric code of numbers and letters (such as 98 H).
Euro-specification tyres are more commonly used in Australia today. The American market sees a larger percentage of TRA-specced tyres.
However, there is an increasing trend for tyres to be used on light trucks and utes that are essentially just heavier-rated passenger tyres.
These tyres will have a higher load index, but will often have a lower speed rating.
Unfortunately, there are at least 6 styles (and up to 8 styles) of tyre marking either currently in use, or used in recent times.
Here's some useful tyre marking information on light truck tyres;
Light truck tyre designations
Here are the tyre load and speed indicator codes;
Load & Speed indicators
Cheers, Ron.
AnswerID:
595302
Follow Up By: Member - brucek - Monday, Jan 25, 2016 at 11:59
Monday, Jan 25, 2016 at 11:59
Thanks Ron,
Going back in the
forum in this site, the 2008 comment on LT's I felt gave some good guidance.
Some of the roads are going to be pretty rough and stony so LT's are going to be the better choice I think.
FollowupID:
864084
Follow Up By: Ron N - Monday, Jan 25, 2016 at 13:19
Monday, Jan 25, 2016 at 13:19
Bruce, the Bridgestone Dueler A/T D697 is available in 215/65R16C and is an All-Terrain tyre specifically designed for smaller 4WD operation in the Outback.
The D697 has a load/speed index of 106S, which should be more than adequate.
You can find the details in the link below.
Tyres4U
Cheers, Ron.
FollowupID:
864095