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Old 04-30-2014, 07:36 PM   #1
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Truck Tires

I have a question for the 5.0 owners. The owners booklet talks of trailer sway if the sidewalls of the tow vehicles tires are weak. Our Frontier comes with 2 ply tires, the side walls, which Reace suggested should be inflated to 44Lbs.. Would it be wise to the go up to an 8 ply tire? Our V.W. van had 8 ply tires because of its' weight. Thanks for your suggestions.

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Old 04-30-2014, 08:51 PM   #2
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4 ply tread =2 steel and 2 rayon. side walls 2 rayon should be ok. Heavily belted tires are expensive and are hard to roll down the hi-way. they use a bunch of gas.

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Old 04-30-2014, 08:51 PM   #3
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I went with Yokohama Geolander Light Truck tires on my Ford Explorer. I did that to get stronger sidewalls for driving into the Skagit Valley ( a one flat per trip road ).
I replaced them prematurely because I was being deafened by road noise. My mechanic reported the same for municipal vehicles that had the same tire.
However, my RAV also had Yokohama, but not LT and they were just fine.
Before you invest, spend a lot of time investigating.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:52 PM   #4
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Just a note: no modern tire actually has 8 plies. That's an outdated system of load rating, in which the capacity of the tire is related to the number of reinforcing plies a tire from half a century ago might have to get the same capacity.

Roughly, for small sizes such as those used for trailer tires and some light trucks...
  • Load Range A = 2-ply rating (typically 24 psi max inflation pressure, no longer used)
  • Load Range B = 4-ply rating (typically 35 psi max inflation pressure, normal for passenger cars)
  • Load Range C = 6-ply rating (typically 50 psi max inflation pressure, very common for light trailers)
  • Load Range D = 8-ply rating (typically 65 psi max inflation pressure)
  • Load Range E = 10-ply rating (typically 80 psi max inflation pressure)
... and so on

In modern tires, the Load Range designation is still used but only in ST (Special Trailer), LT (Light Truck), and commercial truck/trailer types. In other types, and even in some LT tires, the terms Standard Load (SL) and Extra Load (XL) are used. An Extra Load tire on the tug would allow you to use more pressure which makes the tire stiffer, and even with the same pressure it might have stiffer sidewalls.

All tires currently offered by Nissan on the Frontier (at least in the Canadian brochure) are "P"-type (generally for passenger cars). None of these tires would have a "2-ply rating", but they might actually have two sidewall plies. An LT (Light Truck) or commercial tire even in the same size and with the same number of plies would likely be stiffer, without resorting to an extreme load range which would likely ride and handle poorly. Even the stiffest/highest capacity tire to fit the Frontier would not have 8 actual plies, but you could find an "8-ply rating" (or Load Range D) tire.

To really get stiff sidewalls for control, the effective methods are to choose
  • short sidewalls (so low-profile tires, such as the P265/60R18 available from Nissan on the Frontier), and/or
  • high performance tires

Again, actual ply count is not the issue. The 225/80R22.5 Michelin XRV tires on my motorhome are Load Range G, and have only a single-ply sidewall (although the steel cord of that one reinforcing ply is very thick).

For the 5.0 tug, I would look at lower-profile tires, or LT or commercial tires no more than one load range more than needed for the load. I would certainly use more air pressure in them when towing than when unloaded... I do that with my van and regular trailer.
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Old 05-01-2014, 01:21 PM   #5
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Thanks for the input. I think I will increase the air pressure to 42 lbs. as Reace suggested. I noticed that the tires are rated at a maximum load of 2405 lbs.. That being said I will replace them with light truck tires when it seems appropriate to do so.
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Old 05-01-2014, 01:58 PM   #6
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Don't forget that with increasing side wall stiffness you will (a) be adding significant unsprung weight (b) effect the ride quality . The added weight of the tire has a dramatic effect of power and fuel economy. The ride quality will be dramaticly noticed. Simply increasing tire pressures should be fine
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Old 05-01-2014, 11:19 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Not so Big Al View Post
I noticed that the tires are rated at a maximum load of 2405 lbs.
Because they are "P" type tires (assuming that they are, as listed in the brochure), the actual allowed load per tire when used on a truck is only 90% of the value shown on the sidewall, so their proper capacity would then be 2165 pounds, or 4329 pounds for each axle (if loaded evenly side-to-side). The Gross Axle Weight Rating of the truck will be that value or lower. Any replacement tire just needs at least that capacity.
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