Posted again from Wheel and Tire, more advise from the haulers

I just bought an 04 Lariat. It came with the 18" rims BFG's. The tires are P rated (not "C" load rated). I think it would be safer to have the heavy duty tires that have max. 44psi rating. I haul a 7500 lb trailer. The lariat tires seem too light of duty, only 35 psi rated. The side walls are sporty, seems like the side wall may give a little. The tow charts also state deduct 500 lbs of towing capacity for the 18" rims. The tires are not 6 ply as well. I'm thinking it might be safer to trade someone some 17" "C" load range tires. What do yall think ? Will the BFG's do the job safely ?I know the rating and owners man. say they will but I'm sceptical

pate

 

Hard to say..... What's the "max load rating" of the tire at 35 psi?? If it's around #2470, then that's the same as a LT265/75/16 "C" rated tire at 50 psi......

I've heard "rumors" that with a "P" rated tire, you should de-rate that max load rating by 10% when the tire is used in a "LT" situation........ Have not really found any hard evidence on this fact however, so take that with a grain of salt......

I do know that the "P" rated tires I had on my truck were very "loose" feeling, even when the truck was empty and the tires were at max psi. I never did tow with them, as I only had them for a month, then traded them in on the LT tires...... Much better handling and now that I do tow, I don't have any "loose" feeling with them at all.

If it was me, I'd try it out with the "P" tires first and see how they felt to me. The lower profile might give you some additional control that mine did not....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Thanks for the reply, I think the tires are rated for 2113 lbs. at 35 psi max pressure. Actually I did pull the camper for little short 30 mile ride. It seemed to perform pretty well. I still have some concerns about safty. I pulled with the continitals, which were OK, but it was hard to tell since the Expy was kinda squirrely anyway. The 3.55 gears on the Lariat work hard going up hills but do fine on flat roads. I'm still debating going to the 3.73. Some people say there's not much difference, but my Expy W/ the 3.73 pulled like a Mule. I would really like to get the Michelin LTX, C Load tire. They last a long time too.

pate

 

All 2004+ Lariats have 3.73 rear gear.

Your BFG tires are rated at 2601 pounds. Check out www.tirerack.com for other tires availible and their load ratings. I think you are fine w/ stock tires.

 

APT,
Who started that nasty rumor anyway, The Chevy dealer called, and the Ford dealer said the same thing. But, the ford dealer wasnt even aware that you had to substract 500 lbs for the 18" rims. Most of the people up there are just paper pusher.
The tires I have are BFG Radial Long Trail T/A P 265/60R18. Max load is 2271 lbs. Max pressure is 35 psi. It's kinda a low profile tire. Real cool looking though. My old 03 Expy had the 17" rim, with the Continintals, max press. 44 psi., with big side walls, you know the tire. The rear end was verified by looking at the tag on the chunk. It also has a axle code on the door post H9. The Ford dealer didnt know how to interpet the code, can you believe that !. I got on this Forum and found out real quick what rear end I had. Thanks Forum. However, I'm still working it out with the Chevy dealer what he's going to do about lying to me (even thoguh it wasnt his fault). See what kind of mess I'm in ? But, suprisingly the 3.55 gear pulls pretty good on flat land, but not good on hills. The 03 Expy, 5.4, 3.73 pulled like a mule. So in short I sold a mule and bought a Pony (lariat). The long wheel base handles the camper better though. Whew, so that the story.

pate

 

Bummer. I read the axle chart incorrectly.

Not much selction for higher laod capacity tires unless you went with a larger tire size, liek 275/65R18. I don't recommend that as it will hurt your gearing even more. Maybe downsize the rims to 17" if you find the tires too soft for the load.

 

APT, I would like to downsize to the 17" rim. I wish I could trade with someone for a nice looking XLT rim, with a Michelin tire. But, even with that rim and tire set up, the total diameter is 1" larger than what I have.