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Old 10-10-2014, 02:19 PM   #1
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TV tire question

Will be purchasing 2015 FC 25-Twin. Will be towing with 2015 Tahoe w/max tow package and WD Hitch. Noticed that tires on TV are P-passenger. Will I need to replace with LT size?


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Old 10-10-2014, 02:28 PM   #2
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We have an SUV with p tires, but when it comes time to replace I will likely change to LT. LT tires have stiffer side walls which can improve handling when towing (the price you pay is a more firm ride). I didn't think I necessarily needed to upgrade since I had a lot of time/tread left on my p tires.


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Old 10-11-2014, 05:11 AM   #3
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Tires are designed to carry a certain load at a certain speed. Your vehicle's Passenger tires will have a max load rating at the specified pressure. Weigh your vehicle (each axle) with your travel stuff loaded, your passengers, and your trailer connected. Then look at the load rating for your tires. If you are below the manufacturer's specs, then you are okay.

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Old 10-11-2014, 07:24 AM   #4
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You may need to replace the tires along with the truck. Unfortunately your configuration is likely to be significantly overloaded when camping. Based on the information that you provided it is impossible to determine whether your wheels and tires (especially the rear) are capable of carrying your super payload.

Max. tow limits are usually meaningless for most towers. What matters is payload and tongue weight. The published payload for this vehicle is 1760 lbs. You'll have more than 1.000 lbs. of tongue weight (note that this will be MORE than the limit of your vehicle). By the time you add all of the options you'll want on the Tahoe, your fancy Hensley hitch (190 lbs.), several passengers, your gear, several generators, your cooler, your dog, etc. you'll be grossly overloaded in this vehicle. You'll likely be exceeding BOTH your maximum payload and your maximum tongue weight (plus the rear tire's and possibly the rear wheel's rating).

You should be looking at a 3/4 ton truck to handle your setup properly and safely. 2013 Suburbans are available in a 3/4 ton (2500 series) configuration. If you have to have something new you're pretty much stuck with a 3/4 ton pickup (or higher).

Unless you travel SUPER LIGHT and pack every part of your load in just the right location then you really owe it to yourself to rethink your TV. Others here will say that they've done it for 50 years. I say they sure have been lucky. Someone new to towing doesn't want to be operating in the red before they've even left the driveway.

Run the numbers. The numbers never lie:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...77161500,d.aWw
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Old 10-11-2014, 07:48 AM   #5
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Yes, I would think you would want LT tires so that you can run them at a higher inflation pressure. I would hitch up and head to the CAT scales. Then buy probably load range D or E tires that would carry the actual rear axle load with a bit to spare.
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Old 10-11-2014, 11:07 AM   #6
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Ok the last thing I want to do is start yet another tire thread, but I would think the goal would be to run the lowest psi that would carry the weight with a little cushion. Higher psi isn't necessarily a good thing? The door sticker on my Sequoia says 33lbs for the OEM Michelins. The Max psi for my OEM tires is 44psi which gives me way more load capacity than I need. I do run them a little higher than 33 for a bit more cushion on the load rating, but I can tell a difference in the ride quality at the higher psi.


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Old 10-11-2014, 11:59 AM   #7
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When towing I think higher pressure is a very good thing. I would definitely run the OEM tires at the full max pressure when towing. With the 25' trailer you are probably pretty much maxed out in load anyway. If you weight the rig hitched I doubt if you have "way more load capacity" than you need. And I would run the higher pressure even if that is true.

Stiffness of the tire against side sway pretty much comes from the air pressure rather than the construction of the tire. You want the tires to track straight as much as possible and resist side sway pressure from the trailer hitch. You want the tire to have left over capacity for overloading. A retired tire engineer with a long history of tire design told me that pretty much every property of a tire is improved with added air pressure. Puncture resistance and ride softness are the exceptions. You really do not want ride softness when towing a max load.
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