Originally Posted by
chuck s
LT tires are not an upgrade unless you think an uncomfortable ride is desireable.
The Rear GAWR of my "short" XLT is 4250 pounds and I'm guessing your EL is too. That's with the tires at 35 psi. The GAWR never gets better no matter what tires you put on there. My stock P265/70R17 tires have a maximum carrying capacity of 5070 pounds (2035 x 2) at 44 psi, much more weight than the axle weight. Plenty of tire under there. Even at 4938 pounds for your tires there's still more tire capacity than the axle rating.
I guestimate our GCVW is maybe 12,000 pounds and tire capacity isn't any concern. We have an Equalizer WDH to reduce the load of the 700 pound tongue weight on the rear axle.
Bump the rear tire pressure up to 40 psi to stiffen the sidewalls if you thing they're squirming.
Light truck tires don't seem to have as much capacity in the same size tire I have, even at 51 psi, and I can't find a LT tire in your size. For example the highest capacity 17" LT tire I can find only has 2271 pounds capacity. That's a degradation of almost 500 pounds and I'd have to run 51 psi to get it.
-- Chuck
LT tires are purposely rated lower than P tires to leave a margin of safety in truck applications. Likewise, if you use P rated tires on a truck, you need to REDUCE the max weight rating by 9%.
Tire Rack Article on P rated tires on trucks
That said, if you value ride at all, I would stick with the P rated tires. The LT's will be choppier riding, even at the same air pressure, due to the thicker sidewall.
If Michelin makes a tire for your application, I have found them to be excellent tires with an excellent ride quality. I have the LTX M/S Michelins on my van--they came OEM and I replaced them with the same.
Another decent new tire is the BFG Long Trail T/A Tour. These cost far less than the Michelins, get good ratings, and come in a 265/70x18, which is only a tiny bit larger than your stock tire, so that should work well.
George