The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk P215/70R16 vs LT215/85R16 radial tires

I want to put radial tires on my suburban. I will likely use new wheels but might use old 4.5x16 wheels if I can find a set.
The two closest sizes to 600x16 that I could find are P215/70R16 and LT215/85R16.

P215/70R16 has the same diameter as the 600x16 but is 2.5" wider.

LT215/85R16 is about 2.5" in diameter larger than 600x16 and 2" wider. This is a truck tire and is much heavier than P215/70R16 tires. They are 10 ply rather than the original 4 ply.

Any thoughts on these two tire sizes with regards to performance (ride, steering, handling, etc) and fit? Photos of either of the two types installed on a truck would also be welcome.

I use LT215/85R16. They look like "normal" tires and the larger diameter allows for higher speeds at lower RPM.

Ride, steering, handling, etc is better than bias ply, after playing with the inflation pressure (to maximize ease of steering versus too much road-wandering).

I also use LT215/85R16 on my Suburban. I would recommend them. I run them at 35 psi.

Not trying to steal the thread, but I have read some tire dealers recommend a tube with the radial. Any thoughts on that?

The LT215/85R16 do look good in your pictures. I was worried they would look too big.


Another option I have is to go with 15" tires, because I already need good set of wheels. In 1941, 700x15 tires with artillery wheels were an RPO for 1/2 ton trucks, so it wouldn't be too out of place.
Yokohama makes a 700R15 tire called the RY215. Has anybody tried these? http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/ry215

I have been using tubes in my Suburban's radials for over 10 years.

I will be using the same radials without tubes on the pickup we are restoring (the original wheels are in excellent shape). If they do not hold air, I'll use tubes.

I use Yokohama on my truck and I am very happy with them.

Well, the dealers might recommend it, but the manufacturers do not recommend running tubes in modern tubeless radials, and will void the warrantee on them if tubes are installed.

I use LT215/85R16 with tubes. Before that I had skinny bias plies on the same rims. I love the radials. The handling is the biggest improvement for me, ride is not a lot different.

If your dealer recommends it, go with it. My dealer recommended it.

If your tire fails, take it back to the dealer. The dealer will deal with the manufacturer (who will most likely never know how the dealer installed the tire).

The dealer would pretty much have to take care of themselves and eat the cost. If they turn it in for credit (the failed casing has to be returned to the manufacturer for inspection to get a credit), most likely they will not get anything for a tire that was improperly mounted. The people at the manufacturer will be able to tell what caused a failure from improper installation, and a failure caused by a tube put in is very easy to spot.
Not trying to start any arguments, but 22 years in the tire business dealing with all of the major manufacturers gives me a little different perspective of how things work on the warrantees.

they make "radial" tubes, so there must be "tube type radials" .... but with rims in good condition tubes shouldn't be needed .... I'm with Nix, I've been running 700R15LT Yokohama, and no problems without tubes

Bill

Yes, there are tube type radials, but they're not very common these days. Most of the applications you see them for are trailers, and there are some vintage reproduction tube type radials for older European cars.

50 years ago a lot of customers requested we put tubes in tubeless tires. Most wheels before 1957 were not designed for tubeless tires and it was quite common for tubeless tires to lose their air on hard cornering. I think radials are not near as likely to lose their air on hard cornering than the bias we had in those days, but fact still remains that these old wheels were not engineered for tubeless tires. Of course on the other hand, back in those days, a lot of the flats we repaired were due to a folded tube. Most of my old jalopies have multipiece wheels so I have no choice.

I recently had a tubeless radial to lose inflation on a 56 Ford car which is identical to what I drove 50 years ago. 50 years ago, I ran 14" tires on my 56 Ford which were designed for tubeless. I am still debating about putting tubes into the 15" radials.

Speaking of tires used for trailers Bill, just what are the
specifics the make "trailer" tires or rims different than
those used on a car or truck?
I would think that any tire or rim that could handle a heavily
loaded trailer at highway speeds and during cornering would
certainly be able to hold up to use on a car of truck.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The only thing I would add to your comment Denny is trailer tires roll "free" where as vehicle tires always have power stress on them.

Last I checked Drew, my '50 and '54 were two wheel drive. Not to
say that might have something to do with the tire design, but
I'd be surprised if it had any thing to do with a rim.

dg

From what I've seen, the tire carcass is much heavier on the trailer tires, more like a light truck tire in construction. I've even seen a few all steel construction trailer tires in much smaller sizes that a typical truck tire would be found in. There's differences in the tread, too. The trailer tire treads are really not very good for use as a drive tire, and even worse for a steer tire. Another thing I've notices, particularly with the tube type, is that they tend to be odd wheel size compared to a passenger or truck tire, 14.5 and 15.5 seem to be common. Around here, 14.5 is very common on mobile homes and lowboy trailers.

Tks Bill, was waitin' for ya to check in, I'm sure you've
seen your share of rubber over the years.

DG

Thanks for the info. That is sufficiently convincing for me to settle on getting new wheels designed for tubeless radial tires.

I have read trailer wheels do not take cornering loads as well as truck or cars wheels. They do go around corners, but it's not the same side load as a front wheel will see. They also are designed for twisting loads like a axle buts on them trying to get the truck moving, this is the free wheeling part. As long as its welded good with a heavy center section, this shouldn't be any problem.

If you are not road racing your truck, a trailer wheel should be just fine. Most of the ones I deal with at work are much heavier then truck wheels, but then these are heavy trailers.

Joe.

FWIW, 90 thousand miles on two sets of LT 215 85R 16's, stock rims, no tubes, daily driver only vehicle. Please re-read the last sentence. I used to check air frequently but gave up after a year or so as they never fluctuated, never lost air. I run 55# in the Michelins, drive far (1K trips), hard (very tight entry/exit ramps onto the freeway where I live). I rotate the tires faithfully about twice a year, perfect wear patterns.

Here's a little more info to blow your minds... Six years and almost 40 K miles on these Michelins with Dyna-Beads = no lead weights. Stock rims, original pin striping.

Well that pretty much sums up there is no doubt that stock wheels can work with tubeless tires.

Cosmo, that's pretty impressive. I've considered trying those Dyna-Beads myself.
On the topic of lead weights, those are quickly becoming obsolete, and are even illegal in some states (Illinois for certain). The big push right now is for steel weights, or high density plastic.

Bill and all y'all,

I was given a set of four stock wheels with original pin stripes in very good condition. I couldn't bear the thought of using ugly lead weights. The tire wear is excellent and I do travel 70-75 with no ill effects, nice and smooth.

What is the width of your wheels?

Standard width, 4.5".