Why Do Higher Tire Load Ranges Have Ability to Carry More Weight than Lower Ones  

Question:

Helpful Expert Reply:

That's a really good question. First thing to note though is that it is not the tire that carries the load, but the air inside it. The tire is just the container for the air. So, if you need to carry more load, you need more air. You might accomplish that with a larger air chamber or by forcing more air molecules into the same size air chamber you’d normally use for a tire with a lower load capacity. In other words, you might use a bigger tire or a tire running at a higher inflation pressure. Either way, the tire needs to be strong enough to handle the higher capacity.

At one point it used to be that the number of plies dictated how much weight the tire could carry but that's not the case anymore. What is different today is the strength of the steel cables in those plies or the number of cables per inch. We’re now at the point where we no longer add more and more plies, but instead, adjust the strength of the entire casing to achieve the desired load capacity.

expert reply by: Jameson C

1