Gravel roads vs XL or E rated tires

[CornTrucks]

It's amazing some of the terrible advice I have read on this thread.

If you don't get flats in Goodyear SR-As, then you aren't going off road, or your gravel is extremely dull.

If you're running 10 ply tires under 40 psi on these trucks, you are affecting the long term integrity of the structure of the tire. My Rebel recommends 55 front and 45 rear with the factory 10 ply, for reference. Going too low affects mileage, handling, wear, and how long your tire will last.

I don’t get flats in my stock Goodyear SR-A’s and I drive off-road every single day. I fully believe you when you say they don’t work well for you, but that doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s experience or make it bad advice.

 

[DavidNJ]

Aren't we in the off-road forum? I had heard of airing down. Over the last few months, I've received quite an education.

Net: the load rating is not just a load but includes other parameters such as speed. The Toyo chart, available as a complete booklet, will give the load capacity vs. pressure for each size. LT tires have a safety margin built-in. Non-LT need to have the load reduced by 10% to be equivalent.

Initially, I was told people air down to 20-25psi and maybe 15psi on beaches. More recently I seeing 10psi or lower not being uncommon. That isn't for sustained highway driving. But driving over sand, trails, rocks, etc. The deformed tire has much more grip. Not in cornering, but in going through sand and over rough terrain. 17" rims (which won't fit a Ram 1500) are popular because they have taller sidewalls that allow more deformation. Taller tires not only add ground clearance, especially under the live axle differential but allow yet more deformation. AEV sells a 3" lift and fender flares for a RAM 2500 that allow 40" tires.

Off-road tires not only have stronger sidewalls, but they also have tread blocks on the sidewalls and deeper tread.

On the other side, dually owners often run under 50lb in the rear tires when not towing. Under load, that is raised to 65-80psi. 80psi unloaded just bounces around.

Matt's Towing is a popular YouTube site with 60k subscribers and around 150k view/video. He modified his truck to have a 4-bar rear suspension (just like a Ram 1500) and uses 35/12.5-17 tires (currently Milestar Patagonia M/Ts) at under 10psi.

 

[mac1983620]

Aren't we in the off-road forum? I had heard of airing down. Over the last few months, I've received quite an education.

Net: the load rating is not just a load but includes other parameters such as speed. The Toyo chart, available as a complete booklet, will give the load capacity vs. pressure for each size. LT tires have a safety margin built-in. Non-LT need to have the load reduced by 10% to be equivalent.

Initially, I was told people air down to 20-25psi and maybe 15psi on beaches. More recently I seeing 10psi or lower not being uncommon. That isn't for sustained highway driving. But driving over sand, trails, rocks, etc. The deformed tire has much more grip. Not in cornering, but in going through sand and over rough terrain. 17" rims (which won't fit a Ram 1500) are popular because they have taller sidewalls that allow more deformation. Taller tires not only add ground clearance, especially under the live axle differential but allow yet more deformation. AEV sells a 3" lift and fender flares for a RAM 2500 that allow 40" tires.

Off-road tires not only have stronger sidewalls, but they also have tread blocks on the sidewalls and deeper tread.

On the other side, dually owners often run under 50lb in the rear tires when not towing. Under load, that is raised to 65-80psi. 80psi unloaded just bounces around.

Matt's Towing is a popular YouTube site with 60k subscribers and around 150k view/video. He modified his truck to have a 4-bar rear suspension (just like a Ram 1500) and uses 35/12.5-17 tires (currently Milestar Patagonia M/Ts) at under 10psi.

So what's your point? You can run lower psi temporarily, but do you think that's good on your tires to do so? People put their tires all over the place, but that doesn't mean it's good on them. Proper psi is determined by weight of the vehicle, and load in the bed or on the ball. Not by how comfortable the ride is. If you want a more comfortable ride, get 4 ply. This YouTube guy probably gets his tires from sponsors and doesn't care how quick he goes through them.

 

[DavidNJ]

So what's your point? You can run lower psi temporarily, but do you think that's good on your tires to do so? People put their tires all over the place, but that doesn't mean it's good on them. Proper psi is determined by weight of the vehicle, and load in the bed or on the ball. Not by how comfortable the ride is. If you want a more comfortable ride, get 4 ply. This YouTube guy probably gets his tires from sponsors and doesn't care how quick he goes through them.

Proper inflation depends on the circumstances. Towing 10k trailer down the interstate, tires may be close to max. Driving over sand, through a stream, over rocks, pressure can be a lot less and peak performance will be at the lower pressure.

It isn't about temporary or full-time, it is about the right setup for the task. Same on tires. Many (most?) of the LT tires get 40k-60+k miles. The Milestar Patagonia M/T closer to 25k or less. But watch any video comparison, the Patagonia M/T has a soft sticking compound that visibly has slip over rocks and other low traction surfaces.

 

[ColoradoCub]

So what's your point? You can run lower psi temporarily, but do you think that's good on your tires to do so? People put their tires all over the place, but that doesn't mean it's good on them. Proper psi is determined by weight of the vehicle, and load in the bed or on the ball. Not by how comfortable the ride is. If you want a more comfortable ride, get 4 ply.

Running the right pressure for the weight of your vehicle and the load rating of your tires greatly determines the quality of the ride. Especially when running LT tires in a half ton. You can have better tread, higher load carrying capability and more protection as well as a smooth ride if you air them up to where they NEED to be but don’t go higher than is necessary.

 

[Billy James]

It's amazing some of the terrible advice I have read on this thread.

If you don't get flats in Goodyear SR-As, then you aren't going off road, or your gravel is extremely dull.

If you're running 10 ply tires under 40 psi on these trucks, you are affecting the long term integrity of the structure of the tire. My Rebel recommends 55 front and 45 rear with the factory 10 ply, for reference. Going too low affects mileage, handling, wear, and how long your tire will last.

+1 on the SR-A.

 

[Billy James]

I don’t get flats in my stock Goodyear SR-A’s and I drive off-road every single day. I fully believe you when you say they don’t work well for you, but that doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s experience or make it bad advice.

You are pretty lucky then. I hardly had any flat tires throughout my lifetime....until I had SR-As. I had to have 3 SR-As (different tires) repaired on my Jeep the first year and a half that I owned it. The fourth failure (a previously repaired tire) wasn't fixable so I changed them all out.

 

[2020GraniteBH]

Anybody have any good/bad luck with the stock Bridgestone Dueler Alenza's in gravel/dirt/rocky areas? (275/55R20). Just wondering since I am out west for work and there are tons of dirt roads but I am hesitant to go off the pavement with them.

 

[DavidNJ]

All the tires being discussed are regular highway all-season tires. Any tire can drive down a gravel road...whether it gets a puncture would be a function load, speed, tire pressure, and sharpness/size of the gravel. If you run the sidewall of any of these against the side of a rock it will be more likely to puncture. Ditto on the tread, but harder. They don't have the gravel/mud ejection of all-terrain, hybrid mud/all-terrain, or mud tires. A P-metric won't have the sidewall strength or tread depth of an LT,

The "would you recommend" at TireRack is 3.8 for the SR-A. I don't think I've ever looked at a tire rated that low for any purpose. A friend of mine who used to work for an auto mag called tires like that rim protectors. They would be taken out of tire comparison tests by the advertising sales department.

Many of the all-terrain and hybrid tires come in metric and LT models. The manufacturer could tell you the actual difference since it is most likely brand specific. On the Nitto Ridge Grappler, a very popular hybrid, has several models in Ram 1500 sizes (275/55-20, 275/60-20, 275/65-18, and 305/55-20) are available in both metric and LT models. The LT tires are 6# to 13# heavier.

 

[Beendare]

Just another guy on the internet here....with 40 years of hunting/4 wheeling in some nasty spots.

I see guys saying they drive gravel roads with P rated tires and no problems. Gravel by itself isn't a big deal....its the rocky roads that get you.

I've been running those Toyo Open Country MT's for the last 20 years. Yeah they are a heavy tire....and yeah they affect the ride and mileage compared to these crap Bridgestones on my stock truck now....but dang those are solid.

I've blown out sidewalls against rocks on slanted backcountry roads with Multiple tire brands...but never blown a Toyo MT. I've picked up many screws and nails on construction sites and never had a flat with the Toyo's. Heavy tread and sidewall matters!

I don't have any recent experience with these XL rated tires....and was curious whether they have improved in the last couple decades. Seems to me they use less plys 'Because they are stronger'...which might be OK for load ratings and gravel type applications....but is it still OK for launching your boat on a rocky shoreline [without a ramp]....I dunno?

 

[DavidNJ]

Just another guy on the internet here....with 40 years of hunting/4 wheeling in some nasty spots.

I see guys saying they drive gravel roads with P rated tires and no problems. Gravel by itself isn't a big deal....its the rocky roads that get you.

I've been running those Toyo Open Country MT's for the last 20 years. Yeah they are a heavy tire....and yeah they affect the ride and mileage compared to these crap Bridgestones on my stock truck now....but dang those are solid.

I've blown out sidewalls against rocks on slanted backcountry roads with Multiple tire brands...but never blown a Toyo MT. I've picked up many screws and nails on construction sites and never had a flat with the Toyo's. Heavy tread and sidewall matters!

I don't have any recent experience with these XL rated tires....and was curious whether they have improved in the last couple decades. Seems to me they use less plys 'Because they are stronger'...which might be OK for load ratings and gravel type applications....but is it still OK for launching your boat on a rocky shoreline [without a ramp]....I dunno?

Nitto is a Toyo subsidiary. I wonder if they would have the same performance.

 

[Beendare]

Nitto is a Toyo subsidiary. I wonder if they would have the same performance.

I've heard the Nittos are pretty good in sloppy side to side tire 4 wheeling situations.....so much so I think I'm going to the Ridge Grapplers.

Running gravel roads isn't terribly hard on a tire....its the side to side slipping into rocks and going over sharp edged bigger rocks that is hard on tires.

Now I have seen "Gravel Roads" that are tough on tires.....like in the Sheldon Wildlife refuge in N Nev. 10% of the "Gravel" is Obsidian chips.....and you know how sharp that stuff gets [sharpest natural object there is actually, it can be formed to 1 molecule thick]....so I suppose I should qualify my gravel road comment- grin

 

[eyeguy]

1+ on warangler sra being a poor choice for gravel to some degree and offroad or bumping over larger rocks for sure. I bought a 2017 laramie and in the first 22k miles have had to replace 3 of the four tires. Never had that much trouble with tires ever in my last 35 years of driving.