Load range B tires... too soft?

[Bdiddy11]

A local guy has some Wild Country RVT mud terrain type tires for sale... asking $200 w/decent tread left, however, they're load range B...

Never seen anyone w/a Cherokee run that range. Would they be too soft?

My Jeep is for winter driving, camping, weekend fun, hauling a utility trailer for mowing lawns.

 

[Bdiddy11]

Anyone...

 

[JPs01XJ]

If you're not on the street too often, softness (lower durometer) shouldn't be too big an issue of tire life. Just be aware that they will be a lower mileage tire and driving on-road will accelerate wear. You just have to do a cost-to-benefit analysis like everything else you buy.

You also want to be cautious about tires that are six years old when driving on the street and at highway speeds. They may be fine, but they may also have some dry-rot, especially if they weren't driven on regularly.

 

[87manche]

If you're not on the street too often, softness (lower durometer) shouldn't be too big an issue of tire life. Just be aware that they will be a lower mileage tire and driving on-road will accelerate wear. You just have to do a cost-to-benefit analysis like everything else you buy.

load range is not the rubbers durometer rating, it's how much weight the tire casing can carry at a given PSI.


Anyway, to the OP, load range is subjective sometimes and it depends on whether it's a LT, P-Metric and the load index.

If you can, get the maximum pressure and load information from the side of the tire. Max inflation and weight rating will determine if you can safely use these tires. Keep in mind that you won't want to run them at max inflation all the time, and that you want some sort of safety margin.

 

[JPs01XJ]

If we're going to help this guy out, we at least need to know our terms...

Durometer - An instrument used to measure hardness. Specific to tires, a durometer typically measures the hardness of the tread compound. Durometer can also refer to the hardness result, as in The tire’s durometer is 60.

Load-carrying capacity - Indicates how much weight a tire is certified to carry at maximum inflation pressure.

Load range - Defines a range of maximum loads that tires can carry at a defined pressure.

http://www.michelinman.com/glossary/#d


This link has some good information for comparing tires with different specs. http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTreadwear.dos

 

[lawsoncl]

The load rating number doesn't mean a whole lot, but it is indicative of the sidewall strength and generally the max inflation pressure. The load index is the important number to look since that determines how much weight the tire is certified to carry. Most tire specs will have this info and it's written right on the tire. All the tires that tirerack recommends have a load index of 102 or 1874lbs max load per tire.

I would think a B rating (ie a 4-ply rating) would be a rather flexible tire and might handle badly or be prone to punctures. Especially if you're running a bigger tire.

 

[ChicksDigWagons]

On the other hand the 4-ply tire is probably a lot lighter and probably rides better with such a light weight vehicle. I have some full size truck D rated 265/75R16 tires on my XJ now and they really hurt the ride quality - not that there was much to begin with...