Questionwhat is the differnce between load range E an load range 160.
thanks for your help
AnswerRay,
Load Range is a way of expressing the load carrying capacity of a tire. It is a sliding scale and the actual load carrying capacity for a given tire size is defined by the Load Range, but will vary from tire size to tire size - and, obviously, larger tires of the same Load Range will have larger load carrying capacity.
Load Index is a way of expressing load carrying capacity invented in Europe. Rather than trying to remember the actual number - and whether it is expressed as pounds or kilograms, it is expressed as a number. It is NOT a sliding scale and you can look up in a chart to find out what it represents.
But there is another way of expressing load carrying capacity that is used by passenger car tires - Standard Load (SL) and Extra Load (XL). Standard Load tires are typically inflated between 26 to 35 psi, where XL tires can go up to 41 psi. Again, the larger the tire, the larger the load carrying capacity.
In the case of passenger car tires, the tire size pretty much determines the load carrying capacity once you consider if the tire is a SL or an XL. In some respects the Load Index is redundant. However, the SL / XL will determine the proper inflation pressure range - but it gets a little confusing, because is it permissible to use slightly higher inflation pressures for high speed operation, so this fact is reflected by the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire.
In light truck tires (or other heavier duty tires), the Load Range has considerable meaning for inflation limitation. As a general rule, Load Range C tires have a maximum inflation pressure of 50 psi, LR D = 65 psi, and LR E = 80 psi. (but there are some exceptions in the larger sizes). However, the way Load Index works doesn't change, and in some respects is easier to understand: Larger = Larger.
I realize this is a bit complex, but a little more study should help sort this out.
