QuestionWould a 225/60/16 with a load rating of 102 be the same as a 235/60/16 with a load rating of 100? or do the load ratings have no bearing on the tire size?
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I have a VW Eurovan MV. The door sticker says I need tires with a load rating of 102. Is that considered a car or light truck tire? I have had so called name brand "Touring" tires (with load ratings of 100) wear out at 25K miles and hesitate installing "Touring" tires this time.
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Michael,
The Europeans don't use car / light truck as a designation, they use the Load Index, and tend to lump tires used mostly on trucks and vans as "commercial" and the size ends in the letter "C".
But the key is the Load Index 102. You need to find a tire in the size indicated on the vehicle placard that has a Load index of at least 102. Anything smaller does not have enough load carrying capacity.
BTW, "Touring" has nothing whatsoever to do with Load Index. That is just a way to describe a tire that has some handling, but not as much as a "High Performance" tire.
AnswerMichael,
The Load Index is a way of expressing load carrying capacity - the higher the load index, the higher the load carrying capacity.
As a general rule, the more air you put into a tire the more load carrying capacity a tire has. There are 2 ways to get more air into a tire - larger volume (bigger size), or more inflation pressure.
So a 100 level tire doesn't have as much capacity as a 102, even though it might be physically bigger, and that's because the smaller tire is using a higher pressure.
So you are going to want to get a 225/60R16 with a 102 Load Index. This might be hard to find because this is peculiar to Europe and only European based tire manufacturers are going to pay attention to this peculiarity.
