Tires: tires ratings, passenger car tires, range c

Question
i would like to know more about sidewall ply ratings are all sidewall tires a 2 ply rating. or can you get a 4 ply sidewall as well as a 10 ply tire . thank you  

Answer
Roger,

I think you are confusing "Ply Rating" - an old way of looking at the structural strength of a tire - with the number of plies actually used.  This is one of the reasons the term "ply rating" is no longer used.

What we use today is "Standard Load" and "Extra Load" for passenger car tires, and "Load Range" for Light Truck tires.

Most passenger car tires use 1 ply of polyester in the smaller sizes and 2 plies of polyester in the larger sizes.

Light Truck tires generally use 2 plies of polyester, but some of the larger sizes use 3 plies of polyester.

However, large Over the Road Truck tires - the 18 wheeler kind - use 1 ply - of steel cable.

So the number of actual plies is relatively unimportant.  What is important is the total strength of the material and there are a number of ways of getting that strength - more ends per inch, larger cord filaments, and more plies.

So you need to be aware of what your vehicle calls for:  SL for Standard Load, XL for Extra Load, Load Range C, D, E, and higher  (abbreviated LR C, LR D, etc.)

Hope this helps.