Light Truck Tires

Light truck tires (LT tires) are built for trucks that carry, tow and haul, and the right pair depends on one number: the load range on your door placard. Match that, pick a tread, and the rest is detail. Buying them should not be a heavy lift, though the tires certainly are.

Your truck	Usual choice	Check first
Half-ton pickup, mostly road, light loads	Passenger or LT, as the placard says	Load index on the placard
Half-ton that tows regularly	LT highway or all-terrain, load range D or E	Trailer weight against tire capacity
3/4-ton or 1-ton pickup, van, work truck	LT, load range E on many heavy-duty trucks	Load range and size on the door placard
Heavy commercial hauling	LT load range F, or medium truck tires above that	Axle ratings and wheel size

What makes a light truck tire different from a passenger tire?

An LT tire has a tougher casing, thicker plies and reinforced sidewalls. It is made to hold more air and more weight. A passenger tire trades that toughness for a quieter, softer ride. Per the Discount Tire LT versus passenger guide, a passenger tire's load rating also drops about 9% when it is fitted to a truck. A tire rated for 1,000 lbs (454 kg) is then good for about 910 lbs (413 kg).

Feature	LT tire	Passenger tire
Casing	Thicker plies, reinforced sidewalls	Lighter structure
Load rating	Load range letter (C, D, E and up)	Load index, reduced about 9% on a truck
Air pressure	Higher, up to 80 psi (5.5 bar) in load range E	Lower, 36 to 42 psi (2.5 to 2.9 bar) maximum
Ride	Firmer, louder with aggressive tread	Softer and quieter
Fuel use	Usually higher	Usually lower
Best for	Towing, hauling, gravel, heavy trucks	Commuting and light loads

Heavy electric pickups follow the same rule. Choose by the load index on the placard, not by habit.

How do you read a light truck tire size?

A typical size looks like LT245/75R16 120/116S Load Range E. Read it left to right.

Part	Meaning
LT	Light truck tire, built for heavier loads and towing. A size starting with P, or with no letter, is a passenger tire.
245	Section width in millimeters
75	Aspect ratio: sidewall height is 75% of the width
R16	Radial construction, for a 16-inch wheel
120/116	Load index for single and dual fitment
S	Speed rating
Load Range E	Strength of the casing, similar to a 10-ply rating

Now the maths, which is only multiplication. Sidewall height is width times aspect ratio. Overall diameter is the rim plus two sidewalls.

Size	Sidewall	Overall diameter
LT245/75R16	245 x 0.75 = 184 mm (7.2 in)	406 + 368 = 774 mm (30.5 in)
LT265/75R16	265 x 0.75 = 199 mm (7.8 in)	406 + 398 = 804 mm (31.7 in)
LT265/70R17	265 x 0.70 = 186 mm (7.3 in)	432 + 371 = 803 mm (31.6 in)
LT285/75R16	285 x 0.75 = 214 mm (8.4 in)	406 + 428 = 834 mm (32.8 in)

Moving from LT245/75R16 to LT265/75R16 makes the tire 30 mm (1.2 in) taller, about 3.9%. Your speedometer then reads low: 60 mph (97 km/h) on the dial is really about 62.3 mph (100 km/h). Our tire diameter calculator does this sum for any size.

Flotation sizes such as 33x12.50R15LT give the overall diameter and width directly. That one is 33 in (838 mm) tall and 12.5 in (318 mm) wide, on a 15 in (381 mm) rim. Our size converter and size guide cover the other formats.

What does the load range letter tell you?

The letter is a strength grade, a bit like a tire's biceps. Old catalogs called it ply rating. Today it tells you how much air pressure the casing can take, and air is what carries the load.

Load range	Ply rating (old term)	Max pressure
Standard Load (SL)	4	36 psi (2.5 bar)
Extra Load (XL)	4	42 psi (2.9 bar)
C	6	50 psi (3.4 bar)
D	8	65 psi (4.5 bar)
E	10	80 psi (5.5 bar)
F	12	95 psi (6.6 bar)
G	14	110 psi (7.6 bar)

Figures follow the Discount Tire load range reference. Some ranges also come in a lower-pressure variant, so read the pressure molded on your tire's sidewall.

The load index is the number after the size. It states how much one tire carries at its maximum pressure. An index of 121, for example, means 3,197 lbs (1,450 kg) per tire. The dual number in 120/116 gives the capacity as a single tire and as one of a dual pair. Our load index and speed rating tool decodes both, plus the speed letter.

Which tread suits your truck: highway, all-terrain or mud-terrain?

Pick the tread for where the truck spends most days, not for the weekend it spends once a year.

Tread	Best on	Trade-off
Highway-terrain	Paved roads and the odd gravel lane	Little bite in deep mud
All-terrain	Mixed pavement, gravel and light mud	More road noise than highway tread
Mud-terrain	Deep mud, rock and soft ground	Loudest and firmest of the three

For snow, look for the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol on the sidewall. All-season tires without it are fine for light winters and not much more. If you tow often, the Discount Tire guide points to LT highway or all-terrain tires in load range D or E for stability.

Does a farm or work truck really need LT tires?

If it hauls, tows or lives on gravel, yes. Nine times out of ten the truck that pulls a stock trailer or carries a bale bed is a 3/4-ton or 1-ton, and those are rated for LT tires. Stiffer sidewalls hold up under a hitch. Tougher casings shrug off stubble, rock and the odd fence staple.

On 4WD and AWD trucks, keep all four tires the same size and at similar wear. Mismatched diameters make the drivetrain work harder than it should. Wheel sizes matter too. A tire fits only the rim diameter in its size code, so a 19.5 in (495 mm) code needs a 19.5 in rim and nothing else.

How do you set tire pressure for towing and hauling?

Buy the load range your door placard lists, then set pressure for the load you actually carry. The placard sits on the driver's door edge or post, or in the owner's manual, per NHTSA. Check pressure cold, before you drive. Our tire pressure guide explains the same logic for tractors, and it works for trucks too.

• Loaded and towing: run the pressure the manufacturer's load table gives for that weight.
• Empty truck: do not run maximum pressure. The ride turns harsh and the center tread wears first.
• Dual rear wheels: use the dual capacity number, the second one in 120/116.
• Mixed loads through the week: check pressure each time the load changes.

What does our own catalog say about sizes that fit truck wheels?

Honest answer first: none of our 85 catalog sizes is an LT size. Our listings are farm, implement and loader tires, so LT tires are quoted by size on request. What the catalog does show is how many sizes can physically sit on a truck-sized rim.

Rim diameter	Sizes in our catalog	Examples
15.3 in (389 mm) or smaller	12	5.00-15, 11L-15
16 to 17.5 in (406 to 445 mm)	19	7.50-16, 10R16.5, 14-17.5
19.5 to 22.5 in (495 to 572 mm)	5	15-19.5, 560/60R22.5
24 in (610 mm) or larger	49	18.4-38

So 49 of 85 sizes (58%) are far too big for any pickup wheel, and 31 (36%) share a rim diameter with one. Sharing a rim does not make a farm tire an LT tire. A 7.50-16 is a front tractor size, and 10R16.5 is a skid steer size. Tread carefully before you order by rim alone.

Which mistakes cost the most when buying LT tires?

• Dropping a load range. A D on a truck that needs an E can overload the tire when you tow. Going up one step is fine if your loads grew. Going down is not.
• Mixing load ranges on one axle. Pairs should match.
• Copying the size off the old tire. The previous owner may have fitted the wrong one. Check the door placard.
• Changing diameter without checking the speedometer. 3.9% taller means a 2.3 mph (3.7 km/h) error at 60 mph (97 km/h).
• Running full pressure on an empty truck.
• Ignoring tire age. The last four digits of the DOT code give the week and year of manufacture, so 0308 means week 3 of 2008.

How do you keep LT tires working longer?

Short answer: check pressure, check age, check the tread. It is not glamorous. Nobody has ever made a movie about a tire gauge.

Check	How often	What to look for
Air pressure, spare included	At least monthly, cold	Match the placard or load table
Tread and sidewalls	Each fill-up or trailer hookup	Cuts, bulges, uneven wear
Tire age	Yearly, and before buying used	Some makers advise replacement at 6 to 10 years, per NHTSA
Wear pattern	At each rotation	Center wear means too much air, edge wear too little

For used tires, ask us for photos of the actual tire. Our used tire inspection guide shows what to look for, and the radial versus bias-ply guide explains the construction terms you will see.

How can you save money without cutting corners?

• Buy the load range on the placard, not two steps above it just in case.
• Replace in matched pairs or full sets, so wear stays even.
• Keep pressure right. It costs nothing.
• Consider used LT tires in good condition, with photos and a DOT date check.
• Ask for one quote covering tires and shipping to your address. Our tire cost guide shows how we think about price.

When should you not buy LT tires?

Skip them if your pickup is a half-ton that rarely tows and rides empty. Passenger tires are lighter and ride softer there, and your placard may not ask for LT at all. Skip them too if your truck is bigger than the LT range. Class 6 and up needs medium truck tires. If the machine is a tractor or loader, you want tractor tires, not a pickup tire with big dreams. For trailers and implements, see flotation tires.

What should you send us for a quote?

Send us	Why we ask
Full size from the sidewall, with LT and load range	It fixes the exact tire
Truck make, model and year	We check it against the placard
Towing or hauling, and typical weight	It decides the load range
Tread style: highway, all-terrain or mud-terrain	It decides the pattern
Quantity, new or used, and shipping address	We quote tires and shipping together

Shipping takes about 1 week to the USA and Europe, and payment is by Zelle. Ready? Ask for a quote or send a sidewall photo on WhatsApp. We will find the tire. We will probably also make a tread joke. Consider it free. Farm and loader tires live under agricultural tires, construction tires and industrial tires, and the full range of sizes is in the tire size index.