Wheel Specs / Load Range?

All,

Okay, I have narrowed my tire selection to a few but came across an interesting post about load range and PSI for tires.

My Suburban has aftermarket wheels on it; they are Chrome and appear to be steel, but I'm not sure. The maker is Panther, part number 208817 (I believe that is a 208 - 8x17"). On it it is stamped maximum load 3100#'s.

*** Anyone know of a place I could look up to see if they could handle 80 PSI tires? ***

I tried to call Panther but just got a recording.

I want to put on the Revo LT tires in 265x70-17's with the 3195 Load Rating at 80 PSI; but, not if the wheels won't hold that much pressure.

Thank you for your help,
Todd, Melissa and the Boys
2002 Suburban K2500 (3/4 ton 4x4)
8.1 Liter V8

80 psi by itself should not be a problem for the wheels. I'm concerned that you want to run that kind of presssure; ride should be TERRIBLE. Only reason to do it is if you're actually loading your truck to 12,800 lbs GVW.

That much weight would present a severe challenge to those wheels!

Strongest alloy wheels I've run across for street use are the Mickey Thompson forged aluminums. Built to same standards as 747 aircraft wheels!

I went with the Bridgestone Revo's, 265x70-17's in the "E" Load Range (The LT's) and mounted them to the Panther wheels on the truck with new valve stems.

I went with 55 PSI as I heard running them at 80 PSI was (as you mentioned) only when severly loaded.

I have no real justification for choosing 55 PSI other than the mathmatical calculation I put on of 3195/80*55 came to basically 2200#'s per tire.

Assuming a normal load for our truck (family, some luggage), I should never have more than 4400#'s on my heaviest axle (front). The front axle with a full tank of fuel and no passengers is currently 3,520 #'s. Given the cargo distribution and seating positions, and that I have a GVWR of 8,600#'s; I can't see a situation where I would be exceeding 2,200 #'s per wheel.

If I thought I would be distributing more weight to a given axle . . . or, even pushing the standard weight with just passengers . . . I could increase the PSI towards the 80 PSI.

Do you think the 55 PSI is a good number to use given about 2000 #'s max per wheel? Or, do you think it should be higher / lower? Opinions appreciated.


Of note, I had heard that the Front / Rear Axels on the K2500 are the same as on the 3500's - - the difference was just in the rotors, an extra spring in the rear and the wheels. If that is the case; it would seem that increasing my rotors and putting on say the 17" wheels that come on the Hummers would allow me to increase my cargo capacity (I understand that legally the GVWR wouldn't change without a re-evaluation / rating of my vehicle by my local DMV; but was wondering if this is the case?).

I should be fine with my current GVWR (8,600#'s) and GCWR (16,000#'s) even if I decide to tow a 25' 7,500# (GVWR) Travel Trailer. This would allow me 12% tongue weight (assuming a WD Hitch) and 1,000#'s of cargo / passengers in the SUV (rest of cargo would be in the 7500#'s TT weight). Given these assumptions I would be under my GVWR/GCWR and have no more than 2500#'s on any given wheel (probably closer to 2300#'s maximum).

Hopefully, my wheels would be fine at say 70 PSI and 2500#'s. That would be the most extreme situation I could think it would ever endure.

Again, comments / opinions / suggestions area appreciated.

Todd, Melissa & the boys