255/85 R16 Owners Experience

That's old school vs new school. Tires come either 2 or 3 ply. Any tires that say 10 ply are merely using that as a way to measure their strength. As far as I know there are no more actual 10 ply tires.

 

I've fucked up 2 BFG TA KO 315/75/16s in less than a year. Scalloped the tread back to the belts, right in the center of the tire, cut all the way under a section of blocks. Cut a sidewall very slightly.

LR Ds

No tire is immune.

 

9 times out of 10, you'd be fine with the Duratracs. I've put mine through some pretty hairy stuff. The first cut didn't result in a flat (but got a new one from Discount Tire anyway ). I haven't installed cameras on the corners of my truck yet to be able to see every rock I go over. I'm a newb.

Oh - neither cut tire was at URE.....

 

So when my tires say

2 steel + 3 polyester + 2 nylon tread plies
and
3 polyester sidewall plies

That's not a 10 ply ?

 

Very good and yes that's 10plys... I just looked at my work car's 215/60/16's side wall and it said "tread 1 polyester + 2 steel + 1 polyamide + sidewall 1 polyester" = 5plys? Idk looks like it to me? Btw this was on a 04 dodge stratus.... Theres nothing about any actual ply rating.

 

Very very very doubtful you have more actual layers then a Goodyear MTZ has. I have been wrong before and I'm sure in the future, but pretty sure I'm right on this one. There is also no standard between manufacturers when it comes to actually defining a separate layer within the tire by stating it's "ply".

See here:
Ply ratings identify the load carrying capabilities of a tire in terms of plies. Ply rating originally referred to the number of cotton layers used to strengthen a tire’s casing. Today, when tires are labeled 10-ply, they are not actually constructed of 10 individual layers of cotton but offer the equivalent strength. Passenger tires are currently constructed from one or two body plies, while light truck tires consist of two to three, or one steel ply. Over time, steel ply and radial construction replaced cotton leading to a new distinction, load range.

Unlike passenger tires, light truck tires are labeled in ascending alphabetical order. The further the letter is located alphabetically, the greater the tire’s strength and air capacity. LT Metric, Flotation and Numeric tires are branded with their load range ("Load Range B" or "LRB") or ply rating ("6 Ply Rated") on their sidewalls and feature load range letters in their descriptions (LT235/75R-16B).

E = 10 ply
D = 8
C = 6
B = 4
A = 2

http://www.tireteam.com/info_loadrange

and another

In the early days of bias tires, casing strength was built up by adding layer upon layer of cotton fabric. The layers were placed with the thread in each layer at an angle to each other. That added strength, because the tensions would be distributed throughout the layers of fabric. The Ply Rating used to refer to the number of layers of cotton.

Since you have to have at least two plies to have a “bias” arrangement, bias ply tires always had an even number of plies.

Cotton went away a long time ago. One of the major improvements was making plies out of nylon. Nylon is so much stronger that if you’re old enough, you may remember seeing your tires stamped with the words, “2 Ply/4 Ply Rating.” That meant there were only two nylon plies, but they were so strong the tire was equivalent to one made of four cotton plies.
And that’s about when things started to get complicated.


Ply materials continued to improve, especially with the introduction of steel ply materials and radial construction, making the old Ply Number less and less meaningful. And that resulted in the newer designation we use today, called “Load Range.”



So what’s the difference between tires of the same size but different load ranges?
It’s no longer the number of plies. Most radial truck tires, for example, have a total of five plies. There’s one steel body ply and four belts under the tread. What is different today is the strength of the steel cables in those plies or the number of cables per inch. We’re now at the point where we no longer add more and more plies, but instead, adjust the strength of the entire casing to achieve the desired load capacity.

Will a tire with a higher Load Range last longer?
It might, but it also might not. What usually determines tire life is the rate at which the tread wears and whether or not the tread wears evenly. Or how many retreads you can get from its casing. As long as the tire has enough load capacity for the maximum load you will be putting on it, buying extra load capacity may not increase your tire life.

http://www.sttc.com/resources/tire-info/ply-rating

 

Wonder why they state it so matter of factly on the tire

 

Same reason there is no industry standard regarding "ply" I could only assume. Most people think more is better.?.

murica!

what do you have again?

 

your pic shows only 3 sidewall ply's

 

I am planning on buying 255/85/16 km2s next month. I don't wanna spend the money on new wheels at the same time. I know they will fit on the stock wheel but will the have any issues with back spacing or anything like that?

 

backspacing is key for these tires to fit 'in' the wheel well and not hit the fenders.

Ill ask my buddy who is running them on a 1st gen

 

Awesome! Thanks

 

You'll rub the frame in front with the stock wheel. I have a 16x8 wheel with 255/85/16 km2's so the tread on mine is about 3/4" further from the frame than on a stock wheel when straight (and some fraction of that at full lock). I have very light rub marks on the frame but so little I have never actually felt/noticed it. Keep in mind that I do wheel so that could only be at full lock and stuff that I'm getting that rub so you could be ok for the time being if you want to save up for wheel adapters (spacers) or new wheels if you don't get fully flexed. Worst case, you can't turn full lock.

 

Thanks! I can't wait to get these tires

 

Isn't that what I said ?

 

Yeah I strongly doubt they specifically say that they say that there are " 2 steel + 3 polyester + 2 nylon tread plies" and have that be just a rating. At the very least the tire would be 7 ply between tread blocks and the terrain, and 3 plies on the sidewall. I imagine a manufacturer would open themselves up to a lot of liability if they stated so matter of factly how many plies there were and what each was made of if the tire did not have those in it.

Course I don't know this for a fact but I'll eat my hat if that tire does not contain the plies listed.

 

I just pulled the trigger on the 255/85/16 KM2's to replace the 285 Cooper STT (that I've had for less than a month). I'm just hoping the 8" rim doesn't poke out too far. We'll see....

 

you asked/said "is that not 10 ply?"

and it is not

like I said

 

I've got 255s on 8" rims. The rim is exposed more than I like. They are Wheelers steelies and I've picked up some dings on the rim lip already. If it gets too bad I could buy some rim stiffeners / rock rings since my wheels are steel.

 

My aluminum wheels are already fairly dinged up, so I won't be too upset with some more rash, as long as it doesn't cause any functional problems. It was that, or put them on my TRD OR stock wheels, which I think would get bruised much worse since the whole face of the wheel is exposed, rather than just the lip.