Truck tires are a little different than passenger car tires because they often have to deal with more weight. Hauling materials or towing heavy loads with your truck puts a lot of additional strain on the tires, but there are several options that you want to consider to ensure you have the best truck tires installed and ready for work.

Standard Truck Tires

Half-ton pickup trucks are some of the most common trucks on the road, and the tires for these vehicles have some additional features to make them more durable while still retaining the truck's ride quality. These light-duty trucks can haul many things, and most have a decent tow rating that will allow you to pull a large cargo or camping trailer. 

The tires on your truck can come in several sizes, depending on the vehicle manufacturer and the suspension system used in the model you own. No matter what tire size is on your pickup, it will have a light truck rating indicated by the letters "LT" in the tire size. A "P" rating is for passenger cars, and there are other ratings for sports cars and larger vehicles. 

The easiest way to determine the tires that belong on your truck is to check the owner's manual that came with it. The manual will have a section about tire care and the size options that will fit. If you can't find the size in the book, the information can also be found on the inside of the driver's door frame, along with the recommended tire pressure for each tire.

LT Tire Features

Truck tires often have features you may need or want on your truck. The tread is deeper and more aggressive than car tires. Because the tires need to support more weight than a car, the truck tires also may have additional layers or plies of rubber. 

The additional rubber provides more strength, and the sidewalls need rigidity, or they would become unstable when the truck was loaded with materials. How you use your truck is an essential part of buying new truck tires, so talk with the tire dealer about the options available in the tire size you need. 

If you have a truck that is under a lot of additional strain, you may want to purchase a 2-ply or maybe a 4-ply tire to ensure they can hold up under heavy use. The extra plies in the sidewall often make them more resistant to punctures and tears, and often a truck used off-road can benefit from a heavier-duty tire. There are extreme-duty tires on the market with six or eight plies of sidewall rubber, but they are often reserved for heavy-duty trucks because they can make for a rough ride and are expensive. 

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