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On the sidewall of all tires you will find the Load Index and Speed Rating for that tire. An example of this is the 115S that we will be using in the example below. There is also a couple reference charts included at the bottom to look up any tire load rating or tire speed rating that you are interested in.
Understanding what the numbers mean in the Tire Load Ratings like 99T, 115S, and so on.
That 115S tire load rating tells you a lot about the applications for these tires. A tire with a load index of 115, it can support 2,679 pounds at maximum air pressure. Take that number and multiply it by 4 tires (4 x 2,679 = 10,716 pounds) to get your vehicles maximum load carrying capacity. The S is the speed rating, in this case S = 112mph.
The tires load index is an number ranging from 0 to 279 that corresponds with the load-carrying capacity of a tire. For the light truck tires we will only be looking at the ratings between 0 and 150 in the chart below. This will include tires through 10 ply rating and should cover about all tires used on the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500 series pickups.
Light Truck Tires—Ply Ratings are actually an old and outdated designation that has been replaced by the much more descriptive Tire Load Rating. Looking back, a "C" indicates the tire has a 6-ply load carrying capacity. The tire is not actually built with 6 plies, but contains one or two plies of equivalent strength. A "D" is an 8-ply rating, and an "E" is a 10-ply rating. If there is no letter, the tire has a standard 4-ply rating.
Load- Carrying Capacity Index Ratings | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Load Index | Load (lbs) | Load Index | Load (lbs) | Load Index | Load (lbs) |
0 | 99 | 50 | 419 | 100 | 1764 |
1 | 102 | 51 | 430 | 101 | 1819 |
2 | 105 | 52 | 441 | 102 | 1874 |
3 | 107 | 53 | 454 | 103 | 1929 |
4 | 110 | 54 | 467 | 104 | 1984 |
5 | 114 | 55 | 481 | 105 | 2039 |
6 | 117 | 56 | 494 | 106 | 2094 |
7 | 120 | 57 | 507 | 107 | 2149 |
8 | 123 | 58 | 520 | 108 | 2205 |
9 | 128 | 59 | 536 | 109 | 2271 |
10 | 132 | 60 | 551 | 110 | 2337 |
11 | 136 | 61 | 567 | 111 | 2403 |
12 | 139 | 62 | 584 | 112 | 2469 |
13 | 143 | 63 | 600 | 113 | 2535 |
14 | 148 | 64 | 617 | 114 | 2601 |
15 | 152 | 65 | 639 | 115 | 2679 |
16 | 157 | 66 | 639 | 116 | 2756 |
17 | 161 | 67 | 677 | 117 | 2833 |
18 | 165 | 68 | 694 | 118 | 2910 |
19 | 171 | 69 | 716 | 119 | 2998 |
20 | 176 | 70 | 739 | 120 | 3086 |
21 | 182 | 71 | 761 | 121 | 3197 |
22 | 187 | 72 | 783 | 122 | 3307 |
23 | 193 | 73 | 805 | 123 | 3417 |
24 | 198 | 74 | 827 | 124 | 3527 |
25 | 204 | 75 | 852 | 125 | 3638 |
26 | 209 | 76 | 882 | 126 | 3748 |
27 | 215 | 77 | 908 | 127 | 3858 |
28 | 220 | 78 | 937 | 128 | 3968 |
29 | 227 | 79 | 963 | 129 | 4079 |
30 | 234 | 80 | 992 | 130 | 4189 |
31 | 240 | 81 | 1019 | 131 | 4289 |
32 | 247 | 82 | 1047 | 132 | 4409 |
33 | 254 | 83 | 1074 | 133 | 4541 |
34 | 260 | 84 | 1102 | 134 | 4674 |
35 | 267 | 85 | 1135 | 135 | 4806 |
36 | 276 | 86 | 1168 | 136 | 4938 |
37 | 282 | 87 | 1201 | 137 | 5071 |
38 | 291 | 88 | 1235 | 138 | 5203 |
39 | 300 | 89 | 1279 | 139 | 5357 |
40 | 309 | 90 | 1323 | 140 | 5512 |
41 | 320 | 91 | 1356 | 141 | 5677 |
42 | 331 | 92 | 1389 | 142 | 5842 |
43 | 342 | 93 | 1433 | 143 | 6008 |
44 | 353 | 94 | 1477 | 144 | 6173 |
45 | 364 | 95 | 1521 | 145 | 6393 |
46 | 375 | 96 | 1565 | 146 | 6614 |
47 | 386 | 97 | 1609 | 147 | 6779 |
48 | 397 | 98 | 1653 | 148 | 6844 |
49 | 408 | 99 | 1709 | 149 | 7165 |
150 | 7385 |
The tires speed rating is most commonly associated with the maximum speed a tire can sustain for a certain period of time without risk of tire failure. But this number is about a lot more than just speed. The Tire Speed Rating is also about performance and tells you a lot about just how that tire will perform in various situations. The Tire Speed Rating tells you about how efficient your tires are at getting rid of heat and how well they perform in braking, cornering as well as how well they will grip and swerve on the road.
SPEED SYMBOLS | ||
---|---|---|
Speed Rating | Speed (kph) | Speed (mph) |
A1 | 5 | 3 |
A2 | 10 | 6 |
A3 | 15 | 9 |
A4 | 20 | 12 |
A5 | 25 | 16 |
A6 | 30 | 19 |
A8 | 40 | 25 |
B | 50 | 31 |
C | 60 | 37 |
D | 65 | 40 |
E | 70 | 43 |
F | 80 | 50 |
G | 90 | 56 |
J | 100 | 62 |
K | 110 | 68 |
L | 120 | 75 |
M | 130 | 81 |
N | 140 | 87 |
P | 150 | 94 |
Q | 160 | 100 |
R | 170 | 106 |
S | 180 | 112 |
T | 190 | 118 |
U | 200 | 124 |
H | 210 | 130 |
V | 240 | 149 |
W | 270 | 168 |
Y | 300 | 186 |
Here is a great article on Tire Speed Ratings from KalTire.com