
Trucks are used to tackling rugged terrain and off-road travel. Having the correct tire size for trucks is critical as that improves ride quality, braking performance, cabin comfort, fuel efficiency, handling, steering directness, and other factors. However, reading and selecting options can get confusing due to the varied aspects involved in a tire’s overall size. Here are the factors to consider while zeroing in on the sizes of tires for trucks:
Tire width
Having the right-sized tire allows trucks to have excellent traction and stability on the road. If the tires fitted onto a truck are smaller or bigger, there is an increased risk of accidents or poor ride quality.
One of the chief components of tire sizes is tire width. One can identify tire sizes by the unique code number written on them. For example, if the number is P225/70R16 91S, then the width of the tire is 225 mm (“P” stands for “passenger vehicle,” “LT” for “Light Truck Tire,” and “ST” for “Special Trailer”).
If truck owners want their vehicles to have good road grip and cornering ability, they can select wider tires. Wider tires than the one the truck comes with are factory-fitted and positively affect the ride stability. However, one must only go for truck tires that are just the right height. Such tires can increase friction and rolling resistance and, as a result, reduce the vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Also, broader and heavier tires make the steering feel heavy and less stable.
Tire width also needs to change depending on other factors. For example, narrower tires can provide some good traction on snow during winter, but stability issues will arise again if one goes too narrow.
Similarly, it makes sense for truckers to go for broader truck tires if their vehicle has immense horsepower and torque. In such cases, the wider tire will provide better acceleration and reduced dangerous wheelspin.
Tire height
All these size-measuring components, such as tire height, width, and others, are relative to the measurements of the factory-fitted tires that come with trucks that owners purchase from their local dealerships.
Taller tires are the ideal choice for increasing the ground clearance of a truck. As a result, selecting such tires means that trucks will not have scraped underbellies even when their owners drive them over rough, undulated, and unforgiving terrain.
However, the boosted ground clearance comes at the vehicle’s overall handling cost. For example, taller truck tires translate into increased body roll while cornering.
Additionally, if the tires are too tall or wide, there will be rubbing on the inside of the truck’s wheels, resulting in the frequent wearing of both the tires and wheels.
Wheel diameter
In P225/70R16 91S, the 16 denotes the wheel diameter of the tire in inches. As the name implies, wheel diameter is the measurement of the alloy or steel wheel fitted inside the truck tires. The wheel diameter is critical as it also influences the tire thickness.
Larger wheels will need larger tires. Using more extensive and taller tires, as seen above, will negatively affect the ride and handling of a truck. Therefore, one needs to be careful while selecting wheels. Wheel diameter is a valuable metric for tire buyers as it enables them to select just the right size of tires for their vehicle.
Aspect ratio
The number right next to the slash in P225/70R16 91S is the aspect ratio of truck tires. The aspect ratio indicates the overall profile of truck tires. Usually, this number is denoted in percentages. To calculate the aspect ratio, tire makers divide a tire’s height (from its wheel rim) by width. So, the aspect ratio of 70 percent in the above numerical example translates into the tire’s height being 70 percent of its overall width.
Tires with a lower aspect ratio, say, 60 percent or lower, offer better handling and road grip than higher ratio tires. In return, the ride quality of lower-ratio tires is worse than those with higher aspect ratios.
Construction type
The letter next to the aspect ratio in P225/70R16 91S is the construction type of the tire. These generally have two classifications – R for radial and D for diagonal. Now, radial tires are among the most used ones across the country. These tires have their internal ply cords oriented in a radial direction, meaning that they are at a 90-degree angle to the direction of rotation of the tire.
While selecting tires, one must select these as they offer higher road grip, better mileage, greater ride comfort, higher reliability and durability, and lower rolling resistance.
Speed rating
The speed rating indicates the capability of a tire at a particular speed based on the lab tests run by tire makers. In the example, the speed rating is the last number accompanied by the letter S. A vehicle with a speed rating of 120 can cruise at that speed in their truck without the fear of damaging the tire. The higher the speed at which one regularly drives their vehicle, the greater the speed rating should be for their tires.
Conclusion
By carefully considering these listed elements before buying tires, owners can ensure that the tire sizes are perfect for their specific trucking requirements.
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Retire in peace and in style
Read moreIs your retirement around the corner? Have you chosen the retirement community for yourself? Well, if not, then what are you waiting for? Retirement means a lot of time that you can give to yourself and do the things that you love and spend the rest of your life in peace. Here is the list of perfect retirement communities, divided on a regional basis so that you can choose your area of preference easily.
Arizona
Monte Vista Village Resort
Monte Vista Village Resort is one of the best retirement communities in Mesa, Arizona. It has some refreshing pools and splendid golf courses for the golf lovers and not forgetting the magnificent tennis courts for the lovers of this racquet-sport. It is spread over 80 acres of land.Sunrise RV Resort
Situated in the warmth and opulence of a desert region, Sunrise RV Resort welcomes recreation lovers with magnificent lakes for fishing and boating, swimming pools, tennis courts and untamed natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert.California
Palm Springs Oasis Resort
The Palm Springs Oasis Resort is situated in the Coachella Valley. From there, you will get a perfect view of the San Jacinto and the Santa Rosa Mountain ranges. The resort provides its guest retirees with a golf course, spa, two beautiful swimming pools and a tennis court.Florida
Four Lakes Golf Club
The specialty of the Four Lakes Golf Club among other retirement communities is that it has a waterfront, a premium golf course and exclusive cypress wetlands. It gives you the chance to confront the picturesque beauty of 500 scenic areas. It is situated near Disney and Orlando.The Meadows and Arbors at CountryWood
Awarded as the Community of the Year by MHI, The Meadows and Arbors at CountryWood proves that it has got something different from the other retirement communities. The houses exhibit the traditional colonial form of architecture. It is located at about 20 miles or even less than that from Tampa. Your stay at this retirement community is sure to be nostalgic.Illinois
Willow Lake Estates
The Willow Lake Estates is situated on the Fox River. The retirees can enjoy the experience of a private stocked lake with a boat dock. It is a very spacious clubhouse that is located in the Chicago metro area. With a radius of 6 miles, you will get many restaurants that provide mouth-watering food.New Jersey
Anderson Creek Club
The Anderson Creek Club is spread over 1,700 acres of land. It is a perfect choice for those who are seeking retirement communities in the lap of nature. The Anderson Creek Club is only 90 miles away from the beach and a few hours journey will take you to the mountains.South Carolina
Hampton Lake
This is one of the most friendly retirement communities that you will ever come across. It has a private freshwater lake that is spread over an area of 182 acres where you can go boating and fishing. -
5 tips for buying a great gaming laptop
Read moreGaming is king. Gaming is a profession. There are thousands of video games out there in the market. With the video game industry booming like never before, gaming can be a valuable form of relaxation for all gaming users. These days you find PC fanboys advocating high-end PC rigs to be able to play the latest games with the most gorgeous of graphics at decent FPS (first person shooter) rates.
But can you play high-end games on a laptop? Well, yes you can. You need to know a couple know-hows and technical things before you go out shopping for that portable gaming rig. Pick one right and it might outperform your ordinary PC. Plus, the prices coupled with portability; nothing beats that.
Here are 5 tips and things to look out for when choosing to buy a gaming laptop.
Get sufficient storage: Go for SSD drives in your gaming laptop rig. Good SSDs come in a 256GB size along with hard drives offering up to 1TB space. This is sufficient storage if you’re planning to save videos, multiple games, and do much more with your laptop besides just gaming. It’s good to be able to use your laptop for all round everyday use and getting good storage is the first step.
Aim for a wide screen size: 15-inch screens are pure gold. They don’t add much to the pounds and they are still easy to carry. You could try buying 17-inch laptops but the weight may make it difficult to tote them around with you all the time. Make sure the screen size offers a resolution of 1080p which is optimal for most games. Some screens offer resolutions up to 4k but those are like high end gaming rigs like Alienware.
Look for memory: In order to multitask and run various programs in the background such as instant messaging, Skype, email and so on, your laptop needs to have sufficient RAM. If you’re the sort of person who loves recording and texting at the same time as gaming, get at least 8GB RAM. If you opt for 16GB, then you can rest assured it’s got great memory for running various applications. Additionally, you can use video editing software and use the rig for rendering videos too which also consume quite a bit of RAM.
Get a killer processor: The processor is one of the main components of your gaming rig. AMD and Nvidia GPUs are stellar graphics processors in the market. The GPU units matter more than the CPU processors. Get a quad core AMD processor if possible since they support high end gaming. The better the graphics processor, the better the image and visuals will look on screen. The detail will also improve along with the higher resolutions. Definitely something to take into consideration before you end up buying a gaming laptop. Do your research.