LT "vs" P rated tires

[Essex4x4]

My question is this, the factory tires that came with my explorer were P rated meaning passenger. I up graded to Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires which were also P rated. However now i have BF Goodrich All Terrain tires which are "LT" rated meaning Light Truck.

What difference does this make on my stock 4x4 explorer that never tows, does 90% highway, and is used as a daily driver?

LT- Light Truck
P - Passenger


Oh and another question my spare is still the factory Michelin Cross Terrain P rated tire, will this affect handling if i put it on with the LT rated tires?

 

[Anime]

P-rated tires are the usual tires for "passenger" cars. LT "light truck" tires have tougher construction, usually with a better casing, belts, more plies, etc.

Overall, P-rated tires are more about comfort and sometimes performance, LT tires are for heavy-duty use and usually better at load carrying and taking a beating.


The only thing it really means is the ride, performance, and gas mileage will suffer at the expense of having an aggressive looking off-road tire on there. Plenty of people roll on BFG AT's just for the looks though. If you like 'em , and the ride is good for you, cool.


The Michelin Cross Terrain SUV tires have a good bit more grip on pavement than the BFG AT's, so there would be some handling issues if you pushed it, but you shouldn't do that with a spare or mismatched tires anyway. The only other problem might be any difference in tire diameter, if the BFG's are a different size than the Michelin. If you just use it as a temporary spare that's fine, you can keep that as a spare until the tire needs to be replaced and put another BFG on there. If you get a flat that can't be repaired and have to replace a tire, you can instead buy two new ones, put them on the same axle, and put the good tire from the axle that had the flat on as your spare.

 

[Essex4x4]

Only thing i really noticed was at 42psi (this is the pressure i had the goodyear wrangler silent armor tires at) the BF Goodrich tires seem to crown way to much. Mileage is about the same, give me a few more months to determine exact mileage for these tires. Ride has not changed most likely because im running 35psi rather than 42.

In terms of replacing tires, i hate buying only one, two ore three. If i got an unrepairable flat im more likely to just buy all four tires. The spare is exactly that, a spare, as in temporary, yes its a full size tire but no it wouldn't stay on very long. (ha its no where near needing to be replaced, it probably has less than 100 miles on it if that.)