Tire Load Ratings vs Tire Width

I started asking this in one of my threads but I think it's probably worth a separate discussion. In North American, tires on 16" rims that are skinnier (less than 9.5" wide) are typically for bigger trucks so they usually have a load rating of 110-120 and are 10 ply. If you drop to a 15" rim you can get a 30x9.5 (or 235/75r15) in a load rating of 104-106 with 6 plies but the tire is a bit wider. Which would be better for a jimny assuming it didn't matter if you have a 15 or 16" rim.

For an example the Toyo open country AT III is available in a 215/85r16 which would be ideal but has a load of 115 and a weight of 39 lbs.

A standard Jimny runs tyres with a load rating of 96, so 104 - 115 is already a fair bit higher than standard.

Even at 104 you are probably well within the total payload (all up weight) of a Jimny, so going for higher load rating, on it’s own, doesn’t make much sense.

The downside of higher load rating is tyre weight, heavier tires make the vehicle less nimble, increase fuel consumption and make the suspension work harder, so generally it’s best to avoid unnecessary tyre/wheel weight.

As regards which is best, that depends on your driving or more what you drive on? Probably for a light weight like a Jimny, tall skinny tyres would be good all rounders, but we can’t get them here so have to compromise between taller tyres and not too much width.

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm all for lighter and not falling for big heavy things bogging the jimny then needing to upgrade the next thing...

I guess I'll have to see if I can puncture 4 ply tires. If I don't it won't be a problem. 225/75r16 has a number of 4 ply 104 AT tires in North America. Tread depth isn't as deep with passenger rated ones.

Big heavy tyres here 28.6kg


Mine is more a toy mainly driven off road and I like the side wall strength for peace of mind. 
Fuel consumption is bad at 20mpg 

Thanks for sharing