As the only part of the car that touches the ground, the performance of the tire plays a decisive role in driving safety. It is such an important component, which often becomes the most neglected problem for pickup truck consumers. Today we will talk about the topic of tires, to see how to choose pickup tires, what parameters should be seen, what do HT/AT/MT tires represent in pickup trucks?
The mainstream pickup trucks are all HT tires and SUVs are the same
Because the content of tires is complex and cumbersome, today we will explain the HT tires that are the most equipped with mainstream pickup trucks, and in the next article, we will introduce the more niche AT and MT tires. At present, whether it is a commercial positioning pickup truck or a passenger positioning pickup, it is equipped with the same HT tires as SUV models.
This kind of tire is close to the car tire in attributes, road performance is the main focus direction, for comfort, fuel consumption, wear resistance, handling and other comprehensive indicators are decent performance, but HT tires will usually have a little more non-paved road performance than car tires, and the sidewall tear resistance will be better. For example, in the daily scene of the road, the probability of sidewall damage of HT tires is definitely much more reliable than that of car tires.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the pickup trucks we can buy at present usually use HT type tires, which have balanced comprehensive performance and are suitable for the use scenarios of most pickup truck users.
What do you think about tire specifications?
Tire specifications are also an important parameter for pickup truck users to be aware of. Each tire has a corresponding logo on it, in addition to the brand LOGO, tire pattern (tire series), the specification logo is also printed on it.
As we can see in the figure above, 275 is a broken width surface, popularly understood, that is, the larger the value, the greater the width of this tire, the current mainstream pickup break width is usually between 235-245, considering the positioning and use scenarios of the pickup itself, it is basically a very balanced data;
45 means flat ratio, which is the ratio of tire height to width, and the ratio of this tire is 45%. To put it simply, the smaller the ratio, the flatter the tire, and the larger the value, the thicker the tire. At present, the flat ratio of mainstream pickup trucks is usually between 60-75, and the tires look thick, so that the impact resistance is stronger, and the thicker tires are also very comfortable.
Among the tires, R stands for radial tires, and now cars are basically equipped with radial tires, and the value of 20 in the heel of R represents the diameter of the rim. At present, the most suitable diameter of the pickup truck should be 17, which is also the current mainstream equipment, and some models are equipped with 19 or even 20 for better visual effects, which I don't think is necessary. The first 19 and 20-inch tires are much more expensive, and if the width of the 19 and 20-inch tires is still at the 245 level, then the small size of this tire will be very niche and the price will be more expensive.
The specifications are followed by the tire speed class or the tire load index. You can see what level your car tires are in, whether you are overloaded, are the tires still in the safe range of loads, be careful of punctures, teach you to be a person in minutes!
Let's take Jiangling Baodian as an example, it is equipped with tires behind 235/70 R16, there is a "106T" value, compared with the reference table, the tire load capacity is 950 kg, then the four tires are 3800 kg, that is, 3.8 tons of tire load capacity, remove 2 tons of vehicle weight, tire load capacity and 1.8 tons of redundancy. It is safe to pull multi, so it shouldn't be difficult to calculate. Of course, this is theoretical, because the weight of the Pikala is basically concentrated on the rear axle, which means that the rear wheels have to bear more weight and not overload for the safety of themselves and other traffic participants.
It's time to change the tires, don't save it
Consumers who can choose pickup trucks are usually people who are pragmatic and supreme, or who are diligent and thrifty. But thrift and thrift must not save money on tires, as long as the tires are not broken, it is very dangerous to use them all the time. If you run a lot of kilometers, then look at the tire wear every once in a while, and see if there are any road markers. If you can't drive many kilometers for several years, the tire life is usually between 3-5 years.
If you have a single tire that has been repaired more than 3 times, or if the two repairs are in close proximity, then I don't recommend continuing to use it. After all, pickup trucks are heavier, more complex road conditions than ordinary cars, and you often pull goods, so safety cannot be guaranteed.
What are the alternatives to big-name tires?
The tires equipped with the original pickup truck are usually able to meet the requirements of the regulations, and if it comes to the tire replacement cycle, the tire needs to be replaced, in fact, the original tire model is completely sufficient. Of course, if you want to improve the quality, there are also many big-name tires to choose from. For example, Michelin - LATITUDE TOUR HP Lantu, Goodyear tire Royal SUV II, German Continental tire 4X4 and other SUV tires can also be seen, which are of great help to improve the road grip and comfort of pickup trucks.
Of course, if you want to switch to more aggressive AT and MT tires, that's for the next article. For more pickup information, please continue to pay attention to China Pickup Network.