Light Truck & SUV tires

Vehicle Applications
In November 1998, for the first time in U.S. history, sales of Light Truck vehicles exceeded that of traditional sedans-& sales are expected to continue. As a growing market segment in the industry it is helpful to have good understanding of Light Truck tires.

Types of Vehicles
The automotive manufacturers define Light Trucks as Passenger & Cargo Vans, Pickups & Sport Utility Vehicles. The following is a brief description of each:

The Pickup Truck has grown in use from just a commercial delivery truck & farm vehicle to become a popular means of personal & even family transportation, & when less expensive 1/4 ton compact Pickups were introduced they established themselves as an acceptable alternative to cars for younger drivers.

Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV's) combine the sporty & luxurious interior appointments (often associated with passenger cars) with the station wagon utility of an enclosed "Pickup" Truck. Often this combination is desirable because the SUV can also function as the family wagon for transportation to work, running errands in town, taking the family camping on weekends, or towing the boat to the lake. The SUV category has experienced such rapid growth, that the market has reclassified many of the SUV's into subcategories. From the traditional Compact SUV, like the Ford Explorer & Jeep Cherokee, to the Small SUV, which includes the Toyota RAV4 & Honda CR-V & the luxury category called Full-sized SUV, which includes the Ford Expedition & Lincoln Navigator. With the introduction of an SUV for Infinity, Lexus & Mercedes-Benz the SUV segment will continue to grow.

The typical use of these vans is cargo hauling & delivery service. Tires used on the full size cargo vans vary from large 15 inch standard & extra load passenger tires to 16 & 16.5 inch load range C, D, & E commercial light truck tires.

The majority of the full sized vans & mini-vans are used as "family station-wagons," hauling kids to school events & ball games. Tires used on mini-vans are primarily 15 & 16 inch standard load passenger tires. Tires used on full size vans are larger 15 inch, standard & extra load, with some 16 inch tires on the newer vans. This van comes O.E. with a P205/70R15, standard passenger tire.

While cargo & passenger vans are counted as light trucks by the vehicle manufacturers, they generally use standard passenger or commercial light truck tires (as indicated in the examples above) & not recreational light truck tires, so they will NOT be covered in greater detail in this site.

2-Wheel Drive vs. 4-Wheel Drive
It is interesting to note that approximately 34% of SUV's & 71% of Pickups are ordered with 2-wheel drive & the remaining with 4-wheel drive. The popularity of the 2-wheel drive is a clear indication of how many Light Truck owners expect to use their vehicles primarily on the road.