USA1 Z06

I'm new here, my first post here. I'm thinking about new tires for my 2000 Silverado with the Cast Aluminium OEM wheels. I just bought an enclosed trailer to haul my track car around. I will be right at the limit of towing capacity for my Silverado which is 8000 lbs. The tires I'm thinking about are Load Range E, which are 80 psi at max load. The question I have is will my stock OEM cast aluminium wheels take 80 psi. I think or I have heard the wheel rating should be stamped on the wheel somewhere. I havn't found it yet. Maybe it's on the inside. Does anybody know the wheel rating? Heck!, will the valve stem handle 80 psi for that matter? Thanks.

Mike Sigmond

Do you have "E" rated tires? Id put the amount of pressure in that is on the side of the tire if they are not factory tires. I have "E" rated aftermarket tires and they call for up to 80 PSI for the rear tires, the stock ones are the same PSI. I keep them at 60 PSI since I dont do alot of towing or hauling.

I am not an expert with tires but that is what I know, I am sure others will chime in here.

USA1 Z06

No, I still have the OEM tires P265/75R-16, they are rated at about 2600 lbs @ 44 psi but I want to move up to the LT265/75R-16 Load range E which is about 3400 lb @ 80 psi, to tow my 8000 lb. car hauler. My question is what are the OEM cast aluminum wheels rated at? I'm just concerned about 80 psi on the OEM wheels.

Mike Sigmond

I havent ever herd what the rims can hold, I am sure its much much higher than the tire. Hopefully someone here can verify that for the both of us. I really dont think it matters but I may be wrong.

MDTAHOE

Even when you switch to the load range E you should stick with the tire pressure in the door. The pressure on the tire is the Max pressure for that particular tire. The pressure in the door is based of the weight on the vehicle and its handling characteristics. Your new tires will last longer and your truck will ride best. If you want to run 80 psi while towing your wheel will be fine. You will need high pressure valve stems, they have metal in them, anyone selling you load range E tire should have or can get the correct ones if you ask. Now if the stems are tire monitors (TPMS) (if I remember correctly they are not, too old) then I have no idea what pressure they hold.

Mike Sigmond

Thanks MDTAHOE, my last set were "D" rated and if I went off the door specs I would overload the tires. I had a beef with the tire guy that put the D's on and filled them to the door specs, 20 PSI over the tire rating. I have the E's now and will never use D's again since the difference in price is about $10 per tire.

MDTAHOE

If someone sold you tires that the spec on the door was higher than the max spec on the tire they sold you the wrong tires and did not know what they were doing. Actually by law a tire store is not supposed to sell you tires that are rated less ( higher rating is OK) then the OE tire in load range or speed rating.

USA1 Z06

Thanks for the input. Yes, I only plan on running 80 psi when towing at max load, otherwise I will be running close to normal psi. 80 psi when not loaded would be a very harsh ride anyway. On the valve stems, I was concerned about 80 psi on them as well. I guess I'll have to shop around for something that will work on my stock OEM wheels. Thanks.

Mike Sigmond

Thats exactly what happened, I just let it go since I didnt do much towing/hauling. I didnt notice it until a friend of mine told me, I guess I could have gone the legal route with them but that would have cost me more than the tires in legal fees & I put 10,000mi on them before I was notified of it.

lukemoore646

the only problem I have seen with stock wheels was a set of steel wheels on an 02, it cracked every single one at different times, the driver said it would just start shaking really badly and then the tire would go low, it cracked the factory weld on the inside, since aluminum is not weled you should be fine and any good tire guy can get valve stems that are good well beyond 80psi