SL Rated Tires for Towing

manyman297

I'm in the market for new tires for my '20 Tacoma. I'm getting conflicting opinions on if SL rated tires are good enough for towing. Some say yes, some say no. Specs wise I'm well within the rated weight capacity so I'm confused why some people would say they aren't good for towing. I have E-rated tires now and I'd never buy them again because of the rough ride. 

Grumpy_G

Tacomas don't require any higher load rating than SL and if that's what the truck came with it is sufficient for towing from a load perspective. However to achieve good ride quality SL tires are more flexible (engineers call it "compliant") compared to LT tires. A heavy trailer that tries to move the tow vehicle around can make the rear of the truck feel squishy. Given the size and the weight of the T@bs that's probably not an issue, but a friend of mine with a much larger dual axle trailer changed tires twice to get rid of that feeling. 
On my Jeeps I have C rated LT tires which are sturdier off-road and do well when towing while not as heavy and rough riding as E rated tires.