I can find many articles that show my theory is right.
Your link seems to confirm that ratings charts are used to keep the public confused in order ti upsell tires.
I found nothing in that link that confirms your theory. The same size tire at the same pressure supporting the same weight will have the same footprint, for all practical purposes whether itās a 90 or 95 load index tire. If the load exceeds the 90 tireās capabilities, it will blow out. It will not be squashed down.
@CapriRacer - help!
It appears nothing is going to change the OPās thinking.
My pleasure, texases.
This can be solved by the answer to a simple question: What is the load carrying capacity of an Extra Load tire when operated at Standard Load conditions? Put another way, if I operate a 215/50R17 XL at 32 psi (the OPās vehicle tire placard condition), is it the same as a 215/50R17 SL at 32 psi - and the answer is yes.
That means that the deflection of both an XL and a SL are the same if they are inflated to the same pressure - and since the deflection is the same, the footprints must also be the same.
Absolutely NOT. Foot print of a tire is determined by vehicle weight and tire pressure. In fact you can determine a vehicles weight by measuring the tires footprint and the tires reassure setting.