Unsprung weight and payload

[bouvier]

First post. I am near to placing an order for a PB Lariat. With our 20' sailboat and 19' RV we are not going to be pushing the limits on payload/towing capacity. However, I am interested in achieving a comfortable capacity margin in order to provide future options as well as a buffer for safely towing in our mountainous area. It is easy to evaluate options and their relative weight and make a go/no go decision to maximize payload. However, I'll admit to being confused about where wheels and tires fit into the payload determination as their being unsprung weight. Regardless of the impact of unsprung weight on payload, I'm interested in minimizing unnecessary unsprung weight. The Autoblog suspension deep dive seen on this forum showed the weight of a 20" wheel and tire combo at 81 lbs. The author lamented the decreasing tire sidewall size prevalent in many trucks. The tire diameter of the 275/60-20 is about 33". The tire diameter of the 275/65-18 is about an inch less. My thinking is to get a 275/70-18 tire to get the same diameter of the 20" tire. However, shopping for tires is giving me pause. In the 275/70-18 size there is a significant weight difference between tires even when durability is roughly equivalent. For example: the Michelin Defender comes in at 57 lbs. while the Nokian One HT weighs 47 lbs. There are both heavier and lighter tires in this size. Boy howdy that seems like a pretty big difference. Is this unsprung weight thing much ado about nothing? Would additional sidewall height make a worthwhile contribution to an already comfortable ride? Might there be handling issues? Thanks.

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