Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives load range C or E tires for half ton 4x4?

The day is coming when I need to replace the current (goodyears) tires on my 1/2 ton 4x4. I do tow a travel trailer at times (about 5500 lbs), though typically less than 1K miles per year. Balance of the year it is pavement driving with the occasional gravel road, nothing extreme for sure!
What will load range E tires give me that will be of actual benefit over C range tires, for the extra couple hundred dollars they will cost. I am likely going with Michelins.

E's will give you about 500 to 1000lb more weight capacity per tire depending on the size and type of tire. Go to their web site and enter the size of tires you need. Then compare the load capacities of C's & E's. Most likely C's will be enough but we don't know what you load in the pickup. E's will give you a stiff ride to go with the lighter wallet.

Give me C's for that role. They ride noticeably better.

Yokohama Geolanders in 8 ply will be about as good as it gets for a 1/2ton. Can tell you that e's will become very noisy over time. The 8 ply Geos wont.

The "P" rated tires that come on it are rated for more weight than "C" rated tires. The primary advantage LT tires offer are tougher sidewalls if you drive off road in areas with large rocks that come in contact with the sidewalls. If you're into hard core off road driving you need LT tires. If not the P series will carry more weight than the truck is rated for, cost less and ride better.

Thanks for the info. I typically do not load the truck heavy, it is only a half ton and will never become a 3/4 or 1 ton! I was fussed about degrading the daily ride quality with the E range tires as it is our only vehicle.

I guess some guys have more a more sensitive ass than I do. I went from P-rated tires on my Frontier (~4500# curb weight) to E rated LT tires and didn't notice any difference in ride quality. Same was true when I went from P-rated tires on my Grand Cherokee to D load range LTs, granted it was lifted and rode like a dump truck to begin with. They were louder than the P-rated tires but I also went to a far more aggressive tire in both instances. When I put new tires on my F-150 I'm going with E's again, but it's also the only option in the size and tire I want.

For me personally, I wouldn't want the extra weight. Those load range E tires are heavy!! For what you do, an LT tire would be fine, or even an Extra load range tire. Load range E tires have an 85psi max inflation. You wouldn't run them that high for what you do, but that is what helps to "stabilize" the tires during heavy loads. (sidewalls don't squat)

If you don't need the heavy, more expensive tire for what you do, don't buy them.

I may get flamed for this, but my philosophy is, don't buy a diesel if you don't really need it. Don't buy a 4x4 if you have no need, and don't put huge tires on if you don't plan to update the running gear. Of course, all of that is useless if you really want the look.


JMO


Clyde

I used to run E's on a 1/2 ton I had when I lived down a flint rock road on the farm. I run them now because all I have are 2500's. If you do run them, be aware of 2 things. First, you need more air pressure than a p metric tire to maintain a given load. In other words, if your door sticker says 35, you will need 45 or a bit more. Second, I would have the tire shop put high pressure valve stems on when they change.

I like E rated tires on a 4X4 for the added sidewall strength. Most flats I've received offroad involved the sidewall and not the tread area. I've never noticed a difference in ride quality going from a C to an E when using the same model of tire. Some tires are just better than others, and good tires are good whether they are C or E. Also, just because they are E rated doesn't mean you need them aired up to 45+lbs for everyday use. Much of the rough ride attributed to E tires comes from over inflating them for normal use. Chalk test them and run them at the correct pressure.

Howabout a compromise and go with D rated. Added strength than C, only a little heavier, and usually not that much more expensive. D rated tires are great if you can get them in the size and model you want.

The rating system used for P series tires and LT series tires are different, the LT ratings have a larger safety margin built in than the P ratings. The standard rule is to reduce the listed capacity of a P rated tire in a load bearing application by 9% when comparing to a LT tire. When you apply the correction factor you'll find the P rated tire won't carry the weight a C rated LT tire will carry.

I am running load range E tires on a Toyota Tacoma. They work fine.

Why have so many tire makers dropped the D range?

I think it's just consolidating production lines for economy of scale. E is the standard for 3/4 and 1 ton pickups & many run them on half tons also, where D's aren't suited to the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks although I think some 3/4 tons come with D's. I went back and forth between D's and E's for my 2016 Tundra before settling on the E's. They ride a bit rougher than I'd like but not too terribly bad and they weren't any more expensive than the D's. I figured just go for the tougher tire and be done with it.

Heavier wall tires are much better for what you are doing....especially gravel.....rocks will go through those thin tires....won't last near as long either....get a set of mischlin ms and run for the next 100 k...

I have 2004 Tacoma.That has D's on it.I questioned the tire shop about putting P's on it and they said they would not honor a warranty.Of course they want to always put 35#' psi or more in them and it calls for 29 or 30 on the door tag that softens the ride

They put 35 pounds in them because running them at the same pressure as P's causes them to have a lower load rating than P's. You have to run D's and E's at higher pressure than P's to get an equivalent load rating. Generally speaking, you have to run around 45 psi in an E to have a roughly equivalent rating to a P.

The truck came new with the D's and the doors sticker says 29&30. I just checked these Coopers I have on it now and it says Standard Load. It does not show any C,D, or E (NO letter designation) and max PSI of44 psi for max load. So what do I have? I know if I put 35 psi in them the truck will about bounce off the road.) I have new struts and new rear shocks on it

You have P-metric tires. What tires does your door sticker say those inflations are for? Whoever you bought it from may have swapped tires.

The door sticker says P265/70R16 111T. The tires on it only say 265/70R16 Standard load

I put 265-75-16 rated load range E on my '03 Taco and the last time I had them rotated the tire guy said, "Gee, these are a little too large and rated too heavy for your truck, Why'd you go with these?"
I like them a little stiff and I had him check the mileage, 60K on a 50K warranty tire and they'll last till spring at least....

The only trade off is they're stiff when CRAWLING in rocks and the traction isn't as good as softer tires in Rocks but the sidewalls are as good as new and I'll buy them again for the 99.5% or driving I do.
No flats, no drama, throw a couple elk in back and drive home with a gear trailer behind.

Edit to add, My hunting partner much prefers load range C as they're softer and he's in the rocks a lot more than I am.

I'd probably stick with the P rated tires, given your description of how you use your truck.

I replaced the worn Michelins that came on my Tundra with stock size E rated Goodyear Duratracs. I got them since I do a fair amount of driving on logging roads, tow a 4,500 lb trailer, and haul occasional loads that are at the limit of what the truck can handle. While the D/T's are grippier off road and have the stronger sidewalls, there are significant downsides to them. They do not handle as well as the Michelins, acceleration and braking performance is noticeably reduced, the ride suffers, and I drop a couple of mpgs. I believe that this is due to the much greater weight of the E rated tires.

Long story short, I bought a set of OEM Tundra take off wheels and tires on Craigslist to use in the summer, and put the D/T's on in the fall and take them off in the spring since I do most off-roading during that time. It works for me, and the wife is happy with the cushy ride on summer road trips.

If I only wanted to mess with one set of wheels and tires, I'd get the P rated Michelins in the most aggressive tread they had, and call it a day.

[quote=sigguy

I replaced the worn Michelins that came on my Tundra with stock size E rated Goodyear Duratracs. I got them since I do a fair amount of driving on logging roads, tow a 4,500 lb trailer, and haul occasional loads that are at the limit of what the truck can handle. While the D/T's are grippier off road and have the stronger sidewalls, there are significant downsides to them. ]quote

I didn't find that to be the case.The DT sidewalls rolled on bends when under a heavy load,even inflated to max. This was on 2500 Dodge, Cummins along with a 1500" slide in, pop up camper, and a three horse bumper pull trailer, loaded. Running down the road at about 16,000 pounds total. I put Cooper SST Max's on it and it does much better

Sorry, you addressed a question to me and I was out of town. SL or standard load tires are the same as P (for passenger) rated tires. Here is a small chart that may help. The pressures listed are what achieves maximum load carrying capacity for the tire. So...if you run a E rated tire lower than 80, it's load carrying capacity is reduced from its rated max to something less. There are charts available to show what happens to carrying capacity as pressure is diminished. You don't need to run D or E tires at their max psi on a 1/2 ton, but you DO generally need to run them at a higher psi than the original P rated tires called for.

Link

One more link. It is maybe more than you wanted to know, but pay particular attention to page 11, which describes the procedure for determining the proper tire pressure when going from a P metric to an LT (D or E) rated tire.

Link

I can believe that. Your 3/4 ton diesel must weigh at least 1K lbs more than a 1/2 ton gasser, plus your load. I have to keep my D/T's at 48 lbs per tire on the Tundra empty, or it handles like crap. Yep, the sidewalls seem to have a lot of flex. By wanting stronger sidewalls, I was hoping for more abrasion resistance on the D/T's than the P series Michelins.

For Pat's needs, I still vote for a good P series tire like Michelins.

I had LT tires on our 1/2 ton suburban for several years without a problem, than switched to P-metrics. 2 flat later in the sidewalls and I am back to LTs, but this time they are Michelin Defenders E-rated. They run down the road real nice and mileage is as good or better than the P-metrics I had on before. The "P" were a different brand though.