Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Load range E on a light truck.

I've been running 245 75 r 16's on my Dakota. I've been looking for replacements, and load range C's seem to be hard to come by in everything but a couple of brands. I'd expect to get a little worse mileage in stop and go; not too worried, as I don't do that much of it. What about the ride?

The e range tire is noticably heavier, tires more expensive, and the recommended air pressure is higher and the ride will be rougher. Imho. Good luck.

Will last forever, probably longer than your rattling teeth. Will beat the hell out of your suspension too. Best bet is to get P rated tires unless it is always loaded heavy.

If you just must do this, look at the Yokohama E rated tires.
More pliable sidewall, softer ride, and even in AT tread, very quiet.
Stay away from Toyo. No traction, stiff, noisy. Darn things just won't die though.

Will NOT last forever, but should last longer than a p-metric and will be more resistant to puncture. Will also be heavier and produce a rougher ride and will reduce your MPG a bit.

You must run them at a higher psi to get the same load raising as a p-metric tire. I used to run them on a 1/2 ton when I ran a lot of flint rock road. I believe I ran 265/75r16's at 45 to 48 psi. Load range E is all I will run on a 3/4 ton truck.

That being said, when I quit running as much flint rock road, I started using p-metrics on my 1/2 tin before I got rid of it, and can't say anything too bad about them, even when towing.

FWIW (not much actually) most p-metrics have a mileage warranty, while most LT's do not (Toyo AT2 and Michelen being exceptions). Even with a warranty, it is usually less than the same tire in a p-metric. I would go for them if you run a lot of dirt road or have had puncture problems.

E's are heavier and will use more gas to turn over. If you're off pavement a lot, you likely won't notice the difference, though.

E range tires are more expensive, so, from a cost consideration, you might consider whatever C range tires you can find. I know Cooper has plenty of them and they are reasonable.
Technically, putting pasenger tires on a 1/2 ton truck is illegal for a tire dealer. So that could be a problem.
I found out the hard way that running passenger tires on my little Jeep can lead to flats off road. Even C range tires, w/o additional side wall protection can have problems.
So, if you run around in the rocks much, either an off road tire with beefier sidewalls, or an E range tire can be worth having.
You can run E range tires with alot less air than the 80 psi they are usually rated for. But they don't flex much for traveling in soft sand. If that what you do much of, then an off road tire, with beefed up side walls, is the way to go. E

what 24mile said. Why spend extra money for capacity you can't ever use and for a harsher ride?

Bullshiat. 99.9% of the 1/2 ton trucks and SUVs sitting on dealer lots have OEM P rated tires.

E rated tires are a waste of money on a 1/2 ton truck. Despite what everyone seems to think,E rated tires aren't any more puncture proof than a C rated tire.

Bias-ply tires actually had 6,8,10,etc ply construction and more plys ment more puncture resistance.

More plys ment more weight capacity as well.

Todays C,D,E rated radial tires are bias ply "equivalent" in terms of weight capacity. A C rated tire is 6 ply equivalent,a D is 8 ply equivalent and so on.

Even an E rated 10 ply equivalent radial only has a couple tread plys.

I run E rated Coopers on my Chevy 1500 and my Ram 2500. I don't think I'll ever run anything less. I've had excellent wear and I like having more tire than I need.

Might be that they do that. But I had a hunting partner that got a new set of upgraded tires because that practice. All he had to do was call the regional sales office for Ford and point out the federal laws concerning this. E

I run 235/85/16 E tires on my Dbl cab Tacoma. They work just fine.

There's gotta be more to the story than that. As Mossy said, 99.9% of the half ton pickups out there came from the factory with passenger tires, I doubt the factories would subject themselves to multiple millions of lawsuits every year if it were illegal. If anything, putting E rated tires on the rims that come from the factory on half tons would be illegal. The rims on most half tons aren't rated for the 80 psi the E rated tires require for their full weight rating.

As I understand it, the tires have to meet certain load carrying specs and speed ratings for each vehicle. I'm not sure they have to be a designated truck tire, but they must be able to carry safely the weight of a fully loaded truck at highway speeds even in hot weather.
Second, what makes you think they are sold as they come from the factory with such tires ? Dealers often change tires and wheels when they get the vehicle. If they do that, it makes some trucks more saleable. But the cheap tires have to go somewhere. That's what they sold my ex hunting partner. He got a "great deal" on the truck, but he also got tires nobody wanted. After a nudge from the regional sales office, he got five new, expensive off road tires for free.
As far as today's 1/2 ton wheels not being able to take load range "E" tires, that's not my understanding. Try shopping for tire and wheel combinations. There are no designated "1/2 ton only" rated truck wheels. E

I run E's on my F-150....Popped two sets of P with a load in rocky terrain.Pulling a travel trailer at 9,000 lbs loaded and a wood trailer in the same category,I need the toughest tire I can get within my budget....

Can't tell a bit of difference in ride...The E's are set 35-40 lbs empty and 45-50 lbs loaded with a 50,000 mile warranty.

Couldn't be happier with the E-rated tire and the piece of mind of not popping one out in rocky terrain loaded far from home..Been there done that to many times.

Jayco

Water this way...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=70

David

I have BFG all terrain E range tires on my Toyota Tacoma. Despite what has been said above mine ride like a dream and I am getting 16city/21 highway with my truck, which is about the same as my friends Taco with stock tires.

I've got 265/75 r16 E Mickey Thompson ATZ's on my '12Tacoma DCSB Off Road and I've got the same results - good ride, mileage virtually unchanged from stock, averaging about 19 mpg for my daily driving. 54,000 miles on these MT's and they still have a lot of tread, no punctures, no cuts driving in cactus and rock...

David

Nine out of ten or more 1/2 ton trucks get sold with the same tires they got delivered with. What are they going to do with all those too big for car tires that come on the trucks? Your buddy may have sniveled up the right tree, but nothing even remotely illegal about P series tires on 1/2 tons.