"E" Rated tires and what the "tire shops" say

[JohnsonJim]

OK...



I've got an 06 QC LB Cummins 3500 and need to get away from the stocker Michelin tires. I have a mid 80's slide in camper (8. 5') and tow my car trailer and willys rock crawler.



The stock tires are E rated and I would like a set of "mud type" E rated in a 33" (285/70/17).



So I head to Les S and to Commercial tire and ask for 10 ply. The Commercial guys are like "you can just use an 8 ply and you'll be fine". I say "I want a 10 ply because I tow a trailer and slide in camper" They come back with... "my dad/grandpa/momma uses these coopers and they have never had a problem" I ask if they had a camper... . um no... was the answer from them. Were the "Commercial Tire" guys just trying to sell me tires and NOT listen to my needs? I wonder howmany people have been duped by tire folks like this... .





Schwabs says we only have this "toyo" tire (an AT) in a 10 ply. Or for lots more $$$ get the 35 MT of the Toyo. He told me about 8 ply but did ot try to sell me what I did not want.



I've read through all the tire posts here and seems that the consensus is that if you need/want a 10 ply E... then GET a 10 ply so that you don't have the "wiggle" that you get from the 8 ply.



I wish I could find a 285 10 ply in a MT. Those Cooper SST's are "cool" lookin MT... but only an 8 ply.



I will say that the Commercial guys DID fix a bead leak I had on my 35" samper for the rock crawler for FREE!!!



I'll keep lookin for a tire that fits the bill... .



Jim

 

[Nate]

I went in to Shwabs the other day to get some stick on wheel weights to balance my tires and they wanted to sell me some Toyo's... claiming my BFGs were "eggs" because I needed to balance them

 

[Regcabguy]

I went in to Shwabs the other day to get some stick on wheel weights to balance my tires and they wanted to sell me some Toyo's... claiming my BFGs were "eggs" because I needed to balance them

Hold out for the "E"s,especially with the slide-in. My replacements will be "E"s for my application.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I wanted 10 ply D rated TOYO 285's went to Les Schwab, and GOT 10 ply D rated TOYOS - no hassle - no problem, and the tires are great! We use our truck as a tow vehicle for our 5th wheel - and right now are out on a 3 week 2000 mile trip...



It's your money get what YOU want for your truck!

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

I thought the BFG AT 285 70 R 17 load range D were 10 ply?

 

[JARichard]

Don't our BFG AT's have a 3 ply sidewall?

 

[VHolloway]

we love bfg mud tires

they work great for us 285/75/16

thanks

 

[JHardwick]

I didn't think radial tires had "plys"?

 

[NPantaleo]

Hankooks

I won two Hankook Dyanpro MT RT03 in a 315/70/17 on e-bay for cheap, so I bought two more. Although they haven't came in yet, I've seen them in person and have heard good things about them. While looking at Hankooks website, I noticed that they have a 35/12. 5/17 that is E rated. It is on the second page http://www.hankooktireusa.com/pdf/uploads/DyanproMT RT03.pdf . I know your looking for 285s, but thought I'd throw that in there. Good luck with whatever you get!



Nick

 

[Hohn]

Guys, it's ply RATING, not ACTUAL NUMBER OF PLIES!

E, D, C rated tells you NOTHING about the actual number of tire plies!

Radial tires DO have plies. They are just arranged "radially".

And for Gary's benefit, 10 ply is E rated, 8 ply is D rated. Again, just "ratings", not actual construction. D rated 10 ply? NO such animal!


Most of your heavy tires (E rated) are only 3 or 4 plies in reality. What separates an HD tire from a LD tire is not the NUMBER of plies so much as the thickness and type. Also, an HD tire will have much strong bead filler and shoulder thickness (where tread meets sidewall).

Justin

 

[JohnsonJim]

My point was that the tire stores are trying to SELL you something that THEY want to sell... not sell you what YOU want or NEED! They seem to miss the fact that it is a 1 TON pickup and will be using it for it's purpose.



Glad that D tires are fine for your truck... they wouel be for mine too if i did not have the load.



Here comes some sarcasim...



OK OK... I get it... since 80 percent of the truck owners do NOT used their truck for it's intended purpose... the BLING wheels and tires market has taken off... and the tire stores are more than willing to take your cash if you wnat 24's!!!



sarcasim off now



I will look at the Hankook 35's... thanks for the heads up... I have seen the tire... looks agressive... BUT... as soon as I get the 35's... you know what that means... .



KORE!!!! Ah... the wife will kill me.

 

[Nate]

The D plies on my truck are rated for around 3200lbs each, which is also the rating of my wheels. To exceed that, my truck would have to weigh in just under 13000 lbs.

 

[JasonCzerak]

I went for the D rated Nitto 295's..... NEVER AGAIN. and I don't tow much, I don't haul much. I do drive alot.



They are confortable and relativly quite... They look bad @$$ tho. They make the truck look much meaner.



I did do some towing, about 5000#, didn't even put more air in the tires, left them at 50psi (65psi max). They sat well on the ground with no bulges or anything "more" then unloaded.



BUT the second you get agressive in your driving, THEY SUCK. they wiggle all the time. OVER TIME tho, you'll get used to it and over/under steer where needed based on what's going on and a passenger won't reliaize your over compasating for the tires with a D rating that should be an E.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

And for Gary's benefit, 10 ply is E rated, 8 ply is D rated. Again, just "ratings", not actual construction. D rated 10 ply? NO such animal!

YUP - Hohn's correct, and I was typing faster than I was thinking, again...



My Toyo 285's are E rated, not D...



Now I'll go back and stand in the corner.



But the point is, if you know what you really want in a product, GET what you want - it's your money paying for it, not the salesman's. All that is pretty commonly true, unless you are not too informed as to various features of a product - and then if you are hooked up with a actually informed and knowledgeable salesperson, it doesn't hurt to listen. I've generally had excellent input from tires salesmen - they generally seem pretty knowledgeable about their stuff if you can properly communicate what you want and how you use your vehicle.

 

[goose1029]

ok new tire that looks great. id try em if i wasnt already good on tires.

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/truck.html



The radial mtz in size 265/70r17 is rated E. they dont list plies.

 

[Tomeygun]

BUT the second you get agressive in your driving, THEY SUCK. they wiggle all the time. OVER TIME tho, you'll get used to it and over/under steer where needed based on what's going on and a passenger won't reliaize your over compasating for the tires with a D rating that should be an E.

You are soooooo correct, its not even FUNNY!



Esp that part about getting used to it. I bet when I get the E-rated tire back that it will be like a new truck again...



Under load, I have TONS of wheel hop too, And BTW - tread wear is not the great, IMHO

 

[JasonCzerak]

You are soooooo correct, its not even FUNNY!



Esp that part about getting used to it. I bet when I get the E-rated tire back that it will be like a new truck again...



Under load, I have TONS of wheel hop too, And BTW - tread wear is not the great, IMHO

When you get that E rated tire on it. the first time you step on the go peddle your either going to _mental_ over steer into a 360, or drive right into a highway wall from _mental_ under steer

 

[ilovetrains]

I am surprised that any tire store would try to sell you a D rated tire. The stock tire is E rated, by going down a rating you open yourself to legal liability. Mention that to the sales guy and watch him run for his boss.

 

[JasonCzerak]

I am surprised that any tire store would try to sell you a D rated tire. The stock tire is E rated, by going down a rating you open yourself to legal liability. Mention that to the sales guy and watch him run for his boss.

I told the guy this is what I wanted. And he ordered what I wanted and installed it.



Would this liability be along hte same "requirement" that exhaust emissions are? I know legally an exhaust shot can't work on a system that doesn't have a cat (unless they are installing one). Can they leggaly install tires that are reliable?



Or would the ultimate measurement be the amount of weight the tire can support, 3000#'s? 2500#s? is there a min. limite on that number?

 

[jelag]

We had a early dodge 1 ton..... 93 or 94 with the cummins... . sold it with 500K miles...



We were having trouble blowing tires..... had been getting them at Schawb..... I looked at the truck, the load rating on the SIDEWALL of the tire and found that the tires were 2 sizes too small..... someone had miss read the sidewall 2 sets of tires before they just kept installing the wrong tires and replacing them under warranty... .



When I confronted them about it... they said that they were afraid that if they upgraded them... I wouldn't want to pay the difference..... $200 or so on 6 tires... . I asked them about how much we'd spent in down time with blown tires... ... and what that had cost... . any way I got them to take off the tires... and give me 75% credit towards the right tires..... 3 or 4 months later they were rotating the tires..... broke a stud off... and when they replaced the stud... they had to pull the axle and when they put the truck back together the guy overtightened the bearing cap nut... . and in 50 miles the bearings seized and broke the axle... . they were nice enough to pay..... for the repair, and the rental truck... .



They give good service when your there... . but if its more than a tire change they sure don't have a clue what they are doing... ...



When someone services my trucks I want someone who THINKS... ...



Remember as you change these tires... . and or wheels make sure the tires and wheels will handle the load... ... .



Just my nickles worth... . BTW... . I've always hated the way they talk down to the BFG owners.....