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

[RustyJC]

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?

I think you have it there. If someone went to larger D-rated tires, the new tires should not have a load rating (in pounds the tire can carry) less than (in this example) the original E-rated tires.



This is a general comment and not an endorsement of substituting D-rated tires for towing or carrying slide-in campers.



Rusty

 

[troll3193]

My other experience with the tire guys not getting it is their inability to realize truck tires use different pressure than car tires. .



Had to get my tires re-balanced a while back, and as part of it, they had to break the beads and re-inflate them.



Got back in my truck and could barely steer it, they had them inflated to 35lbs...



Sticker on the truck says 60 front/70 back



Just had a valve stem replaced last week and that shop put the tire at 50psi...



Bryan

 

[JasonCzerak]

My other experience with the tire guys not getting it is their inability to realize truck tires use different pressure than car tires. .



Had to get my tires re-balanced a while back, and as part of it, they had to break the beads and re-inflate them.



Got back in my truck and could barely steer it, they had them inflated to 35lbs...



Sticker on the truck says 60 front/70 back



Just had a valve stem replaced last week and that shop put the tire at 50psi...



Bryan

Had that happen when I had a nail repaired in one of my stock tires.



I took the kid and pointed at the tire,



asked "what's wrong with that picture",

he goes, it's fine, it's inflated to 32psi. .

I ask, why do all the other tires not have that buldges

he goes, I'm not sure.

I insturct him to read the sidewalls right now, and then inflat to 60psi (front tire).



I inform him there is 4700#'s on the front tires right now, more then more cars total. Learn you job already.



I was a prick, but this was so freaking obvious it made me sick to think this kid just repaired it.



I promptly moved that tire to the rear of the truck, and lowered to an unloaded PSI of 50 and it was fine. But the main point still stands.

 

[wcjp]

Some D rated tires can have a high capacity. It may be worth your time to head back to Les S. and check the actual ratings of the tires. They may be near or equal to an E rated tire.

 

[JohnsonJim]

To the previous poster... YES they may have a higher load rating but they are not E rated or 10 ply.



What I have gotten from this is that the "slide in camper haulers" are saying to use an E tire. That is what I want... I know what I want... and will get what I want... since it is my money (as someone posted early on).



I started this post because of the conflicting info that is on the board... AND mainly from the TIRE SHOPS.



I stopped by Bruneel Tire (american tire factory) and asked about the Hankook HT03 MT (the mud tire) in a 35x12. 50x17. They have that in a 10 ply. Price out the door for 4 with mount balance and tax was like 1300.



The guys at that store were like... "slide in camper"... you NEED the E rated 10 ply NOT the 8 ply or D. ding ding ding... we have a winner here.....

 

[Jeremiah]

Here's a G w/a 1-ply sidewall!

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



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

Precisely. My Hankooks are 14-ply rating - G's in other words and they are 1-ply steel sidewall, 4-ply steel tread. 'Course the tires are 19. 5's in 245 70. And they ride better than OEMs!

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Jim basically what you're getting at is you need great sidewall strength. In reality I think this varies significantly from tire to tire. The stock 17" BFGs are Load Range E but they squirm around more than the stock Michelins. That's probably because the BFGs have a 3195 lbs rating and I think the Michelins are 3405 lbs. When I look at tire ratings I usually look closer at the weight ratings than what load range it is. There's some strong Range Ds out there that are better than some Es!



The problem with our pickups is they're equipped with passenger/light truck category tires and we're at the ragged upper edges of the capacity range of this market . . . especially if you're talking 17". You're not going to get that far walking into tire shops and asking for a 17" 3500 lb E tire. You might be better off looking to go with 19. 5" commercial tires.



Vaughn

 

[coobie]

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

There is good info located on tires here www.tirerack.com I have had the bridgestone dueler at/revos installed 265-70R17,s (E-RATED)on my truck the last 8,000 miles,very happy so far over the stock michelins. coobie

 

[Jeremiah]

Jim basically what you're getting at is you need great sidewall strength.



The problem with our pickups is they're equipped with passenger/light truck category tires and we're at the ragged upper edges of the capacity range of this market . . . especially if you're talking 17". You're not going to get that far walking into tire shops and asking for a 17" 3500 lb E tire. You might be better off looking to go with 19. 5" commercial tires.



Vaughn

Precisely correct. I was in a tire shop today just browsing around. The manager was giving advice on various stuff, what kind of tire I needed, which shock, etc. , and when I told him I had 19. 5s his eyes got kinda big and he said, "Why, that's what I have on my motorhome. " So much for his knowledge of what's available for pickups. Jim needs a real truck tire.

 

[JohnsonJim]

Coobie... good point.



The deal was that the tire shops were telling me something else and never did mention the weight rating of the D tire... just. . "oh yeah... these look cool. " OR even cared that I carried a slide in camper.



Great. Gimme a fart can tail pipe tip too... and some neon and those dual windshield wipers with the "wings" on them!!! ha!



As to the other posters with the 265's in the E... Those I know I can get... I just wanted a biggger tire than the stock size. (diameter).

 

[BHaner]

Here is what I have. I haul an 11' 3500# camper, and race trailer. No problems.



295/70R17 Toyo M/T 10 ply Load Range E



3970# @ 80 PSI



#ad




#ad




#ad

 

[Tomeygun]

Here is what I have. I haul an 11' 3500# camper, and race trailer. No problems.



295/70R17 Toyo M/T 10 ply Load Range E



3970# @ 80 PSI

Funny you mention those tires... Those are the tires of choice after I leave IRP with these tires bald...

 

[BHaner]

Funny you mention those tires... Those are the tires of choice after I leave IRP with these tires bald...

yup! I love them. . All except for the price. :{



So far, I have about 20k on them and still about 3/4 tread.

 

[JohnsonJim]

Well... that 295 is pretty cool... but they do not list that on the Toyo web site..... wonder if they stopped making that tire size.



This is all they list for the MT



35x12. 50R17 125Q E/10 3640 lbs

37x13. 50R17 131Q E/10 4300 lbs

 

[Jeepr]

Take a look at the Procomp tires also, they have several in "E" load range.

 

[Tomeygun]

yup! I love them. . All except for the price. :{



So far, I have about 20k on them and still about 3/4 tread.

I noticed that... Funny thing, I went down to the A/T style and then the 285/295 series was not E rated, only D...

 

[Huskerman]

The 2 or 3 folks on this thread must be about the only 2 or 3 folks in the US who have had bad experiences with Les Schwabs because I have never, ever, ever heard bad things about them until this thread.



I could go on and on and on with examples where they went above and beyond for me but that point of this thread is really about tires so I won't bother.



Jim, I too live in Meridian and the Les Schwabs here has always, always been straight up with me. Even when I told them I wanted BFG's, they didn't blink, they didn't try and push something else.



As for the tire they recommended, the Toyo is an awesome tire in both AT & MT. I thought both were E rated. I don't toy anything more than a single axle utility trailer but when these D rated BFG's wear out, I will be putting on a set of Toyo's. I haven't heard a complaint about them yet and I know I will feel better about having an E rated tire on the truck.



Now if I could just get somebody to give me the official weight rating on my H2 wheels I would sleep better!!



Huskerman

 

[JohnsonJim]

Huskerman... I will have to go back and re-read my first post... but it was not Les that gave me the "business" it was Commercial. They are the one that did not seem to care about the load I was carrying... just that the tires would "look good".



I've had an account with Les since 1989 or 1990. Have purchased lots of tires and if I've ever had a problem... it was taken care of right away. I DID buy a set of Bridgestone duellers in a 16" from Commerical a few years back. Wanted that tire and got a hell of a deal on a wheel and tire package... I knew the asst mgr and got the "hook up"



Now... the asst manager at Les helped me AFTER closing time and found some tires in the size I was looking for but only had one in the E range. That was the 285 Toyo AT. He also mentioned that getting (finding) the Toyo MT in a 35 E range would be difficult at best... :{ At the time of my looking I was not really considereing the 35". Trying to stay with a 33".



The main point was that even though you know what you want/need some of the employees want to sell you something totally different. It was more of an observation of 3 different tire stores... not meant to be a bashing.

 

[Huskerman]

I hear ya Jim. Nothing peeves me more than doing a bunch of research, deciding what I want and then having a clueless sales-person that knows less than I do, try and push something else.



Reminds me of the time I tried to buy a Kimber . 45 at Sportsmans in Meridian and the jack@ss tried to push the Springfield on me. Haven't been back since.



Huskerman

 

[J&LRam]

JohnsonJim

yeah your right about some tire dealers that don't sell or have that many customers that use "E" rated truck tires. My old truck tire dealer has lots of contract cattle/horse/commerical/hotshoters and has give him lots of feedback on tire manufactors claims vs what actually works in the long haul. He's pretty quick to tell his new costomers about not using "D" rated tires on HD 2500/3500 trucks if they are hauling heavy. He had one customer that had 16" load range "C" [ 6 ply rated ] 3400 load capacity tires on his 37' Toyhauler and wanted him to order the same for his F350 SRW truck. The dealer refused. To many folks derate their load range "E" tire recommendation their truck manufactors give. A "E" [10 ply rated] tire has a heavier/thicker sidewall than a "D" [8 ply rated] tire.



JIM