Do I need load range E tires?

[N80]

Thanks guys.

Some replies to a few points made:

I've driven trucks all my life so I'm used to truck-ride trade-offs. None of them ride great. All of them ride different. When I have the option I'll always elect to take the car on long trips.

Tread wear on these tires has been excellent. They're getting toward the end of their service life and there is some feathering and more noise but wear is even otherwise. Since I often forget to let air out of them after a tow they have probably spent more time near 50 than 35 but they've spent plenty of miles at 35.

I think the wheels are 18". Maybe 19".

I drive off road every weekend but not far. Less than a mile. In fact, I'm probably going to go with a less aggressive tread this time for that very reason. Tired of tire noise. I have a older 'farm' truck for the dirty work and mud tires.

The shocks are OEM. 90k miles on truck. There is nothing 'wrong' with them but would agree that they may not be very good and are probably not matched well to these heavy E rated tires.

Anyway, lots of good info here. My plan is to stay in the D range this time. Not a total street tire but less aggressive tread than these.

As always, I appreciate the good advice from you guys.

 

[Vigo327]

I would recommend changing the dampers whenever the budget allows. They do multiple things, and wear is more evident in some of their jobs than others. For example, even a fairly worn damper will do a decent job keeping the truck from 'porpoising' or continuing to move up and down after hitting a bump. But, the other job they do is control the 'release' of the tire back downward after it has crested the top of a bump. A lot of times that side of the bump actually feels worse than the going up, if the damper is not doing a great job. Shocks can be bad at that and still not 'porpoise'. The difference between an old and new shock is very evident on the 'harshness' of speed bumps (above a certain minimum speed, anyway), and if you pay close attention you will notice it has to do with the down travel of the suspension more than the up travel.

So weak damping of short/high frequency movements are a less obvious telltale of wear, that has a bigger impact on 'ride quality', than porpoising (long/low frequency movements) which is obvious but does not really contribute to the 'jitteriness' of the ride. Dampers'
failure to damp short/high frequency movements also contributes to the development of tire noise due to 'cupping' wear.

 

[Jstpssng]

I drive a lot of dirt roads so ran load Range E on my Ranger, and have them on my Colorado. Granted it makes for a rougher ride, and possibly a bit less gas mileage but I HATE changing flats... especially when I always seem to get them after a long day in the pouring rain. The last time that I bought "C" rated tires was before the turn of the century and I was constantly popping them. I used to carry two or sometimes 3 spares, now I just have the one which came with the truck. (It's just like having a donut for a passenger car.) Generally speaking, about the time that I have a flat it's time for a new set of tires anyways.

 

[sandman2234]

Interesting thread...
I never go lower on tire ratings, always higher. I just changed the tires on my 20 foot enclosed trailer that only had 1000 miles on them, to go to a higher load range due to a couple reasons. One was the tires were manufactured 5 years earlier, and two that I was fixing to make a 700 mile trip with a load of household furniture that I had no idea of it's weight. (everything my Daughter owned).
My Big Tex trailer came with 10 ply tires, now runs 14 ply tires.
My truck uses the highest range of tires that I have found available without special ordering them. I want to be able to replace them if I loose one while on a trip.
David from jax

 

[DaBear3428]

on all of my trucks, jeeps, suvs i go to "e" rated as soon as the stocks are ready to go (sometimes sooner). I tend to go to places that the standard SL rated tire (i think that equivalent to "c" rated) won't cut it. all it took was 1 stone puncture in a sleet storm 30 miles off road to make that my standard tire.
1 trick is to take some chalk and draw a line across the tread and drive straight 20 feet on flat pavement with the operating load on board. then look at it, if the line is warn evenly across the tread then you have the right pressure for the load, if more warn in the center you need less air and vise versa.

 

[N80]

Update: Time for new tires. They are down close to the wear bars and the noise is getting awful. Of the 62 tires at Tire Rack at OEM size, 56 are load range E. There is one C, one D and four "standard". And every dang one of them is expensive.

The one "D" is heavy mud lug which I do not need.

In the load range "E" tires they all seem to have the same load index.

So at this point it looks like E is about the only option.

Edit: I will also plan on changing the shock. The bad thing about that is that the fronts are coilovers so that is not a job I can do myself. I don't have a spring compression tool and have never used one so not for me. So that is going to get expensive.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Good tires are expensive. Bad tires or cheap tires can also be even more expensive.

 

[DaBear3428]

Update: Time for new tires. They are down close to the wear bars and the noise is getting awful. Of the 62 tires at Tire Rack at OEM size, 56 are load range E. There is one C, one D and four "standard". And every dang one of them is expensive.

The one "D" is heavy mud lug which I do not need.

In the load range "E" tires they all seem to have the same load index.

So at this point it looks like E is about the only option.

Edit: I will also plan on changing the shock. The bad thing about that is that the fronts are coilovers so that is not a job I can do myself. I don't have a spring compression tool and have never used one so not for me. So that is going to get expensive.

you can get the coilovers preloaded with new springs for not a whole lot more money and avoid spring compressors

 

[Quickster2]

What tires and load rating came with the truck? I would stick with that.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

I run Falken Wildpeak E rated tires on my trucks. Fronts I keep around 60-65 and rears at 55. Not a bad riding tire. Seems to be a good balance between snow, mud and blacktop.

 

[RjCorazza]

There are tuners available that allow you to reset the pressure at which the alarm goes off.

I have "E" tires on my F150 and E350. 40 psi is the max I run in those tires. The "E" range tires on my Jeep Wrangler run a max of 20 psi. Been that way for years with no problems.

I ended up getting a tuner last week to adjust the tpms settings. Worked like a charm!

 

[Hughman]

The "E" range tires on my Jeep Wrangler run a max of 20 psi. Been that way for years with no problems.

Me too, on a leaf spring yj. Rough ride? Maybe, but not sure I can blame the tires.

 

[deserteagle71]

What tires and load rating came with the truck? I would stick with that.

The tires that come with the truck, unless you spec out the heavy payload package, are optimized for smooth ride and good fuel mileage. If you drive dirt roads, haul heavy loads, or tow, those OEM tires are not going to do well.

 

[N80]

I would recommend changing the dampers whenever the budget allows. They do multiple things, and wear is more evident in some of their jobs than others. For example, even a fairly worn damper will do a decent job keeping the truck from 'porpoising' or continuing to move up and down after hitting a bump. But, the other job they do is control the 'release' of the tire back downward after it has crested the top of a bump. A lot of times that side of the bump actually feels worse than the going up, if the damper is not doing a great job. Shocks can be bad at that and still not 'porpoise'. The difference between an old and new shock is very evident on the 'harshness' of speed bumps (above a certain minimum speed, anyway), and if you pay close attention you will notice it has to do with the down travel of the suspension more than the up travel.

So weak damping of short/high frequency movements are a less obvious telltale of wear, that has a bigger impact on 'ride quality', than porpoising (long/low frequency movements) which is obvious but does not really contribute to the 'jitteriness' of the ride. Dampers'
failure to damp short/high frequency movements also contributes to the development of tire noise due to 'cupping' wear.

Update: This ^

Two and a half years after I posted this thread the ride harshness got to the point where I finally got around to changing the shocks. I spent a little extra on Blistein shocks because they got good reviews for this specific model. All of the steering issues and harshness over sharp bumps is gone.

It was very expensive to have a mechanic do this job. Yes, you can get shocks with springs preloaded on them but at that point it was a wash in terms of total cost and those shocks are primarily made for lifted trucks. I did not look at bargain shocks with preloaded springs so you might could save some money there in the short term.

 

[RayIN]

I wouldn’t think the load range would change the ride as you describe it.

I used to keep the E load tires on my truck at 72 psi all the time - plowing, towing, and empty.

Empty pickups can also drive really squirrelly when the bed is empty. Just putting a few hundred pounds in the bed over the rear axle always seems to improve the ride.

It’s quite possible that the actual truck suspension is getting worn out too.

Also keep in mind thst trucks generally are not going to drive as smooth as a car since they have a tougher truck suspension

I agree. LR E, AT tires on a ½T pickup puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the steering and suspension parts.
I have P-rated tires on my Silverado K1500 and it comfortably tows a 24' dovetail equipment trailer @ 55MPH hauling my 6,000# tractor. I do however inflate the tires to sidewall max when towing that trailer.
When I bought this last set of tires I bought LT type, and they do handle better than the P tires did. Then again; running empty the P tires rode much softer due to the weaker sidewalls.