Pay extra for Load Range E's?

[timswi]

It didn't seem as bad when I got rid of the OEM tires a couple months after I purchased it, and I never notice it with my '08 Diesel but the TPM makes me keep those aired up.

I don't have to run 80psi but the TPMS gets after me on the wife's Hummer and my pickup when there is a drastic temp change...

 

[RickB]

My 2004 full size 1/2 ton pickup came from the factory with P-rated tires. For you guys waving the liability card here, how much do you figure I should sue the manufacturer for?

 

[3930dave]

My 2004 full size 1/2 ton pickup came from the factory with P-rated tires. For you guys waving the liability card here, how much do you figure I should sue the manufacturer for?

While I'm for safe vehicles, I'm not that big on spending time analyzing hypothetical "Guy driving with "non-approved" tires has a blow-out, swerves across the line and takes out a bus of Girl Scouts" scenarios. There are far too many people driving around my neck of the woods with bald tires, for me to worry about tire classes that much.

That said - what I think is valuable to each vehicle owner is understanding the trade-offs involved with deviating from the manufacturers recommended tires. A half ton is commonly spec'd for P tires, 3/4 ton and up often E's - my view is understand the reasons for what the factory engineers were doing, then make a choice based on your intended use.

Derating a tires Max load is not what I'd sign up for. Somebody else wants to make that choice, and is willing to live with the consequences, that's their call.

You don't have to change tire class (P vs. E) to significantly change tire performance. With your half ton on P's - just change the tire width substantially and handling can change quite a bit, and not always for the better.

I wonder how many of the "E police" run wider than factory tires ?

Rgds, D.

 

[RickB]

My 2004 full size 1/2 ton pickup came from the factory with P-rated tires. For you guys waving the liability card here, how much do you figure I should sue the manufacturer for?

While I'm for safe vehicles, I'm not that big on spending time analyzing hypothetical "Guy driving with "non-approved" tires has a blow-out, swerves across the line and takes out a bus of Girl Scouts" scenarios. There are far too many people driving around my neck of the woods with bald tires, for me to worry about tire classes that much.

That said - what I think is valuable to each vehicle owner is understanding the trade-offs involved with deviating from the manufacturers recommended tires. A half ton is commonly spec'd for P tires, 3/4 ton and up often E's - my view is understand the reasons for what the factory engineers were doing, then make a choice based on your intended use.

Derating a tires Max load is not what I'd sign up for. Somebody else wants to make that choice, and is willing to live with the consequences, that's their call.

You don't have to change tire class (P vs. E) to significantly change tire performance. With your half ton on P's - just change the tire width substantially and handling can change quite a bit, and not always for the better.

I wonder how many of the "E police" run wider than factory tires ?

Rgds, D.

I was just stirring the pot here. Actually I hated the P rated OEM tires every day I owned them and have a set of Cooper LR E tires on it now. Still original size.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I've owned my dually since Jan 04 and have only run E's...
I can say that I have been very well satisfied with the performance of those tires...
I purchased a full set of Uniroyal Laredo HD's in 235/85...
They were rated for 50K miles...
I got 43K out of a couple, 48K out of a couple, and the inside rears are still going @ 55K...
No complaints...

 

[JDgreen227]

I've owned my dually since Jan 04 and have only run E's...
I can say that I have been very well satisfied with the performance of those tires...
I purchased a full set of Uniroyal Laredo HD's in 235/85...
They were rated for 50K miles...
I got 43K out of a couple, 48K out of a couple, and the inside rears are still going @ 55K...
No complaints...

You obviously carry a lot of weight in your truck if you are considering 43 to 55K miles a good service life. My GMC in the OP has just under 40,000 miles on the OEM tires and they still have more than half the tread left. Maybe 5,000 of that mileage has been for heavy towing, but the remainder has been very lightly loaded.

 

[3930dave]

I was just stirring the pot here. Actually I hated the P rated OEM tires every day I owned them and have a set of Cooper LR E tires on it now. Still original size.

All good fun Rick ! P's are often selected for cost reasons, although around here, you can presently get a pretty decent deal on E's - economy is soft, and tire dealers hungry.

I love the sidewall strength on E's. Some (not all) P's today have very thin sidewalls. If I scuff a sidewall on a nasty rock just once in the back 40, the extra cost of the E's is recovered right there, IMO.

Impressive engineering on a decent quality E tire. High capacity load, and, still, a decently smooth ride. At least on a full-size HD truck, their intended market.

Happy Trails.

D.

 

[3930dave]

I don't have to run 80psi but the TPMS gets after me on the wife's Hummer and my pickup when there is a drastic temp change...

The wife's truck is nagging at you ? Technology is replacing humans !

D.

 

[3930dave]

You obviously carry a lot of weight in your truck if you are considering 43 to 55K miles a good service life. My GMC in the OP has just under 40,000 miles on the OEM tires and they still have more than half the tread left. Maybe 5,000 of that mileage has been for heavy towing, but the remainder has been very lightly loaded.

Commercial use is brutal. Buddy of mine runs an Astro for work, fully loaded. Burns through P's pretty fast, as E's are difficult/maybe impossible to size for that Astro van.

Another buddy of mine runs a Yuk XL, and previously a Suburban for personal use. Went through a phase of towing boats with the old Sub, but mostly both were/are light personal use. Tires generally turn to rock, before the tread disappears, and he drives many more miles than you are putting on.

Rgds, D.

 

[gwiley]

I run load range E on my 1 ton trucks because I figure that an extra few bucks is cheap insurance compared to a blowout while hauling something like my bobcat! Saving a few bucks on a lighter tire may work out fine - if it doesn't though...ugh, I just hate to think about the upper limit of the cost of a failure.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You obviously carry a lot of weight in your truck if you are considering 43 to 55K miles a good service life. My GMC in the OP has just under 40,000 miles on the OEM tires and they still have more than half the tread left. Maybe 5,000 of that mileage has been for heavy towing, but the remainder has been very lightly loaded.

I have I owned and driven about 6 3/4 & 1 ton trucks and 35,000 miles tops is all I get out of tires. My trucks work for a living though but are maintained top notch. They always get 5000 mile oil changes, tire rotation every other, 30,000 mile diff, tranny, teansfer case changes, ect.

Everyone else I know never gets more than 40,000 miles out of a set of tires on a truck unless its a grocery getter.

Chris

 

[lutt]

I have I owned and driven about 6 3/4 & 1 ton trucks and 35,000 miles tops is all I get out of tires. My trucks work for a living though but are maintained top notch. They always get 5000 oil changes, tire rotation every other, 30,000 mike diff, tranny, teansfer case changes, ect.

Everyone else I know never gets more than 40,000 miles out of a set of tires on a truck unless its a grocery getter.

Chris

Add a life of gravel roads in the mix,hauling tools,air compressor, and pulling trailers, and you wont see half that life. Most of the time we are traveling a good speed on the gravel on top of that. And tires wont last at all.I am trying a set of 295/70 R17 in e range in a toyo mt. Put them on in June last year. Made a trip up to Victoria BC to get a steam launch boat, over a 4500 mile round trip,couldnt even tell they wore any. They have seen a lot of gravel so far,but this summer will tell the tale. LUTT

 

[TheKid]

I have I owned and driven about 6 3/4 & 1 ton trucks and 35,000 miles tops is all I get out of tires.
Everyone else I know never gets more than 40,000 miles out of a set of tires on a truck unless its a grocery getter.

Chris

My F250 is mostly just a daily driver. I got 100,000 miles out of the original Firestone Steeltex, and have around 88,000 on the Yokohama Geolander AT replacements. They won't make it to 100K but they have another 4 to 6K of tread left.

 

[Diamondpilot]

My F250 is mostly just a daily driver. I got 100,000 miles out of the original Firestone Steeltex, and have around 88,000 on the Yokohama Geolander AT replacements. They won't make it to 100K but they have another 4 to 6K of tread left.

Your roads must be made of foam and cotton.

Chris

 

[gilbertmsg]

I going to get about 70,000 out of my Michelins on a 08 2500 (Cummins) Dodge. They are E rated and ride rough with no load, ride great with anything over 4,000 lbs. Only about 1/4 of the mileage will be from towing. I will pay the difference for a good E rated tire.

Eddie

 

[lostcause]

i've had 3/4 ton 4x4's for the last decade, and i've had all e's except for one set of studded c's i bought used - with everything having 17-20's now, good used 16's are starting to be a bargain. to date i've never got more than about 35k out of a set, though it's hard to keep perfect track, because i swap tires between summer and winter months. prior to having a second set of wheels i probably didn't get all the life out of them that i could, because i often changed tires before the winter months due to a shallow tread depth that i might have kept in the summer months.

one time when running the studded c's i had to tow a tractor that a friend bought. when i got there to pick it up, it was much larger than i had been led to believe. i was a little concerned about the tires, but they handled fine with what was probably a 10-12k load behind me. i stopped and checked a couple times and there was never any sign that they were hot, and that was with about 45-50 lbs of air (can't remember which for certain, but that's all the c's were rated at.) i run my e's at 60 front and 70 rear as opposed to the door sticker 60/80 numbers. i find with what i usually haul i get better wear patterns that way and it handles well. i can't remember the load rating of the c's, but it was certainly more than enough for light to average hauling, though i was probably close, if not over when i was hauling that tractor.