Load Range C vs Load Range E rated tires

[Titanpat57]

So you both feel that the on road ride quality is more than acceptable for our 4Runners? Every time I think about trying an E load range tire I chicken out because I'm worried about a harsh on road ride. Also, what tire pressure are you running with an E load range?

I run at about 38-40 psi.

The difference is getting rid of that "riding on top of a ball" feel...feels great cornering as well. I m all over the place with the tire coice this time around. ..but I'm going to run the Revo II AT's again, 285's though.

I'm going everywhere everyone else is off road, and having a great on road, where 99% of my driving takes place.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I've been curious to know if you lose more mpg from stock with a the heavier LT275, or larger P285.

In my experience any gain in weight, diameter or aggressive tread equals less mpg.

 

[KidVermicious]

So you both feel that the on road ride quality is more than acceptable for our 4Runners? Every time I think about trying an E load range tire I chicken out because I'm worried about a harsh on road ride. Also, what tire pressure are you running with an E load range?

At the risk of causing offense, if you're a ride weenie that can't bring yourself to buy a decent set of tires because you're worried about a "harsh" ride, you shouldn't be daily driving an offroad truck in the first place. "Comfortable" rides are for road cars.

I have E rated KM2s on the '85 4Runner, and E rated Duratracs on the '99, I've found that 40-45 PSI seems to be the sweet spot. I find the ride quality to be perfectly acceptable for a truck, and not appreciably different than my F150 that has C rated tires. None of them are Cadillacs, I don't expect them to be, I don't require them to behave like one. I expect them to behave like the trucks they are and get me home after a weekend of rough terrain, so I choose my tires appropriately.

I don't know how you define "harsh" and "acceptable", but it sounds to me like you're conflicted. You want strong tires for offroading, but maybe you're also much more sensitive to the ride of your vehicle than I am - the desire for super strong tires and the desire for a super plush ride probably aren't really compatible. I know which is more important to me obviously, but only because I've been the other direction and learned my error . None of us figures out exactly how we want our trucks without (sometimes expensive) trial and error, it's just a part of the game. You gotta pay to play. You said upthread that the stock tires were working for you, so maybe that's your answer? If not, I say quit dithering and just pick a set of tires and run with them. If you find they aren't what you wanted you'll know better next time, or maybe you'll find that what you're obsessing over doesn't end up being as important as you thought it was.

And for what it's worth, I've never NOT spazzed out over choosing a new set of tires. We all do it, and it's agonizing, so I feel your pain. In the end, it probably won't matter nearly as much you feel like it matters now, so pull the trigger on something and enjoy your truck.

 

[LandCruiser]

I've always run D's and E's.

They're hard as hell to puncture off road.

They can be harder to balance, make more noise, and sometimes repsonsible for ponderous handling at high speeds.

 

[cjacob316]

In my experience any gain in weight, diameter or aggressive tread equals less mpg.

I know, I was just curious if weight or diameter had a greater effect. A P285 is lighter than an LT275, but I think about a half inch larger.

 

[marshal]

it was probably more the Race ready fox shox magnifying the ply rating on your tires than anything. the raptor is not a good platform to judge tire ride

 

[noisebeam]

For what it is worth (which is nothing as it is an anecdote of an uncontrolled experiment)

When truck was dealer new I put on stock size BFG KO2 LTC on driver side and LTE on passenger and immediately did a 1300mi roadtrip with 200mi on dirt and got 18.8mpg and felt the ride smooth & quiet on pavement.

I then replaced the passenger side LTEs with C's and did nearly the exact same roadtrip (1100mi with 150mi dirt) and noticed no difference at all in noise or handling and got 19.4mpg.

Wind and perhaps a broken in truck may have been a larger contributor to mpg than tire. Truck was packed and driven same way.

 

[marshal]

you can take your fact finding and real world use and get out of here!

 

[Ridin4Runner]

I've always run D's and E's.

They're hard as hell to puncture off road.

They can be harder to balance, make more noise, and sometimes repsonsible for ponderous handling at high speeds.

All true. That said, I had the crappy stock yoko's 245 C on my old LE and switched to 275/55 E. Had two side wall flats during non-off-road with crappy yoko's. Road my 275's to 73K no side wall flats. I found the Hankooks to be a quit ride. Though, on my Pro Today I am having 275/70 KO2s replacing the stock 265/70 Nitto's.

 

[WI4Runnin]

I'm getting new tires next week and am going with a C rated BFG KO2.

 

[Ridin4Runner]

I'm getting new tires next week and am going with a C rated BFG KO2.

I just got my BFG 275 E's on and like the ride better than stock for TRD Pro. Less "bouncy" feel so far. But only driven a few miles.

 

[Knight-Errant]

I just got my BFG 275 E's on and like the ride better than stock for TRD Pro. Less "bouncy" feel so far. But only driven a few miles.

Any additional updates on the ride of your E tires? Still think they ride well? Thanks!

 

[Saggio]

I just got my BFG 275 E's on and like the ride better than stock for TRD Pro. Less "bouncy" feel so far. But only driven a few miles.

Update on these please izza:

 

[Flyer]

Wow, you guys sure use some high PSI. I'd be wary of putting Es but am open to relatively "soft" Es. I'm running either P or C DuraTracs at 32/34 PSI and my 4th Gen rides well. Past 36 PSI, it feels harsh and bounces more than it dampens.

On my Jeep, I use 35" C-rated MTR Kevlars at 28 and 30 is max. I air them down to 10/11 on trails with no issues. They do have stiff sidewalls for a C. I tried D-rated Nitto MTs and they were a bit heavier for sure. I prefer the MTRs and I find Es too harsh. The guys I know who run them on offroading Wranglers, put 25-28 PSI on road and 10 offroad. Wranglers are light so they feel harsh to me but they are real MTs too.

Need new tires on the 4R soon so am watching all forums for tire feedback. All I have used are Ps or Cs at 30-34 PSI.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Tire load range ratings: C, P, LT and E

I had to read half way through 3 pages of posts about ride softness before seeing someone mention the sidewall toughness of a higher rated tire. A P or C rated tire typically has two ply sidewalls. The LT will have at least 3 ply sidewalls. The E rated even more.

The load rating is not what's so critical. Most of us won't exceed the load rating of a C. It's the sidewall thickness that makes a higher rated tire better for off road. It's less likely to puncture on rocks that hit the sidewall.

The higher load rating allows a higher max tire pressure. If you read the sidewall, you'll see that load rating is achieved at a specified tire pressure. You can run them lower than max pressure and get a softer ride.

 

[JSparky]

"Ride quality" is entirely subjective, but there is likely a goldilocks zone. Some don't like the softness of P rated tires and prefer a stiffer sidewalk, and vice versa.

Keep in mind that most shops will let you inspect tires before install (leas the ones I've dealt with). If anyone in the future is curious just go in and compare different rating's of tires. The Goodyears that came on my 2016 Tacoma TRD Off Road (same ones as on the TRD Pro Tacoma) were kevlar reinforced, but when I had them swapped out for LT KO2's the difference in sidewalk thickness was substantial. There's no way I would trust those factory Goodyears on an extended off-road trip.. which brings me to a separate issue of Toyota needing to up their game regarding their tire offering on the TRD Pro model trucks (considering what Jeep, Ford, and the upcoming Chevy offer), but thats a different thread.

Regardless, go ask your tire shop to check out the tires, could help give you a new perspective on the differences and, hopefully, rest easier with whatever decision you come come up with.

 

[sting555]

I went from stock duelers to BFG KO2 285/70 Load Range E. I had an Icon suspension lift installed at the same time as the BFGs.

In my experience, going from stock everything to icon suspension and BFG load range e tires, the ride quality, cornering and overall feel were all improved. You also don't get as much sidewall flex when airing down when compared to load range c tires. At some point, you may risk losing a bead by going lower to compensate.

I did immediately notice a ~2mpg decrease with the lift/heavier tires. The added spinning/unsprung mass from the larger size load range e tires is significant.

FWIW, I run mine on-road at 45 PSI which puts the load capacity +/- where it is stock. Off-road, depending on load, I tend to run 18-20 psi without any issues. I have friends running 25 psi in their load C tires and getting more sidewall flex than I am at 20 psi.

 

[Ol'Baditude]

An E load range tire is typically going to have a max inflation pressure of 80psi. Ladies and Gents running E load tires on our 4Runners are typically running in the 40psi range to suit the weight of our moderately to heavily modified vehicles.
It's not as if we're running our tires at max inflation(or anywhere near it), which would obviously rattle the teeth out of our f'ing heads. We're running the ~8-10psi over the 32psi door sticker pressure that's required to properly inflate the heavier carcass and give us the ride and load carrying capacity that we need.

From personal experience, switching from a P265 HT to an LT285E AT then an LT295E MT really didn't make much(if any) difference in ride quality for me, except to say that the vehicle now handles better and there's a bit more road noise.

Do not be afraid of going with an E load range tire if it means getting the size, tread pattern or look that you want.

 

[Knight-Errant]

I made the switch to E. It is firmer at first but not in a bad punishing way. After a couple of months I don't really notice the difference.

 

[johnbt]

"It's the sidewall thickness that makes a higher rated tire better for off road. It's less likely to puncture on rocks that hit the sidewall."

Luckily there aren't many (any?) rocks on the beaches around here because passenger tires give a better footprint aired down.

Now if they'd just make some flotation tires that would really float a truck at high tide...