I have a set of 285/75 16 Silent Armor goodyears, they are load range D...I am looking to get another new set of tires, besides load capacity, is there any other advantage to getting an E Rated tire? An ride difference etc....I only tow a 3600# trailer, so dont need max load ratings, but if there was other things to consider then I would go back to E ratings...Im new to the E load tires.....coming from a 1500 series pickup....I am going to stick with the 285's but havent decided on what tires yet......

 

Hollywood703, I was told that once you've got 5 people, a load of groceries or camping gear......you need Load Range E tires! Don't compromise with these big rigs. Load E Toyo M/T, Goodyear MTR Kevlars look great, and load E. I am thinking about going that route real soon.

 

Depending on the tire shop, they won't put less than an "E" rated tire on a 3/4 ton rig.

 

Definitely go with the E-rated tires. E-rated tires have much stiffer sidewalls, and it follows that the ride will be somewhat stiffer. However, we don't exactly buy Excursions for their silky smooth rides, do we? With that sidewall stiffness also comes lateral stability when turning and when a trailer is trying to push your rear end around. If it were me I wouldn't trade lateral stability for a barely perceptible decline in ride quality.

Stew

 

I started with E's and Discount tried to sell me D's ,
one trip and scared me to death they wandered so much !!!


White knuckle driving back to them to take them off !!!!

we have an 8k lb truck WHEN empty.... add people cargo, towed stuff
and you NEED E's

 

I have D load for my summers, and bought E's for the winter. Really not a difference that you can notice while driving, but then I don't haul a trailer at all. Some of the D's are load rated almost as the E's and are still sufficient to use, you just have to watch the #'s.
Granted, the E's will be heavier, and a stiffer side wall, but then you can get some of the D's with the triple side wall that will compare to the same stiffness as the E's. Go figure.
Just find the tread pattern you want, the price you can accept and go with it.

 

I have made that mistake with D rated tires. did a thread about the wandering problem pulling the trailer... now running E rated Dunlop Maxx MT's the difference is huge.... stand on the running board and rock the truck side to side with D rated tires and then do it again with E rated tires and you will see what a huge difference it makes in sidewall flex and makes a big difference with wandering too...

Ford actually did a recall as they initially used D rated tires and changed them out to E rated... All excursions per Ford now require E rated tires as Ford spec.

 

Ford did not change the sticker on your door to require E with that recall. They did not on mine anyway.....so I'm thinkin D's are ok. I've had both....aside from a slight adjustment on the air pressure...I can't tell the difference.....There's less than a 100# difference in weight rating in the D's and E's I had.

 

Good looking tires soutthpaw, pretty nice tire dressing too. Yes, huge difference in D to E rating.

 

I just looked and my silent armor are D rated......I wont be hauling anything over the winter so I may run these in the winter and get a set of E's for the summer months...Just deliberating what I need/want compared to price....

I did find some Kelly Safari TSR in a Load E rating that I liked the look of......

 

I put D's on mine - they handle much better than the Firestone E's which came off of it. Old tires were Transforce ATs and were horrible - steering wander, noise and the tread was not wearing evenly. Looking at only the load rating means you are missing the rest of the picture. Look at the max weight capacity at the max pressure and do your comparisons. The load rating seems to imply the number of 'plies' in a given tire - Load Range D = 8 ply, Load Range E = 10 ply. The truth is neither has 8 or 10 plies - but it does give you a way to compare tires and their capabilities.

Most people don't run their E's at max pressure of 80lbs unless they are going on a trip and want the mileage - the ride is typically too rough. As a result they are not getting the full load capacity of the tire. My D's are rated at 3305 lbs at 65psi and I run mine at 60lbs at F&R. Most E's are rated at between 3300-3420 lbs so you can give up some capacity - but if you aren't going to run them at the max pressure you aren't getting that max capacity anyway. Do your research and don't just look for an 'E' or a 'D'.

 

Hollywood, I put the E rated tires you are looking at on my Ex last year since I was towing my TT and was concerned about wander on the roads. I did some research on a TT forum and was given some good advice about the E rated tire helping to handle better. I went with the E's and do not regret them.

 

slight threadjack . . . how are Dunlop Maxx MT's wearing? I still have some time before shoe replacement, but looking at these and Hankook DynaPro's.

 

Deleted due to timeout.

 

LoL I havent said what tires im looking at yet, but am leaning towards the Kelly Safari TSR's 285/75/16E..$184 each out the door at belle tire with free lifetime rotations and alignments....which with the ex might be worth it.