Have a 2011 F250 Crew Cab . We don't tow a 35' 5th wheel anymore, in fact the heaviest thing I now tow is a 7X14 enclosed trailer that I've converted to use for hunting/fishing or my 12' utility trailer and neither is rated to carry much of a load. I'm in need of a new set of tires and thinking I don't need the load rated E tires anymore. I understand a P tire is not going to have the sidewall strength of an LT tire but do I really need it if I'm not towing anymore? I'm looking at buying a set of Bridgestone Dueller Revo 3 tires if it makes any difference. TIA.

 

Have people done it? Yes. Will the tire shop install them?

Some good info on inflation tables, load ratings, and even comparing load P tires vs LT rated tires. https://www.toyotires.com/media/pxcj...s_20200723.pdf

I'd guess your Crew Cab is at or near 7,000 lbs curb weight. I'd look up the load range on the size tires you're looking for, but the weak point would now be the tires vs the axles.

I'd be more inclined to get an E rated tire on a Crew Cab and experiment / test with lower pressures (within reason).

 

Looking breifly at the Revo on Tire Rack, the P rated tire says about 2600 lbs load, and the LT (E) says 3417. Of course, there are several other specs that give you more or less on each tire.

Price wise, it looks like $60 a corner extra to go with LTs.

But you have a crew cab with possibly 5 or 6 passengers.

Spend the extra money.

 

Tires are one thing not to be chincy on, at least for me... as 85e150 stated, the price diff is minimal. If you're concerned about the ride, play with the air pressure and keep a log. I run different psi on ALL of my trucks, depending on what I'm doing... my F350 7.3/CC/4x/DRW I run 55 Fr 50 Rr when empty, if towing heavy I'll bump rear up to 60. My 00 excursion, I run 45 Fr 40 Rr.
Again, don't skimp on tires, not worth it.

 

You have a gasser or a 6.7? That 6.7 is heavier than a gas engine. If you had a F150 that all you did was daily drive it and no towing of any kind, then I'd say yes with P metric tires. But since you have a 3/4 ton truck and will be hauling a decent size trailer with additional weight, I'd say stick with LT tires. Plus the fact like what was mentioned, I believe you'd have a hard time getting a shop to install the P metrics on a F250. They assume too much liability if one of the tires blow... since the truck calls for LT 10 ply tires.

 

I don’t know about your truck but mine has a tyre placard that says what tyres to use as a minimum, and were I come from that is a legal requirement
Frank.

 

I have run D rated tires before with no issues. The next size up D tire had almost the same load rating as the next size down E tire.

 

For what your towing and how often you don’t need E rated tires. However it’s also not going to hurt anything to have E rated tires and they still have benefits. Given you’re debating whether you need or want E VS P, I’d highly recommend you look at Firestone destination XT E rated tires. They are heavier than a P tire but they are the lightest (or close to it) E rated tire you can find - lighter that many C, D rated tires. Supposedly their sidewalls aren’t as heavy duty as other E rated tires but still stiffer and stronger than a P tire and being a bit lighter than other E tires but can actually be a benefit. I swapped out stock P tires for these and I find the truck actually rides a lot better. p tires felt too soft and too much body away when turning/corning. The firestone destination xt pleasantly firmed up the ride just right. Kind of like a Goldilocks tires. Negligible MPG drop, no drop in acceleration from a stop, pleasant ride daily, but then still firmer sidewalks for pulling occasionally and better off road protection.

 

Remember when Ford Explorers were flipping over with Firestone XT tires?

Why would you RISK any incident of trouble???

 

I would not recommend this. The load carrying capacity of a P-metric tire is a lot less than a similar-sized 10 ply/E-range LT tire (which is what most on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks use) because the LT tires are usually inflated in excess of 60 psi but the P-metrics are usually limited to 44 psi and sometimes 50 psi for "extra load" tires. You may not have enough weight capacity on P-metrics on the front axle with the truck empty, particularly if yours has a diesel engine as they are very front heavy. My '99 F-450 with the 7.3 diesel carries almost 80% of the rated axle capacity on the front axle when it's completely empty. Towing and hauling improves the situation as it unloads the front axle some.

The other thing is that P-metric tires are much less robust in the entire casing than 10-ply LTs, including the tread area. I put 10 ply tires on my F-150 that I daily drive because I was getting bunches of flats from pieces of gravel drilling through the tread area before they were ejected. The 10 plys fixed that problem. The ride isn't really any different than with the P-metrics, although I don't run the LTs at 80 PSI, I run them at 50-55 PSI- more than enough to keep the tires happy. I do notice the heavier tires did drop the fuel mileage by about a mile a gallon or so but it's a truck, not a Prius.

 

As others have said, the liability is a serious issue. If you are in an accident, you are opening yourself up if the truck does not have the correctly rated tires.

Another thing is that you are going to hate the driving experience. The actual ride may be softer, but cornering and braking are going to feel as if you are losing control. I had this very issue with a heavily loaded 1/2 ton (at GVWR and near tow rating) and upgraded the tires to load range D just to get the stability back. It is very creepy when your trailer starts pushing the truck around on soft tires!