I just asked the Evans Tire this question:

Their reply was this:
.

Is that true? Has that happened to anyone here?
Thanks.

 

i went from 265/75-16 load E tires to 285/75-16 load D tires and i cant tell the difference. my camper is 2500# dry. what you need to check is the weight rating of the tires. the 265 E tires that came on my truck had a max load of like 3400# each and the 285 D's are rated at 3305# each, so no real difference

on edit: i just looked it up on tirerack.com and bot the 285/70-17D and the 265/75-17E have a max load of 3195#.

 

I just received another reply from Evans Tire, and it seems as if what you say matches what Evans Tires says. Evans Tires just told me:

The LT265/70R17 E carries 3195 lbs at max pressure. The LT285/70R17 D carries the same 3195 lbs at max pressure. From a load carrying capacity point of view, no problem. Stability should be improved somewhat with a wider footprint. The difference in overall diameter is such that it would introduce a 3.49% error in speedometer calibration which may or may not have an adverse affect on anti-lock brakes if so equipped and any other speed sensors the vehicle may have. I would check with Ford to see if the difference is enough to be concerned about.

So all seems OK. Thanks!

 

My '96 F-250 came from the factory with Load E tires. To save some money, I downgraded to load D tires. Both did carry the same weight rating, but I discovered the difference is in the sidewall rigidity. I didn't notice a difference towing lighter loads or empty, but when I hooked up my 33' 8500 lb boat, I REALLY noticed. It felt very squirrely. The back end felt like I had lost the sway bar. If you don't tow heavy loads, then the D range would be fine, but if you tow a heavy load, you'll really notice.

 

D range tires will wear a little faster then E load range tires. That's about the only difference.

 

I don't think so!
I have the D's Have had E's no difference in my book...


Dick

 

Another concern in switching size and load range is rim width... Be certain to follow the tire manufacturer's recommended rim width- The primary reason some tire shops won't mount oversize tires is because the stock Ford rims can sometimes be too narrow for the larger tire.

 

I swapped from stock 235/85/16 E to BFG TA 285/75/16 D and emailed BFG to check PSI.
This is the reply
BFGoodrich checked Bennett and Garfield publication and shows the
LT235/85r16 with 65/80psi gives 2623 load carrying in the front and 3042 in
the rear on your original equipment tires. Our recommendation for the
replacement tires is 50/60psi which will give you 2755 of load carrying in
the front and 3110 in the rear.

Go here http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/specs...t-a-ko/44.html to the BFG web-site spec page for TA's

 

D load tires are 8 ply rated and E load tires are 10 ply rated. An E load range tire will take more abuse such as pulling over curbs, off the side of the road,etc..

 

I didn't know that. There's a lot here I learned about different load ranges. Guess I should spend the extra money and get E load range.
Thanks for all the replies.

 

Why or how?

 

Tire wear or life has nothing to do with load rating. It has to do with treadwear rating and most truck tires do not have a treadwear rating like passenger car tires do. I put D rated tires on my truck and was told by a good friend and owner of the tire store that D rating is OK for gas engines but he wouldn't recommend putting them on diesel engine trucks. He will only put E rated tires on diesels. As far as ride and towing, I can't tell a difference.

 

When I bought my truck....some dummy had put P series tires on a 350 CC PSD. I then put 285.76/16 D's on it. I have the single rear wheel truck and came out of the rock quarry with a little over 5000#'s on it and it was a little squirrely compared to empty but not that bad. Now I have 315/75/16 D's and I try to use the dump trailer as not to chance messing up the new tires or aluminum rims. I also had no problems moving my father in laws 28 ft tag a long camper through the mountains for him.....no extra sway or anything.

Good luck with the tire purchase.

 

I have an 02 7.3L F250 and tow a 36' 5th wheel. I've towed my camper w/ factory 265/75/16 E rated tires(3415 lbs @ 80psi), 295/75/16 BFG All terrain D rated tires(3415 lb @65psi), and 305/70/17 D rated Goodyear MTR's(3000LB @ 50 PSI).

The only difference I can tell is loss of power when going to the bigger taller tires. I run max pressure to get the best mileage possible and the factory e rated tires tend to be stiffer/rougher than the others. I haven't experienced anything negative with the other tires. Stability has not been an issue from my personal experience.

I did recently quit towing w/ the MTR's because I scaled my truck with the camper and found out my rear axle was 5980 lb, which was a little too close to the 6000 lb combined weight of my MTR's on the rear.

If it wasn't for that, I'd still be pulling with them.

My 2 cents. If you're not overloaded on the d rated tires you should be OK.
Hook your camper up and go to a local truck stop with scales and see what kind of rating you really need. Costs about $7. Makes sure their pad is split so you can see the weight limit on each axle independently.

One thing you need to be aware of is the manufacturer rim width recommendations. My 295 BFG's suggest a minumum rim width of 7.5 and my factory rims are 7.0. I'm not sure how/if that would change the weight rating, but I'm sure it's a spec for a reason. It may just be that anything smaller would cause premature tire wear.


Hope this helps.

 

My original post said Iwant to purchase the LT285/70R17 OWL BFG TA KO tires, but they have load range D. I noticed I can get the Nitto Terra Grappler AT for about $8 more per tire, and it's a load range E tire. Any thoughts as to which might be a better tire? I have a 2,000 lb camper in my truck most of the time, and most of my driving is highway, but I don't want tire problems when I do go off road. Thanks!