The good thing about E's is that you can pump them up to 80 lbs and the stiff sidewall with lots of tongue weight eliminates sway.

 

i have found the LTX's to be good tire when towing my TT. With the added pressure (80 psi) i do not get the back end wonder that i had with the D load Firestones. I know they are expensive but, it is worth the extra when you consider the initial cost of the Excursion, Trailer, Gear, and the most important, your yourself and your family!

2000 Excursion 2wd V10
2000 Expdition 4WD 5.4

 

I am thinking about getting some new wheels and tires for my F-250 but I am having trouble finding a 315/75/16 that is load range E and has a great look for a reasonable price. Any ideas?

 

i would think the E's would be the minimum you should run on the X, and am surprised ford would put D's om them.

not all rubber stems are low pressure, some are good to 100 PSI.

 

D's run well on mine. A little lighter on the pocket book also.

Ford did put D's on them but remember it is not a pickup it is an SUV and doesn't get loaded like a truck.

 

It may not get loaded like a truck but it has the same GVWR and carries more weight on a regular basis since the body weighs considerably more. D's will work but not safely at the pressures on the door jamb.

 

your right, i am thinking about towing heavy trailers i guess

 

I run 60 psi in my Factory size D's and they are working well.

I do pull 7000+ load with 200 lb or so tongue weight. But I never load it like a pickup with a load of bricks,, sand,, or concrete like I would a truck.

But I have been known to put some wine, and cheese in the carpeted area in the back. After all it is a SUV.

 

I just replaced my D rated tires with E rated tires. I dont really notice a difference in the ride of the Ex. I dont remember the price being all that much different either.

 

funny thing im at the road right now with tires, D rating or E rating. I was told the main difference with the two is D tires have 8ply to them(steel belts) and E has 10 ply.I plan on going for either one , price is what matters to me, whichever deal is sweet. If i had the moeny and choice it would be E rating. just my two cents.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am starting to think I might go with what's in the budget and it sounds like the load range D might do just fine.

 

Well I just pulled my 7000 lb. trailer 1000 miles at 60-65 mph and had no trouble with sway. I did put on a new Equalizer hitch @ 625.00. I had a small amount of sway when an 18 wheeler went by but not much. If I had the load range E I may not have noticed any. I am going to switch to them when these wear out..I have a v-10 and got 16.5 mpg @ 65 mph and 15.5 @ 75 mph. Towing I got 9.5 to 10.5 @ 60 mph on I 80 running west thru Wyoming to Reno. I've got 4.30's and was able to hold 60 mph up all hills in third but once in a while had to go down to 2nd..Leaving Wendover going up that hill I could run 60 mph but the 2005 ford diesel pulling a 27-30 foot trailer behind me could only manage 55. He would pass me on the strights and hold 65 mph but when we came to a hill I could reel him in as he slowed to 50-55 mph. I would say the v-10 can hold its own towing. I also noticed gas was about 20 cents cheaper then diesel along the way.......

 

The Exc. is so large you should use E rated tires but make sure they are 10 ply . mfg.'s play numbers games so buyers beware of this. If you read & don't understand ask Questions here, to much knowlage here & it is wasted if not used these guy's are very smart. Don

 

For those of you concerned about the number of plys in your tires your may find the following info from TireRack Tech interesting:


The load range or ply rating branded on a tire's sidewall helps identify its strength and ability to contain air pressure. While specific load ranges are assigned to passenger tires, load ranges are identified in ascending alphabetical order for light truck tires (the further along the letter is in the alphabet, the stronger the tire and the greater amount of air pressure it can withstand and load it can carry). Before load ranges were adopted, ply ratings were used to identify the relative strength of light truck tires with higher numerical values assigned to tires featuring stronger, heavier duty constructions.

Today's load range/ply ratings do not count the actual number of body ply layers found inside the tire, but indicate an equivalent strength based on early bias ply tires. Most radial passenger tires have one or two body plies, and light truck tires, even those with heavy duty ratings (10-, 12- or 14-ply rated), actually have only two or three fabric body plies, or one steel ply.
"end Quote"

You can find more info here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=55

As you can see its all in the Load rating. I recently had Michelin 285/16/75's load rated D installed on my Ex. The ride is significantly bettr than the previous E rated Firestones that were on it when I purchased it in March. They are slightly oversized for the OEM wheels, but many other EX owners are running this size. Make sure before you purchase any size that your installer will put them on if they're not OEM size. Some won't. My 285D's have almost as much max load cabability as 265 E's. 3305lbs vs 3415lbs. 3305 times 4 wheels equals 13220lbs of load I can carry on my EX. Since its GVWR is 9200lbs I have over 4000lbs more load capabilty than I should ever put on my truck.

This assumes of course that I have the maximum 65psi in the tires. Max load will decrease proportionately as pressure in the tires is allowed to decrease.
Ben

 

Interesting post benjoman....why did you go with Michelin d's vs E's??