I am looking at new 285/75/16 tires for my 04 F250 FX4. Do I need E rated tires or can I use D rated? The truck see highway us most of the time, a little off road and is used for snow plowing. I am looking at the Nitto Terra Grppler tire. What do you think?

 

You can get away with the D rated tires if you never carry any heavy loads, But for piece of mind I would go with the E rated tires.. For snow plowing the added weight of the plow and if you carry any weight in the back for traction, would probably push the limits of the D rated tires..

my 2 cents

 

I have toyos (signature) that are D rated and I tow a 4400 lb travel trailer for camping trips. I have had no problems and have observed no flex in the sidewalls. I pull the trailer about 5-6 times a year.

 

This was recently hashed out, if you like some good reading....


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ng-d-or-e.html

 

If you're running on the highway with the plow on it, get E's.

But that's just my opinion

 

Get this......i bought my truck and they had put Brand Spankin New C's on there.........freakin F350 with C rating tires, I dont know what the hell they were thinking but man im gonna get my use out of them even though i cant haul as much as a ford escort! HAHAH

 

It's also very important to pay attention to the actual weight rating in pounds.

I've seen Load Range E tires that are only rated at 2910lbs per tire.

 

Thanks guys for all the good info and links. I looked at my old 81 F250 thatI retired and there are D's on that. They worked great with the loads I hauled and with the plow. I will talk to the tire shop also before buying.

 

I have a question?

Q:

How do you know when a tire doesn't work out well for what you picked as far as load rating?

A:

When it overheats and falls apart.

Not worth risking IMO. The load rating is for a reason, and many well paid educated engineers came up with the specs for the tire and the truck regardless of what you think you should or may put on/in it for "weight/load".

I see this same discussion a lot with the commonly mis-applied "speed rating" on tires. It is more than just the speed the tire can reach, it is also how the tires handle, and the load and speed ratings can greatly affect how a truck or car handles.

 

Woody367,
This was recently discussed and here's what I had to say... I have "E" rated tires on my F350 and overload tires on my F150. In my opinion I get a much better ride and feeling knowing I don't have to be concerned about the tires especially when I have to haul something. Which I always do haul, pull or carry something. That's why we have a truck. Also, I've never known a pickup truck owner who didn't overload his truck at some point in time. "Yeah go ahead..it'll hold that much with no problem" LOL. I'd rather be safe than sorry..Just my $.02. Bottom line it's your decision what rated tire you choose just be honest with yourself on what you expect to do with your truck. Good Luck!

 

Your truck came with E's - Nuff Said!
But hey your and your family are in it, just hate to lose a fellow FTEer to tires.

Flame suit on

 

GREAT post - Rep points for this one!

One thing I gotta point out. Ford (and most other auto manufacturers) are known to cut corners wherever they can to pinch pennies.

From the courtesy light in the doors of earlier SD's going away, to the underhood blanket, fender well liners, and all the other things I've heard people complain about going "missing" in later years, I have one thing to ask.

Do you really think Ford would put "E" rated tires on these trucks if they didn't have a good reason?

 

D rated = 65 psi
E rated = 80 psi
Tire dimensions being equal up to 65 psi both the D and E rated tires can carry the same load. Going beyond this calls for airing up. The D rated is at its max, airing up isn,t an option or it may blow up real good.
So how does the E rated tire hold that extra air?
It is constructed tougher to accommodate the extra press.

 

OK this is getting old. If you're going to apply logic to this the least everyone can do is apply decent logic. YES the trucks came with E tires from Ford and Ford cuts corners so, if E's are cutting corners then D's couldn't possibly be OK to use could they, or could they...

To truly compare apples to apples, you should compare each tires UTQG rating. Well, these tires aren't required by the DOT to have a UTQG so we're kinda screwed there aren't we. UTQG would tell you 3 things based on a standardized test. A tires wear rating, a tires ability to dissipate heat, and a tires wet traction rating. Unfortunately for us we can't get that info because it doesn't exist (at least not for the BFG AT KO). I have 285/75/16 BFG AT KO in D range on my truck now, I just happen to have the factory 265/75/16 Firestone Steeltex Radial AT in E range sitting in the garage. here's a break down of all the information I can get off them:

Load index = Max vertical capacity
Load range = Max horizontal capacity

BFG - load index 122/119 (3306lbs / 2999lbs) I think the difference is single or dual
Firestone - load index 123/120 (3418lbs / 3087lbs)

BFG - speed rated R (good to 106mph)
Firestone - Speed rated Q (good to 99 mph)

BFG - MAX load / psi 3305lbs/65psi
Firestone - MAX load / psi 3415/80psi

BFG - Section width 11.22"
Firestone - Section width 10.43"

Using my 2001 SC F350 SRW my Rear GAWR is 6830lbs Front GAWR is 5200lbs.

SO, what does all this crap mean??? Here's what it means to me...

My 285/75/16 BFG's are underrated for the rear of my truck by a grand total of 220lbs. This means that I have to remember to never load the rear of my truck to it's full capacity, I need to always keep it 220lbs shy (I NEVER carry that much)

My 285/75/16 BFG's are overrated for the front of my truck by 1410lbs. I will NEVER have to worry about the front tires on my truck being overloaded.

The BFG's having a higher speed rating tells me that the tread and sidewalls are plenty strong enough to hold together through centrifugal forces at speeds up to 106mph, my Firestones could not.

The fact that my BFG's can carry almost as much weight at a lower PSI than the Firestones suggest that the BFG's are a stronger tire because they don't need the extra internal force to support the same weight.

Lastly, The reason I believe that a larger tire with a lower rating can carry the same weight as a smaller tire with a higher rating is CONTACT PATCH. The surface area of a 285's contact patch is higher than a 265's contact patch. With just a minimal education in physics even I know that the larger the surface area the greater the weight it can carry. Which is why a person in snow shoes can walk on the snow where a person in regular shoes sinks in.

Heat dissipation alone is a moot point. A well constructed tire can withstand a lot of heat. By construction I'm talking about rubber chemistry and quality of glue holding the tread on (remember the Firestone incident???). Until someone shows me UTQG ratings for any of these tires, heat dissipation has no place in this argu...... discussion!!!


In closing, I'd said it before I'll say it again, talk to your tire guy, tell him your intended use, and if you trust him/her (like I do, I'm pretty sure my kids grandfather wouldn't steer me wrong) then trust in his/her recommendations.

 

On a side note, a 285/75/16 BFG TA KO in load range E exceeds all factory load ratings, while a 295/75/16 BFG TA KO in load range D meets all load ratings of the factory recommended 265/75/16 E range.