E class load rating tires, Max PSI, and TPMS
#11
07-31-2011, 05:03 PM
Hammer, I've had conversations too and not knocking your buddy, but....Just because he owns a tire shop doesn't necessarily mean he's an expert tire guy. It does means he's a good business associate! The Owner of the furniture store I'm currently working at only knows so much about furniture...which aint much and he's very active in his business.
On the same token, I owned a detail shop for several years and there are still guys out there that know way more than me. About detailing??? YEP, more there to know than the average guy thinks! I'm just saying....
I've NEVER put an E-load range tire on any of my trucks as they were 1500's. But I will say that if you put the same amount of air pressure in 1500 as a 2500, the tire will wear differently. Plain and simple. 80% of max rating for a 1500 is too much with an E-load and will not allow the sidewalls to sag as they need to.
Problem here is comparing apples-oranges and there isn't any reason to put an E-load on a 1500 regardless of the application. Guys do, but that's their call and it's unnecessary. The tires are heavier, they don't absorb the impact they should and it beats the crap out of your suspension and front end components(talking about for 1500's)
I have always ran 35psi in all my cars and trucks. Never had any funky weear problems. 35psi within a load range or 2 is perfectly fine.
If you go putting Tractor Trailer rims/tires on your truck(I've seen that before) you wouldn't go putting 100psi in them as they hit a certain point much sooner than 80psi where they will wear perfectly because the lighter weight of the truck doesn't crush the sidewall. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure you could mount a no air tractor tire on a 1500 and it won't even crush....lol
The whole problem with tires is that for starters....Most people don't understand how air pressure inside a tire works and why adding weight doesn't effect the pressure just the sidewall, also that most tires when adding air hit a point where the tread is perfectly flat(no wieght on them) and more times than not, it's around the same psi because the load range tires account for Extra weight which you wouldn't have. Sure the stiffer sidewall flex's different, but you need to think of the lighter wight your putting on top of them. The main thing that added load ranges do is allow for more sidewall strength so they don't buckle or roll under heavy weights. Putting 80% of air in an E tire on a 1500 isn't going to allow the sidewall to "crush" enough to make the tread pattern touch the ground.
And it's time to get new lug nuts and replace those center caps Hammer, or atleast use some Neverdull and clean them up ;-)
On the same token, I owned a detail shop for several years and there are still guys out there that know way more than me. About detailing??? YEP, more there to know than the average guy thinks! I'm just saying....
I've NEVER put an E-load range tire on any of my trucks as they were 1500's. But I will say that if you put the same amount of air pressure in 1500 as a 2500, the tire will wear differently. Plain and simple. 80% of max rating for a 1500 is too much with an E-load and will not allow the sidewalls to sag as they need to.
Problem here is comparing apples-oranges and there isn't any reason to put an E-load on a 1500 regardless of the application. Guys do, but that's their call and it's unnecessary. The tires are heavier, they don't absorb the impact they should and it beats the crap out of your suspension and front end components(talking about for 1500's)
I have always ran 35psi in all my cars and trucks. Never had any funky weear problems. 35psi within a load range or 2 is perfectly fine.
If you go putting Tractor Trailer rims/tires on your truck(I've seen that before) you wouldn't go putting 100psi in them as they hit a certain point much sooner than 80psi where they will wear perfectly because the lighter weight of the truck doesn't crush the sidewall. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure you could mount a no air tractor tire on a 1500 and it won't even crush....lol
The whole problem with tires is that for starters....Most people don't understand how air pressure inside a tire works and why adding weight doesn't effect the pressure just the sidewall, also that most tires when adding air hit a point where the tread is perfectly flat(no wieght on them) and more times than not, it's around the same psi because the load range tires account for Extra weight which you wouldn't have. Sure the stiffer sidewall flex's different, but you need to think of the lighter wight your putting on top of them. The main thing that added load ranges do is allow for more sidewall strength so they don't buckle or roll under heavy weights. Putting 80% of air in an E tire on a 1500 isn't going to allow the sidewall to "crush" enough to make the tread pattern touch the ground.
And it's time to get new lug nuts and replace those center caps Hammer, or atleast use some Neverdull and clean them up ;-)
Well, the funny thing here is that my grandfather, who was a mechanic for 38 years had always drilled it into me that if I wanted my tires to last and handle properly on the highway, that I needed to keep them at 3/4 of the max PSI, so I've always done it. Then this owner of two tire stores who worked his way up from basically a paper route right to being the flat tire patch kid at a tire center basically says the same thing (within 5%).
That said, yeah, you and I were basically making the same point, that an "E" shouldn't be on a 1500 unless under pretty extreme circumstances, where you should probably be owning a 2500 in the first place. My point was 35 psi is TOO LOW for an 80 PSI max tire.
But I can't agree fully on the air pressure being different on a 1500 vs. a 2500. What do you base that on? Vehicle weight? Cause I'm at damn near 7000# and I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to find a gasser 2500 that is that heavy.
As far as the lugs and caps go, yeah I know, too much driving on AIA and doing the beach thing. I have the lugs, just have to order new caps, kinda got back burner'd when mom got sick and I had to go back to part time again. Too many other priorities over some caps that have surface rust but otherwise are fine...
#12
07-31-2011, 07:00 PM
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That's some really good advice guys..
I had only been looking at sizes when it came to the tires and never even considered the load ranges.. I've ditched the idea of the Load rating E tires which seemed to be a terrible idea. Very glad I decided to do my proper research on it.
Hammer, I hear ya on the 17's... thing is though I really like my OEM 20's.. they look great and I have no real issues with them. Maybe down the road if I decide to lift the truck and do more offroading.. but for now I really like the 20's and I've managed to keep them in great shape up until now. I ordered my truck and didn't just pick it up off the lot.. When I got the 20's then I new that tire time wouldn't be cheap. Money isn't really the problem I set aside about 1500 bucks to get new tires when the time came.
I'm just more worried about getting the proper tire that will be best for the truck. I don't wanna get a super duty E tire that will cause my ride to be rough and probably put more strain on a front suspension and steering rack that dodge didn't make strong to begin with lol..
My truck came with Suckyear Hp's in a p275/60/r20 which have a load rating of 2600 lbs - 10% due to it being a P tire on a truck..
I think I'm gonna probably go with the Cooper Discoverer A/T3 in a P275/60/20 which has a load rating of 2679 lbs less 10 percent.
They get great reviews and my dad just got a set on his truck and they look/drive great.
I do see what you're saying about how in a 17" rim there is much more variety. Many more sizes with more load ranges. I'd probably be able to put on a C or D load rated LT tire and not see much of a difference. From what I'm seeing on mfr sites a C or D load rated LT tire doesn't have much of a load rating difference than the stock suckyears or the A/T3's I was looking at. Although the LT's do have a better sidewall from what I've read. I guess since not many cars came with 20" wheels until recently it makes the selection of tires somewhat meager.
If my truck was a QC or a 2500 I'd definitely be looking at the LT tires without a doubt. But I got about 44k out of the stock goodyears which are horrible tires and they were a P class tire. I figure with a set of coopers, which are high end tires, I shouldn't have any issues with them.
We shall see I'm gonna keep trolling the web tonight and I will consider the 17" wheel option but I really do like my 20's.. Not trying to look like a gangster with big wheels but I love the spoke pattern and they look good to me.
Is my logic about the A/T3's somewhat correct. I mean, truck came with a stock p class tire in a similar size that had a slightly lower load rating. If I go with the P class cooper A/T3 which has a slightly higher load rating in the same size there shouldn't be any issue with that tire not being tough to handle my truck. plus I'm going from a standard tire to the Cooper All terrain which is already a tougher tire by design seeing as it was intended for mild off road use in addition to on road.. I definitely don't wanna put another set of "car" tires like the wrangler HP's on.. So I would think by stepping up into the coopers with a higher load rating and being an all terrain I'm not screwing myself over or anything..
I had only been looking at sizes when it came to the tires and never even considered the load ranges.. I've ditched the idea of the Load rating E tires which seemed to be a terrible idea. Very glad I decided to do my proper research on it.
Hammer, I hear ya on the 17's... thing is though I really like my OEM 20's.. they look great and I have no real issues with them. Maybe down the road if I decide to lift the truck and do more offroading.. but for now I really like the 20's and I've managed to keep them in great shape up until now. I ordered my truck and didn't just pick it up off the lot.. When I got the 20's then I new that tire time wouldn't be cheap. Money isn't really the problem I set aside about 1500 bucks to get new tires when the time came.
I'm just more worried about getting the proper tire that will be best for the truck. I don't wanna get a super duty E tire that will cause my ride to be rough and probably put more strain on a front suspension and steering rack that dodge didn't make strong to begin with lol..
My truck came with Suckyear Hp's in a p275/60/r20 which have a load rating of 2600 lbs - 10% due to it being a P tire on a truck..
I think I'm gonna probably go with the Cooper Discoverer A/T3 in a P275/60/20 which has a load rating of 2679 lbs less 10 percent.
They get great reviews and my dad just got a set on his truck and they look/drive great.
I do see what you're saying about how in a 17" rim there is much more variety. Many more sizes with more load ranges. I'd probably be able to put on a C or D load rated LT tire and not see much of a difference. From what I'm seeing on mfr sites a C or D load rated LT tire doesn't have much of a load rating difference than the stock suckyears or the A/T3's I was looking at. Although the LT's do have a better sidewall from what I've read. I guess since not many cars came with 20" wheels until recently it makes the selection of tires somewhat meager.
If my truck was a QC or a 2500 I'd definitely be looking at the LT tires without a doubt. But I got about 44k out of the stock goodyears which are horrible tires and they were a P class tire. I figure with a set of coopers, which are high end tires, I shouldn't have any issues with them.
We shall see I'm gonna keep trolling the web tonight and I will consider the 17" wheel option but I really do like my 20's.. Not trying to look like a gangster with big wheels but I love the spoke pattern and they look good to me.
Is my logic about the A/T3's somewhat correct. I mean, truck came with a stock p class tire in a similar size that had a slightly lower load rating. If I go with the P class cooper A/T3 which has a slightly higher load rating in the same size there shouldn't be any issue with that tire not being tough to handle my truck. plus I'm going from a standard tire to the Cooper All terrain which is already a tougher tire by design seeing as it was intended for mild off road use in addition to on road.. I definitely don't wanna put another set of "car" tires like the wrangler HP's on.. So I would think by stepping up into the coopers with a higher load rating and being an all terrain I'm not screwing myself over or anything..
Last edited by Ben D.; 07-31-2011 at 07:14 PM.
#13
07-31-2011, 07:40 PM