E rated tires

[Uncle Gump]

After researching wheels and tires for what seems like ever... The choices for a 16 inch wheel with a true 32 inch x < 11 inch tire that isn't E rated is basically limited at best.

So after winding up the torsion bars, doing an add a leaf to the rear then putting an E rated tires on... I can't help but think the ride quality will have tanked to the point of rattling your teeth out on a trip to grocery store. Maybe I'm wrong...

I know a bunch of you are running E rated tires... what are your thoughts on ride quality after installing them?

 

[fastpakr]

I've got 285/75-16 E rated tires on my '99 with slightly tweaked torsion bars and taller Sport Trac springs. The ride hasn't bothered me, but I've only put a few thousand miles on (truck has been down since November for one project after another).

 

[adsm08]

It depends on the tire. My dad's 250 has E-rated Geolanders and they suck, not that it gets driven on the road anymore.

My Ranger used to have, and my B2 still has, E-rated BFG All Terrain TKO2, they ride nice.

 

[Denisefwd93]

Simply put.. if you are concerned about ride quality don't mess around. It's a truck will always be a truck anything that lifts it other then body lifts, will make it even more trucky But whatta do I know

I looked up some of your other post and realize you're probably going to do a hardcore off-road so maybe that is the kind of Tire you want good luck welcome to TRS!

E rate = same as mill stones?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=55

 

[07nhbpsi]

BFG A/T with bilstein shocks E rated 32 psi no issue...

 

[Craig0320]

I have e rated bfg's on my 06 z71 and they have to be damn near flat to show a bulge. They are stiff as hell when pulling my camper.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Well first of all... thank you for the responses.

I wanted to stay with a 16 wheel for it's benefits... mainly a shorter sidewall. Less side wall flex and puncture area. A 32 inch tall tire for the simple fact that it aligns better with my factory 4.10 gears. My experience with these trucks and driving style tells me there is years of life left in the driveline.

Denise... thank you for the welcome. I'm not sure where I gave the impression that I wanted a serious off road truck. I'm simply trying to add a little ground clearance and decent off road tread to get me to and from my outdoor pursuits (hunt/fish/camp/explore) and of course to add some "cool" factor in the process. I've always been a truck guy and ummm... "trucky" is "just ducky" with me. When I build my next serious offroader... no question for me... it will be a Type 1 VW based long travel buggy. I've built VW based buggies for over 30 years... as a hobby and also professionally. Not to mention that "I know a guy" and there is a semi trailer full of parts and a 30 by 40 pole barn full of buggies... chassis and tooling at my disposal. Once I get back to Michigan and settled... that journey will most likely begin.

My goal for this truck is to use my experience to build a truck that will do what I ask it to do, while trying to maintain as many of it's current good graces and road manners as possible. I know for a fact I will never ask it to do anything that will require an E rated tire. Not to mention the weight factor E rated tires add. Wait... lets talk about the weight factor...

Note: the weights listed are based on shipping weights for each item... totally not scientific.

BFG KM2 33 x 10.50 x 15 - 46 lbs
MT Classic III 15 x 8 - 17 lbs
63 lbs per wheel and tire

Cooper S/T Maxx 265/75/16 - 54 lbs (true 32 inch tire according to Cooper)
Pro comp series 31 16 x 8 - 26 lbs (I used this wheel because I see pictures with people using them)
80 lbs per wheel and tire

So with those calculations... we're looking at a 17 lb swing in unsprung weight per corner. Even if it was a 10 lb difference... my knowledge tells me it's worth worth taking a serious look at it. That weight is hard on the brakes, steering/suspension and adds 68 lbs to the overall vehicle weight. I know in the past I've spent endless hours and hundreds of dollars shaving 17 lbs from one of our race cars... let alone 68 lbs total.

Wheels and tires are the biggest investment I'm gonna make with this project and I simply want it to be an educated choice.

I think for me... I'm gonna scrap the thoughts of running a 16 inch wheel and a 32 in tire. Unless I find a lighter weight option. I know I put my set of 15 inch Alcoa's with bfg 31 x 10.50 15 KO's on my 06... and they cleared the calipers and rolled down the road just fine. So i think the first wheel/tire package I mentioned will be what I go forward with. I'm not a big fan of body lifts but I did read every post in the 1 inch body lift thread. It is a definate option that I may have to put that in my overall plan to gain body clearance with a 33 tire and save the suspension a bit. The gearing will stay for awhile and I will lug around with less then optimal gearing.

The tire companies for the most part have forgotten our segment... perhaps rightfully so. It has been dead nearing 10 years now.

Final words from old Uncle Gump... The devil was... is... and will always be in the details.

 

[Denisefwd93]

I don't quite understand this big fat tire big wheel mentality that all probably started with Bigfoot, all that aside big tires are nice but I don't see any great advantage since 80% of us probably spend 99% of the time on the highway. I had 265 75 15 on Cooper's on my other truck Dave ran okay seemed soft enough, this truck which I got basically for cost of the new tires he put on it has 30 x 10.5 Truck is a rattletrap the tires Ride Hard even at 26 psi but there's lots of other junk rattling around on this truck too. 4 Rancho Shocks are no good, the rear springs are almost flat. Lol

 

[Uncle Gump]

I don't understand way my wife needs a bag to match every pair of shoes she owns. I also don't understand that she is convinced she has a system for scratch off lottery tickets... I've yet to reap any rewards from her system.

I just think there are some things we will just never understand...

 

[scotts90ranger]

My V8 explorer on 31" mud terrain tires tires with 15" wheels handles just as good as my other V8 explorer with 30" car tires and 17" wheels... of course they have differences like the car tire explorer is still AWD while the mud tire explorer is true 4x4 and I'm the one behind the wheel more on the 4x4 one...

Personally I don't understand the big wheel thing, it doesn't make as big of a handling difference as you would think. I switched the one explorer from the 17's to the 15's to get bigger side walls so it rode better but ended up with "cupped" tires that are noisy as heck (dang jeeps... the steering was apparently shot on what they were on before) but rides great! The other explorer had 255 75 16 on it before but the tires went to crap so I put the 235 65 17's on it since I had them...

I wouldn't change wheels since you have them already, but don't get too sucked into a tire size... a 33" tire would work fine as well, move the dimensions around a little either way to get to something more common.

According to Tire Rack there's a Goodyear Duratrac in 265 75 16 in a load range C, I have those tires on my F350 in a E rated tire and they work great, the thing barely moves unless it's towing but it rides well and they have worn well...

 

[Craig0320]

I have never liked the big wheel look especially with these guys running around with 20's/mud tires combo and the tires have barely 3 inches of sidewall. When I installed the v8 in my ranger folks were asking me if I was gonna lift it and put 38's on it since it had a v8 now. I love my 30x9.50-15 general grabber at2's and would not change a thing. Oh and 18.5 mpg to work and back is nice also. Haven't tested interstate mileage yet.

 

[donaldcon]

Your E Rated Tire is only as hard as the air pressure you put into it.

Keep the air pressure that you are running currently and you are not going to see any noticeable differances

Sent from my LM-X410(FG) using Tapatalk

 

[scotts90ranger]

I saw a Silverado with E rated 33" tires, aired down to 13psi in the sand to get to a camping spot, they got stuck pulling a small trailer with a quad... my F350 with a camper pulling a trailer with a quad and a 3 wheeler aired down to ~18psi that was bulging pretty good didn't get stuck... There's only so much the weight of a Ranger will do to a sidewall that is about 1/2" thick...

 

[donaldcon]

Rubber compound makes more of a difference in the sidewall bulge then the load rating does.

Load range e Good Year will have a lot more sidewall Flex then I load range e Iron Man.




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[Uncle Gump]

Your E Rated Tire is only as hard as the air pressure you put into it.

I'm not trying to start an argument here... but that is like saying... C rated tires can handle more weight if you increase the air pressure.

We both know that isn't true. I'm not a tire specialist by any stretch... But there are differences between C and E rated tire construction. It's evident by the weight difference of the two.

Are there situations that an E rate tire can shine on a little ranger... of course. I'm just pretty damn sure that I will avoid those instances and save the weight for my purposes.