# Another tire thread-E load range tires on an SUV-ride quality?



## Badfish740 (Mar 1, 2013)

I found a great deal on some all terrain tires that will fit the wife's grocery getter which needs new tires.  The snag is that they are E-load range, like the kind you would find on light trucks.  This is a 5500lb 4x4 SUV that original came with P (passenger) tires-is the ride quality going to absolutely suck with Es?  I would probably keep them around 50-60 psi instead of 80, but still...


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## Jags (Mar 1, 2013)

Don't do it.  I have E rated 8 ply on my half ton and I hate them.  With 30 psi it is like riding on steel wheels, and my truck is heavy.  Only good part is that I have 75000 miles on them and they have enough tread to run another 30.  I swear I will never wear out these tires (damnit).

I had a tire leak in one of them and I couldn't tell it was low until it went down to 15 psi.  Stiff bastages.


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## Jags (Mar 1, 2013)

Badfish740 said:


> I would probably keep them around 50-60 psi instead of 80, but still...


 
No you won't.  I will bet on that.


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## greg13 (Mar 1, 2013)

I have a set of Silent armors on my Ranger. Ya they are stiff I run about 50 psi in them, but they are great in the snow. If you already have them, put them on and see how they are, you can always resell them.


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## BrotherBart (Mar 1, 2013)

The Suburban weighs 7,100 pounds and those load range E tires make their presence known.

Young lady at DMV when I registered it new. "Sir do you know that truck weight over 7,000 pounds?".

Me: "Yes. I bought it by the pound."


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## SolarAndWood (Mar 3, 2013)

LR Es make a 3/4 ton Suburban feels like it has no suspension compared to the Cadillac ride of a 1/2 ton with regular LTs.  Some of it is the suspension but I think most of it is the tires.


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## Highbeam (Mar 3, 2013)

I have the opposite experience. I replaced the stupid P tires with LR D on my yukon and also a half ton chevy pickup. I noticed no difference in bumpiness. What I did notice was a better driving vehicle. The P tires are squishy like you are riding around on balloons. The sidewalls flex and roll around side to side. The stiffer LT tires don't do this and allow more confident cornering and maneuvering. Have you ever driven a german car?

I also like the safety of having overbuilt tires. They should be more resistant to blowouts and tread seperation since they aren't squishing all over andbuilding up heat.

Of course the F350 requires E rated and I've been messing with tire pressure. 80 all around to 58 all around and no real change. The lower LR LT tires only go up to 50 psi and I run them at max in the yukon.

Is there a way you can try them out?


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## ironpony (Mar 3, 2013)

alot of it is personal preference. as HB stated above it might feel more stable / safer with the stiffer tires. My comparison is my Dodge Ram 2500 rides like a truck and my Dodge Challenger with R/T suspension and F1 tires rides worse than my truck but drives like it on rails.


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## MasterMech (Mar 4, 2013)

Highbeam said:


> I have the opposite experience. I replaced the stupid P tires with LR D on my yukon and also a half ton chevy pickup. I noticed no difference in bumpiness. What I did notice was a better driving vehicle. The P tires are squishy like you are riding around on balloons. The sidewalls flex and roll around side to side. The stiffer LT tires don't do this and allow more confident cornering and maneuvering. Have you ever driven a german car?​


 
I had an identical experience with my Canyon.  Replaced the P265/75-R15 balloons it had on there with a set of new take-off's from a full-size half-ton pickup.  What a world of difference.

That said, I think the E's are going to be a bit much on you wife's grocery getter.  How much do you want to hear about them for the next 50, 60, 70+ thousand miles?


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## Bocefus78 (Mar 4, 2013)

I have E rated Michelin MS2'S on my avalanche and keep them at 70psi. Much better than the baloon 35lb tires it came with. The set before that was a 65lb set of BFG's. With that said, I hang a thousand pound plow off the front, so I needed the ugrade. I like them both better than standard equipment even without the plow.  Just my .02.


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## blades (Mar 4, 2013)

Here is a choice instead of E go with D range ( if they are still making those)couple ply less in the side wall.
 Who ever posted running E with 30 psi , must be some sort of troll as E are 80psi units at 30 psi they will just tear them selves apart in highway and around town driving.


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## nate379 (Mar 4, 2013)

My experience as well.  Stiff riding is subjective though.



Highbeam said:


> I have the opposite experience. I replaced the stupid P tires with LR D on my yukon and also a half ton chevy pickup. I noticed no difference in bumpiness. What I did notice was a better driving vehicle. The P tires are squishy like you are riding around on balloons. The sidewalls flex and roll around side to side. The stiffer LT tires don't do this and allow more confident cornering and maneuvering. Have you ever driven a german car?
> 
> I also like the safety of having overbuilt tires. They should be more resistant to blowouts and tread seperation since they aren't squishing all over andbuilding up heat.
> 
> ...


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## Jags (Mar 4, 2013)

blades said:


> Who ever posted running E with 30 psi , must be some sort of troll as E are 80psi units at 30 psi they will just tear them selves apart in highway and around town driving.


 
That would have been me, cheesehead.   At 60 PSI I was wearing the center out of the tires and the truck steered like I was on ball bearings.  The ride was teeth jarring and unbearable.  At 30 psi my tires still stand up proud and have a flat foot print. Unless I have over 2500 pounds in the bed they do not squat.

By the way - it was recommended to me from the tire shop I purchased them from.  Said I was running too much pressure, and the tires were wearing to prove it.

I will stick by my stance.  Unless you are hauling constantly, 8 ply E rated tires on a half ton truck is redonkulous.


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## Highbeam (Mar 4, 2013)

I'm also tire shopping and have noticed the LT tires often cost the same whether LRC, D, or E. You get more plies and load rating for the same money. In that case, you would not choose the LRE but instead a C or D.

With a half ton truck you are often extremely limited on actual cargo capacity. I could only legally load 400 lbs in the bed of my 1998 chevy half ton before exceeding the GVWR. Point is, you will never need such a HD tire as an LRE on a half ton. So the only reason to get it is for the smoking deal. I like a firm ride so I see no real drawback except reduced tire life which is mitigated by the super low price.


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## blades (Mar 5, 2013)

Cheesehead, Something dosen't jive. Were these tires big balloony offroad things, because that is a whole nother ballgame, If that was the case. If you were to look at the tires on my trucks, without reading the side wall you could not tell what they were. If I aired them down to 30psi it would be like driving on bananna peels on the street. I have driven units with big mudder tires on them on the street, damned near uncontrollable. bounce around like you are in one of the kids bounce houses and you might get 25k out of a set. They are fine in the field or on the trail but are an extremely poor choice for hard pavement street use ( cool factor not withstanding)
My E rated tire of various makes over the years all cautioned about driving on them in under inflated condition in fact that would void any warranty as well. By the way I get between 50k to 60k per set, you never see that kind of milage out of mudders. Somewhere along the line you got sold a bill of goods. On my 1/2 tons I run D rated as a minimum. Non of my rigs have less than a 7000 gvw. the 250 is at 9100 gvw and the 350 at 9300gvw even my old 99 1/2 ton was at 7300gvw ( all fords)
I will say that I had a Ford Granada( four door sedan) back in the 70's that came with D's on it ( michlins) at full psi ( 55) it rode very harshly and tended to hopp, I did get 80+k out of that set of tires though running them at 45 psi. but that was still within specs for that combination.
Just remembered I had a set of P265-70R17 on that 1/2 ton for a bit rode like a caddy, useless for any work, made wife happy at the time. They went about 40k weren't much good after 30k for anything but dry pavement


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## Jags (Mar 5, 2013)

Standard size Michelin tires.  No balloon and very stiff.  They don't make these tires anymore (as the dude that patched my last one told me.)  Dunno, maybe it is simply this make/model.  The things are impossible to drive at 60 psi unless I were to put 3000 pounds in the bed.

(p.s. - Cheesehead was in response to being called a troll.)


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