Anyone Running LT Tires with a 10 Ply Rating....Feedback

[moorejl57]

Since I do my own rotations, I find the heavy LT tires tough to get back on the studs lol

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[Friday yet?]

Just a thought. But have you considered buying a set of steel wheels and then buy some LT's for towing. Have your regular tires and your towing tires. Like having snow tires. You have the PIA of doing the change out but with a floor jack it's really pretty fast.

Just a thought.

 

[Grumpaw]

Just a thought. But have you considered buying a set of steel wheels and then buy some LT's for towing. Have your regular tires and your towing tires. Like having snow tires. You have the PIA of doing the change out but with a floor jack it's really pretty fast.

Just a thought.

If it were only a few times a year, yeah. But we're usually on the road 1-2 weeks every 2 months, with weekends in-between. I'd be spending way too much time swapping them out. I do my own rotations, and know what it entails....twice a year, OK. 8-9 times a year, I'll pass...
I don't mind the a stiffer ride when empty....it's the ride and handling I want/need when towing.

 

[Grumpaw]

Since I do my own rotations, I find the heavy LT tires tough to get back on the studs lol

Did that with 6 tires on heavy steel rims on our motor home at least twice a year....sold the motor home 2 years ago, and my back still hurts when I think about it.

 

[Friday yet?]

If it were only a few times a year, yeah. But we're usually on the road 1-2 weeks every 2 months, with weekends in-between. I'd be spending way too much time swapping them out. I do my own rotations, and know what it entails....twice a year, OK. 8-9 times a year, I'll pass...
I don't mind the a stiffer ride when empty....it's the ride and handling I want/need when towing.

Understood!

 

[Grumpaw]

After our stock tires wore out on our '94 Jeep ZJ , we ran various LT tires until 2018. Never had a flat. Heavier, and slightly more clunky on bumps which likely reduced the life of rubber suspension bushings. I installed poly bushings on everything which further reduced cushioning.

Prior to delivery (7/2020) of our 2020 Ranger, we had our dealer install the FP/Fox Leveling kit and these tires.

Toyo Open Country A/T III LT265/70R17E 121S 10PR
MADE IN USA

https://www.toyotires.com/product/open-country-at3

Our truck is normally not loaded (never heavily) and never pulling a trailer. Mileage is just over 8K as we have not taken long trips and our Ranger is not our daily driver.

Toyo Tire has Load & Inflation Tables for determining correct pressure.

https://www.toyotires.com/tires-101/tire-load-and-inflation-tables

We normally run 37 PSI except off-road where we air down as far as 18 PSI, depending on conditions.

We purchased these tires for mild off-road performance, traction, durability, and dependability. We also have a matching spare tire/wheel. Being M+S and 3-peaks rated, extra traction is a bonus.

Very little road noise.

Our mileage is good, but not always easy to gauge when we're doing more off-roading. Seldom check anymore. Best was a road trip on country two-lane roads driving 55-65 MPH.

These tires are heavier and stiffer than stock Hankooks. Firmer over dips and bumps. Bad road seams and holes are a bit more "clunky" and a bit more bouncy when unloaded.

No regrets, they're great for our use.

Appreciate the info....good looking tire. I'll probably go for a more "Street" tire with not such an aggressive tread. All my driving is street/highway/interstate.
But you hit on some of the items I thought about, how the truck rides with a stiff sidewall while aired down. It is a truck, and realize it's not, and I don't want it to be a Caddy.
To me when I got it, it seemed too "soft" for a truck, but shocks and suspension upgrades took care of that.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Rhino]

Looking for feedback from anyone running LT tires with 10 ply ratings. Ride quality with the stiffer sidewalls and higher psi when running with "empty" truck.
Going to a set for the load/towing capacity...towing heavy travel trailer with high hitch weight.
Curious about day to day driving with them, without load.

only recently did i have a c load tire and those didnt last long.... other then that ive only owned E load tires since of my wheeling style back then would destroy c loads...

E load tires ride well rougher you will feel bumps and such a lot easier but that being said they are a ton stronger for offroad use or towing so if you can live with the added harshness and noise (sometimes not always) of a E load then i wouldnt worry to much.
now mpg will dip a little bit when i went from the wildpeaks to the coopers i lost another mgp or so... the tires are heavier so its more rolling mass that the truck now has to spin so that is a given. acceleration might be a tiny bit off ive noticed mine is a tad slower then my c loads and bit slower then oem setup as well but not enough where it drives like my old tacoma haha

and by a tad i mean like a tiny tiny bit where others wouldnt notice it but since ive driven it since day one i noticed it


also be warned about toyo they are hit and miss tires... mine got warrantied within 4k miles because of awful road noise and drivability... hopefully i got a bad set and the rest are great but i have friends that have also ran them and ha issues so i dont have much hope for em

 

[Bravohook]

Looking for feedback from anyone running LT tires with 10 ply ratings. Ride quality with the stiffer sidewalls and higher psi when running with "empty" truck.
Going to a set for the load/towing capacity...towing heavy travel trailer with high hitch weight.
Curious about day to day driving with them, without load.

I have D rated tires in 285/70-17. Fronts I keep at 35 rears 33. They r rough. Anything over P rated tires will be rough. If I run my setup below the psi I posted they r sloppy. 35/33 is the sweet spot for them. Can’t imagine having E rated tires.

 

[Fritz]

I run 265/75 16 p metric tires at ~40 psi for summer tires.

I run 235/85 16 E load tires at ~40psi for winter tires.

Weight is almost identical because the E loads tires are narrow.

I wish the summer tires were firmer and I wish the winters were a tad softer.

I have no idea what psi the tires are supposed to be at though. I have about 500# in the truck at all times.

 

[StarLord]

I swapped from OEM tires to an E Load Rated slightly larger size.

Some roughness noticed when I first swapped them, and they did feel "heavier" when accelerating an turning but after maybe 8 months on them, hardly notice anything anymore.

I wouldn't hesitate to switch from 4 ply to 10 ply. If you do any sort of off roading or soft roading and if you are towing, 10 ply is the way to go.

 

[Cmar]

I always run 10 ply or LT on my 4x4's. The only downsides - a bit stiffer ride, and heavy to lift up onto the studs if changing a flat. The plusses a whole lot less likely to get a flat in the first place. Many of the tracks and out back roads over here have a lot of sharp flinty rocks which are not kind to "P" rated tyres.

 

[9zero1790]

i run e rated 10 ply tires. i keep them at 35 psi cold. after they warm up they are near 40 psi. they ride fine and have not made any major difference other than better traction and more solid feel. the mpg is always over 20 and keep my truck full of stuff and have a fat ass winch and winch mount on the front. i cant speak to higher psi for dealing with heavy trailer weights. havent put that much weight on a trailer with the ranger yet. a lot of folks are anti e rated due to weight or being stiff walled etc but i havent had those issues. the factory duelers seemed like prius tires to me i got rid of them fast lol.

 

[9zero1790]

as others have said the ups of a ten ply is better than the downs. safety over comfort.

 

[canyonslicker]

Toyo has always served me well. That’s my replacement when stock tires are worn out.

 

[Deleted User 61245811]

Actually my Lariat, a 2 wheel drive, came with 255/65R/17 tires / 17 inch rims. The tires are Duelers with a 2 ply/ 4 ply rating...basically car tires. Stock lift with no plans to lift.
Diameter is listed as 30.1 inches.
Nearest LT tires in that size are approx. same size are LT245/70r/17, the LT giving them an 8 ply / 10 ply rating with all I have looked at having a max 80 psi rating. I figure I could go one size larger without any problems, but trying to keep as close to OE size. Not concerned with tire weight too much...it will go up about 7 lbs per tire....it is a street driven truck with 60% daily driver and 40% towing. Figure to run 40-45 psi street and 60-65 psi towing.....it's a close to 7000 lb travel trailer with a 700 lb tongue weight.
Looking at Yokohama Geolander AT GO15, Cooper Discoverer HT 3, and MasterCraft (made by Cooper) Stratus AP All Terrain. Several others but they get into higher $$$ with more of an off road tread, which I don't need.
Just curious as to how the Ranger's ride with a tire with a stiff sidewall running more psi than the normal 32-35 in a standard OE tire.

Grumpaw,

Since I've seen you on the site for awhile and I know from your posts you've been towing for awhile, I assume that you have towed a fair amount of miles with the OEM Pmetric (not LT) tires. I've never seen a post of yours talking about any issues towing with your current configuration Ranger, so I am curious if you have had trouble during that time with your stock tires while towing. Or, put another way, why do you feel the need to move to a 10ply?

I too tow at the upper end of the Ranger capacity and would like to hear your experience.

That said, I do have some closely related relevance to share about putting 10 plys on light duty trucks. I worked in the oil fields for several years. We had company, full size, 4x4, 1/2 ton trucks carrying little weight other than the driver that we got new and took to 100,000 miles before getting another new one. 80% of these trucks lives were on dirt or crushed rock covered dirt roads (when it wasn't mud or snow). The company would give you your new truck and you would run the OEM tire until the first flat you got, which seldom took long (or winter hit). At which point, they removed all the pmetrics and put 10ply tires on the truck all the way around. After that, you never had to change a tire again because of a flat.

A lot of time spent off road can be a challenge for a Pmetric. I recall one hunting trip in a personal F150 of mine where I ruined 3 Pmetrics within a week. So I certainly understand someone who spends a good deal of time off road going with an LT tire, regardless of the ply rating or load range.

I would notice a sizeable difference in the work truck when making the switch to the 10 plys. The ride was significantly harsher, the handling and the engine response was slightly worse. I didn't pay for the gas, so I never paid attention to that. It was a more pleasant driving vehicle before the tire change. However, after a month, you forgot what it was like before the switch and it became the "new normal". So not a big deal. Not having to change a tire in the field again was a game changer though. So totally worth it for that scenario. Especially when I didn't pay for the tires or the gas. Clearly the company had figured that it was more cost effective to go with the 10 plys for their fleet.

However, when it comes to towing with a truck that is almost entirely on pavement its whole life, I'm not so sure. I got rid of my stock tires because of the size. I put 285/70/17s on mine, which already caused considerable increase in weight, width, and height. I didn't want to make it worse by going to an LT on top of that, that would increase the weight and rolling resistance even more, although I did think about it a lot.

I went with a Nitto Ridge Grappler, to be honest, mostly because of how great they look, like a mud tire, while not actually being a full blown mud tire. They are available in my size in Pmetric, LT load range C, and LT load range E. Stats from Tire rack right now for Nitto Ridge Grappler:

	Pmetric	LT-Load Range C	LT-Load Range E
Max Load	2756	2755	3195	pounds
Weight	49	55	55	pounds
Price	282	310	355	dollars

As you can see, LT load range C tire doesn't give any better load carrying capacity over the Pmetric, but there is a 12% weight increase and a 10% price increase.

The LT load range E does provide 16% more load carrying capacity but it weighs 12% more and costs 26% more.

My Ranger has a GVWR of 6050LBs. Like me, I know you run a weight distribution hitch. so let's just assume equal weight on all for corners for a maxed out truck. That's 1513lbs. My Pmetric tire is good for 182% of that, and that's not including the sizeable factor of safety that's engineered into the tire. The load range E tire is 211%

The highest rated axle on my ranger is ( Rear GAWR) 3370 or 1685 per side. The Pmetric is still 164% above the axle rating.

10 ply or load range E tires are what they put on F350's. Choosing to put a 10ply on a Ranger for carrying capacity is, to me, like choosing to put F350 leaf springs under the Ranger for carrying capacity.

I chose to go with Pmetric because I wanted to stay under 50lbs per tire. I'm not concerned about my load carrying capacity while towing my trailer because any configuration is more than enough. My concern would come if I start having problems with damaging tires while I'm off road, which I do some off-roading. So far I haven't had any problem with that. Maybe, a 10 ply might have longer tread life while towing. I'm not really sure about that. But I am pretty sure all the fuel mileage you would lose for the life of the tire and the extra up front cost of the 10ply over the Pmetric would be more than buying new tires a little sooner.

I looked up the Geolandar A/T G015's that you mentioned on tire rack. They don't have a load range C.

	P	LT-E
Max Load	2205	3000	pounds
Weight	35	45	pounds
Price	202	248	dollars
Warranty	60000	50000	miles

While not as robust a max load rating as my Nitto's, the G015 still exceeds (my) GAWR by 131%. The weight of the E is a whopping 32% greater, and the cost is 23% higher.

There's my two cents. I hope it can help you with your own decision making process.

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