Our truck! I haven't driven it since December, probably. DH just had new E-tires put on in February and we took our TT on the road trip from HELL in early March. I posted here earlier about that experience, so I won't bore you with the details but it was so bad we're thinking about giving up towing altogether. My little car was unavailable yesterday so I had to drive the F250 to work in downtown Atlanta, something I've done many times. Well, holy cow~! This truck was walking me all over the road! At 40mph, it was pretty good. At 55mph, it was just okay. But at 65mph I felt like I was having a hard time keeping it between the white lines. No wonder we had such a terrible time towing! Needless to say, the truck went to the shop this morning. The only way I was able to get home safely was that I came home in that good ol' Atlanta rush hour traffic--10-15mph almost all the way home. This was the ONE day that I said Thank God for Rush Hour!

More than likely your problem is the new tires need to break in a little bit. Each time I've replaced tires on my truck it acts a little squirrelly until the tires wear in a bit. Make sure they are properly inflated.

If it just happened after the tires were installed, I would look there. If not, you need a good front end shop to see if you have worn out front end parts and check alignment too.

New tires might affect the drive a little bit, but no where near what you describe. Lets hope they find the problem and get you back on the road.

Certainly check the pressure on the tires and make sure its correct, low pressure in E tires can cause then to wander and overcorrect. Also if the the tires are higher millage (longer life) tires then the old ones replaced they are going to have a harder compound that wont grip as well but over time they can soften up a little. Also try balancing the tire pressures many trucks like to run lighter pressures up front and again the lower pressure on the E tires isn't good. If you didnt have E tires before and you were using Cs or Ds and the stock pressure ratings you need to adjust. Typically Cs run 50psi, Ds 65psi and Es 80psi. The other thing that can be affecting the performance is the tread pattern.

New tires with deep tread CAN make it feel a little loose but shouldn't be ANYTHING like what you describe. To have as much of a problem as you describe sounds like something much more serious than that, like a possible track bar issue where the axle is actually loose. you made the right move to get it into the shop.

Well, I think I know what our towing problem is!

45 Replies

skipnchar
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
New tires with deep tread CAN make it feel a little loose but shouldn't be ANYTHING like what you describe. To have as much of a problem as you describe sounds like something much more serious than that, like a possible track bar issue where the axle is actually loose. you made the right move to get it into the shop.
PMcColley
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
Certainly check the pressure on the tires and make sure its correct, low pressure in E tires can cause then to wander and overcorrect. Also if the the tires are higher millage (longer life) tires then the old ones replaced they are going to have a harder compound that wont grip as well but over time they can soften up a little. Also try balancing the tire pressures many trucks like to run lighter pressures up front and again the lower pressure on the E tires isn't good. If you didnt have E tires before and you were using Cs or Ds and the stock pressure ratings you need to adjust. Typically Cs run 50psi, Ds 65psi and Es 80psi. The other thing that can be affecting the performance is the tread pattern.
powderman426
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
New tires might affect the drive a little bit, but no where near what you describe. Lets hope they find the problem and get you back on the road.
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Mar 27, 2014
If it just happened after the tires were installed, I would look there. If not, you need a good front end shop to see if you have worn out front end parts and check alignment too.
closurdo
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
More than likely your problem is the new tires need to break in a little bit. Each time I've replaced tires on my truck it acts a little squirrelly until the tires wear in a bit. Make sure they are properly inflated.

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Well, I think I know what our towing problem is!

45 Replies

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