E, LT or P Rated Tires for my 1/2 Ton?

gijoecam wrote:
Two years ago, I replaced the C-rated Goodyear Wrangler ATS's on my F150 due to cracking along the bead edge. THey were the original tires on the truck and were 10 years old with about 75,000 miles on them. I was not heartbroken. The ride quality was not harsh, but they were rather loud tires, likely due to their tread pattern. Handling and grip was pretty decent even near the end of their life.

I replaced them with Michelin LTX AT2's in a load range E. I did this not because of the extra capacity (the tires are capable of handling nearly double what the truck is rated for), but because of the relatively soft and squirrelly ride they created while towing our popup. The difference was immediately noticeable on one particular freeway on-ramp near our house. THere is a dip about 1/4 of the way through the sweeping 70mph right hand turn. With the old LRC Goodyears, the truck squirmed and wormed its way around that bend. With the new LRE Michelins, the truck dipped and re-planted itself around that same bend at the same speed.

The ride quality when empty and not towing is, however, noticeably more harsh, even at the reduced pressures appropriate for the empty truck. (I consulted the load vs. inflation pressure tables from Michelin for that number) Not 'rattle-your-fillings-loose' harsh, but noticeably stiffer tires than the LRCs. For my purposes, it was entirely worth the trade-off.

You are correct.

Why do people think that they need to run what the tire says on the sidewall for inflation????

Use the inglation/load charts that is what they are for.

I had a friend go with the Michelin E tires on his 1/2 ton GM, he had 80,000 miles on them when he traded in his truck with 1/3 tread left.

He was a happy camper with the results. He loved the more stable ride.

The stock tires on the truck only made it about 50K.