F350 LT275/70r18 tires

[MNRon]

Received my 2022 F350 yesterday (yea!) but was surprised with 6800lb rear axle capacity. Digging further I believe this was because I accepted the standard LT275/65r18 tires which have load rating of 3415lb each (my fault).

I’m considering replacing them with LT275/70r18s that have load rating of 3640lb each. Has anyone received an F350 with LT275/70r18s, and is your rear axle capacity 7200lbs like I suspect?

Additionally, any comments on the value of replacing these? The tire guy I talked thought it was a waste of money. Given my load is in this range I’m thinking even the 200lb improvement per tire might be worthwhile margin.

Not looking for generic ‘weight police’ comments, but appreciate any counsel.
Thanks

[ACZL]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

IdaD wrote:
Just my opinion but payload ratings are meaningless imo. Know your axle and tire ratings and stay within those and you'll be fine.

SOOOOO true!!!

Simple math on my truck. SAE RAWR 9,750#, now add that to my 5,250# unloaded front axle. HMMMMMMM that is 15k. But But how is that possible when my GVWR is 14k.

Fuzzy math or common core math!!

[JBarca]

Hi MNRon,

I'll add this which may help. My 2005 SRW F350 has a 7,000# rated GAWR-RR. It came with the LT275/70R18's LR E with Continental ContiTrac - TR's.

I am running my 3rd set of the Continental ContiTrac TR's. I am towing a TT, I believe you are towing a 5'er if I found your camper correct. And you have the diesel and I have the V10 gasser.

As far as towing stability, mileage, noise and ride, I have no complaints with the Continental ContiTrac TR's. But I did have a new issue on the 3rd set I bought, now close to 5 years ago that did not happen on the first two sets.

I on purpose would not change brands towing with a gasser (lighter engine) and a good size TT from Continental to Michelin's. This is my situation and yours may be different, you have the diesel and you run the front tires higher in pressure due to that I suspect. Mine is 65 psi for full front axle capacity and what I tow at. The rear's are at 75psi for the 7,000# rear axle. I need stiff front sidewalls at 65 psi to have a stable towing rig. The Michelins have a softer side wall and I got burned years ago with them on my K2500 Suburban running lower pressures even if it was full axle load capable. If you are running 70 psi or higher, with a diesel and a 5er, I suspect the Michelins will not be a problem for you, if you choose to go that route. But, I won't.

Now to the new issue that struck me on the 3rd set of Continental's and it was only the 3rd set. Those tires when new had some major squirm to them. I have heard others on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks regardless of GM, Ford or Dodge, having the same new tire squirm break in issue. And it was across other brands, not only Continental's, but this 3rd set was bad. I know it can take ~500 miles to break in tire tires, but it took until I reached 4,500 miles on them before the truck stability came back. It did sort of OK at 3,500 miles, but not still not the same as it as on the older Continental's. Heck, the 2nd set I bought (~ 5 years prior), I only had 300 miles on them and headed out on a 500 mile one way trip and thought nothing of it. But this 3rd set had some major stability issues. Something about the new way they mold tires, they can take longer to break in. Not sure what brands are better or not. It's a free for all. And I need new tires next year and I'll be thinking hard what brand to get.

The OEM Michelin's that came on my buddy's 2015 (I think) GM 3500 SRW diesel (same size and LR) pulling a big 5'er at full rear axle rating wore out in 30K miles. It seems OEM tires are now tweaked to give better ride and they give up miles of tread life to get it. The aftermarket same style tire can go the distance. So yes, new OEM tires can seem to be a good brand, but if it was OEM tweaked, they are suspect.

For the stability of towing a 5er, and you have higher front tire pressure, you may not have any issues with either brand.

Good luck with the new truck.

Hope this helps,

John

[MNRon]

Thanks all for the insights. I’ve decided to run the stock tires and apply the money to some Li batteries which will lighten the load a little. When I do replace the tires in a few years I do plan on upsizing though.

[FishOnOne]

MNRon wrote:
FishOnOne - thanks for your comment. I was also surprised that it came with Continentals not Michelin’s. I have lots of good experience with Michelin’s but not any with Continental’s, but the tire guy I talked with had high praise for the Continentals.

Yeah I forgot the 18" tires are Continentals which historically have been decent tires at best.

[Cummins12V98]

IdaD wrote:
Just my opinion but payload ratings are meaningless imo. Know your axle and tire ratings and stay within those and you'll be fine.

SOOOOO true!!!

Simple math on my truck. SAE RAWR 9,750#, now add that to my 5,250# unloaded front axle. HMMMMMMM that is 15k. But But how is that possible when my GVWR is 14k.

[blt2ski]

Actually it's very EASY to overload an axle while still UNDER payload.
Put a 3000 lb pallet of sod, concrete blocks/paver on and in the very back of an 8' box truck with a 6000 lb ra capacity. You will probably be over the approx 3500 lbs of load capacity for the axle rating.
You will lower the rear enough that you start pulling wieght off the FA onto the RA, putting it over it's capacity.
Yes been there, done that.ore fingers and toes counting than grit and I have combined.
Likewise depending upon the truck bed length, you can put a load in the very front of the bed, for my IHC, 4-5000 lbs in the front 4' of the bed on pallets will add 2000 lbs to the FA overloading the 8000 gfaw of that truck. It has typically about 5900 on it empty. 12000 lbs to axle limits, 14000 to legal registered legal weight limit.

Reality, very easy to overload an axle! That is the way MOST commercial drivers get over wieght tickets, by not balancing the load so an axle is not over wieght, but under there paid for gvw.

Marty

[way2roll]

IdaD wrote:
Just my opinion but payload ratings are meaningless imo. Know your axle and tire ratings and stay within those and you'll be fine.

So, springs, transmission etc don't matter?

[Grit_dog]

shelbyfv wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

shelbyfv wrote:
Apologies for the piggyback question but this seems a good place to ask. If I adhere to the payload door sticker (Combined weight of...should never exceed) do I need to be concerned about any specific axle or tire capacity? In other words, if I don't exceed the payload can I assume the rear axle and tires have enough capacity for the load? Just a general question, no specifics in mind. Thanks.

Hard question to answer with out knowing your payload, depending on what is carried in the TV, there are likely some combinations that it might be possible.

:h So even if under payload, it's still possible to exceed the rating for axle or tires?

Hah, shelby, I found a rv.net obtuse answer I hand't thought of...
"What if" someone put the same size P rated tires on the truck? LOL

rhafgo turned into a weight cop a couple years ago when he quit running a very stout old 2nd Gen and upgraded to a dually....

[Grit_dog]

rhagfo wrote:

shelbyfv wrote:
Apologies for the piggyback question but this seems a good place to ask. If I adhere to the payload door sticker (Combined weight of...should never exceed) do I need to be concerned about any specific axle or tire capacity? In other words, if I don't exceed the payload can I assume the rear axle and tires have enough capacity for the load? Just a general question, no specifics in mind. Thanks.

Hard question to answer with out knowing your payload, depending on what is carried in the TV, there are likely some combinations that it might be possible.

Huh? That is probably the most succinct, easy to answer correctly, question that has been asked on here in some time! LOL
The answer is no you don't need to worry 1 bit, about any component, based on the mfgs rated payload. Seeing as it is always the lowest common denominator of components' capacities, often combined with regulatory limitations that further lower the "rating" artificially, the only way one could be more conservative is to place their own personal unfounded factor of safety ON TOP of the mfgs rating.

This is so clear cut that I can't even think of an obtuse response considering some obscure condition that someone on this forum generally brings up anytime someone uses words like "always", "neve", "certian", etc.

[IdaD]

Just my opinion but payload ratings are meaningless imo. Know your axle and tire ratings and stay within those and you'll be fine.

[shelbyfv]

rhagfo wrote:

shelbyfv wrote:
Apologies for the piggyback question but this seems a good place to ask. If I adhere to the payload door sticker (Combined weight of...should never exceed) do I need to be concerned about any specific axle or tire capacity? In other words, if I don't exceed the payload can I assume the rear axle and tires have enough capacity for the load? Just a general question, no specifics in mind. Thanks.

Hard question to answer with out knowing your payload, depending on what is carried in the TV, there are likely some combinations that it might be possible.

:h So even if under payload, it's still possible to exceed the rating for axle or tires?

[blt2ski]

You need to know what wieght you will literally be putting in the axle. If constantly over by a few hundred lbs, get a stronger capacity tire the next time around.
My funding with driving and loading trucks, going to a bigger size, or wieght rating, if I only need new load rated tires at a D 8 ply psi, the pricer E 10 ply rated tire does NOT carry the load any better. I'm better off saving my money.
If I go up in size, I can go down in ply load rating too. UNLESS I need addition load carrying capacity.
My experience is probably similar to Grit using light duty trucks in a construction use. Including running down the road at 150% of tire capacity. I should point out too, in usually on city county roads doing less than 50 mph for 5-10 Mike's, not freeway at 60 in 90f temps. Your mileage may vary in this. I'm also within legal axle loads in WA st which is 500 lbs per inch width of tire, along with a paid for gvw for loads I carry.
Marty

[rhagfo]

shelbyfv wrote:
Apologies for the piggyback question but this seems a good place to ask. If I adhere to the payload door sticker (Combined weight of...should never exceed) do I need to be concerned about any specific axle or tire capacity? In other words, if I don't exceed the payload can I assume the rear axle and tires have enough capacity for the load? Just a general question, no specifics in mind. Thanks.

Hard question to answer with out knowing your payload, depending on what is carried in the TV, there are likely some combinations that it might be possible.

[shelbyfv]

Apologies for the piggyback question but this seems a good place to ask. If I adhere to the payload door sticker (Combined weight of...should never exceed) do I need to be concerned about any specific axle or tire capacity? In other words, if I don't exceed the payload can I assume the rear axle and tires have enough capacity for the load? Just a general question, no specifics in mind. Thanks.