E Rated Tires for Durability / Reliability

Interesting thread over at Expedition Portal where this quote was brought into the mix:

Im close to purchasing new tires for my 2TR powered SR and have seen plenty of evidence, or rather commentary that running anything over a C Load tire on our trucks is a bad idea because of weight. I am debating between the BFG AT or the Cooper ST Max, which are both E rated and have a reputation for durability, but both weigh close to 50lbs at the 31 inch size - to the Goodyear Duratracs, which at an SL or C load rating are 42 and 40 lbs respectively, and have a reputation for being a good tire, but a bit unreliable under extreme conditions.

I suppose my question is how many people feel like running the E Load tires is worth the trade off in weight for the extra durability on trail? General thoughts?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-cooper-st-maxx.346956/page-96#post-11827096

Cooper ST Maxx has a huge following

 

C rated Duratrac. Enough said.

You will find that driving around with E rated tires on a 1/4 ton truck becomes more of a "my dick is bigger" exercise than anything else. I have ran c rated tires on all of my Toyotas throughout multiple Western States, over ever type of sharp rock imaginable. I truly do not believe for a minute that an E rated tire is needed. I do carry two spares, but I would carry two spares if I had E rated tires also.

 

The trick is to buy a high quality C rated tire. All of the brands you listed will be fine in a C.

 

Most of the punctures on those shale roads in Maine are in the tread and not in the sidewall. I don't believe the tread ply/thickness is different between a C or E (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), so sidewall rating doesn't matter that much as far as I'm concerned. I run C's.

 

E rated is overkill, heavier and too much noise. Simply unnecessary for these trucks. If C rated will hold up fine on a Tacoma in the AZ Desert they will hold up anywhere.

 

Having lived by the saw (albeit briefly, wasn't the life for me) I can say with great certainty loggers and load E go together hand in hand, but not because of logging roads in general. It is because ACTIVE cutting sites have shit everywhere that will tear up tires. In my experience, if the road is an open one on state or federal land, the road will get graded and cleared when the cutting is done. C load tires are more than enough if you aren't hitting those active sites.

 

If it was just a durability/cost trade off, then I would go E load all the way. But there is also a ride quality reduction and fuel economy can suffer. I disliked my E load KO2 so much I bought take off 17" rims so I could get C load KO2, then sold my near brand new 16" rims and tires at a loss.

The E loads were just too harsh over city streets and even aired down they would loosen your fillings on bumpy gravel roads.

 

I started with the Duratracs and returned them. To many reports on sidewall blowouts. I went with the Cooper STMaxx E rated. I do think they have some tires, a few with a lower rating in 32's 33's or something. But I like the tire. Ride is not bad, Yes they are heavier but im ok with this. I would rather have a stout tire for when I do go off road then a tire failure.

 

Never seen a tire fail because of a C rating here in the AZ desert...have seen street tires and OEMs fail from time to time but would not attribute that to a quality C rated tire.

 

I am merely just stating what I have read elsewhere on reviews for the Duratracs. I never said on a C rated tire.

 

I had two sets of Duratracs, one on 2003 Tacoma TRD OR 4x4 and another on a 2003 Ranger 4x4. Beat the hell out of those tires. I felt like the first set on my Tacoma stayed balanced fairly well but on the Ranger I had trouble keeping them balanced and seemed like every 3k to 5k I had to go back to Discount and sit around for 90 minutes while they rebalanced them. They were 265/75R16 on both sets and E Rated. Heavier tires are more difficult to keep balanced...learned my lesson there. Same issue with the previous set of Goodyear MTRs on my Tacoma. The duratracs were a big improvement from the MTR on pavement....particularly when wet.

 

Ok, sounds good. Again not putting anyone down or anything. If they worked for you and that is your experiences then that is good info. I was just stating what I have experienced with the E rated STmaxx and what I have read on the Duratracs.

 

The hard part is some brands and sizes only come in E, like 255 85 r16 km2s. I had c range Duratracs, but the side walls got cut pretty badly. My E km2 sidewalls have faired better.

 

Ive run E load tires on a first gen tacoma, and had no problem with the ride. Weight plus rotational mass on the 4 cylinder is more of a concern.

Still, durability is something worth having in the backcountry, plus the consideration that the extra weight carries with it a 2-3 MPG hit, that adds up over time to a lot of cash - it also seems many people here have chimed in that as long as a passenger style tire is not being run, any LT tire works fine in the majority of situations.

The video below is very interesting though and is a testament to the toughness of a true rugged E load tire, but the question is do most of us require that type of strength:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kz8mmLkeks

 

That's a great video. I saw that when I was buying and it was a big reason I went with the STmaxx

 

I guess the big question is who exactly needs that type of toughness, loggers clearly need it, game wardens need it, rock crawlers need it. But does the average mixed DD / trail rig / occasional expedition vehicle need it?

 

Nope. C's are fine.

 

Duratracs in the 265/70/16 is an SL, still an LT tire - but is that any different build wise than the "c"?

Im guessing that depends on the manufacturer

 

No clue. My 265/75-16 Duratracs say C rated on the sidewall. Not sure what SL means.