Load rating question

I currently have Falken WildPeak AT3W tires and I'm getting pretty tired of the bad gas mileage with them. I want to downsize, but I'm nervous about losing the E rating. I live down a gravel road, so the tires so gravel daily. I haven't had a flat yet on these after roughly 20k miles. Will I see a noticeable difference in switching to like a 265/70/17 tire with 4 ply?

 

Size and weight matter.

You don't mention current size.

 

Oh shoot you're right! I'm running 285/75/17s E rated

 

why not go to a "c" rated 265, or 255/75... you will notice a big difference and won't have to worry about flats and such. not sure I would go down to a "p" if I was doing a lot of gravel roads, which I assume you're considering.

 

Use the tire calculator to see the rolling difference

Look up your current and proposed brands for the weight difference.

Better mpg will happen, but unsure just how much, and if its worth it related to your use conditions.

Only you can figure that out.

 

Do you think I would get much better mileage with the 255/75/17s?

 

Thanks for the reply. How much does the weight of the tire factor into gas mileage?

 

than what you have, yes. they are going to be about 10lb's less on average per tire. there are a decent number of "c" rated options in the 255/75.

 

Awesome! I'll look for that size!

 

Are you correcting for the larger tires in your MPG calculations? Your mileage on your odometer will be off due to the larger size of the tires so it will appear that your mileage is worse than it actually is. Larger/heavier tires will hurt your MPGs, definitely...but it might not be as bad as you think it is if you aren't correcting for the size of the tires.

 

Yea I'll usually get around 190 miles on 3/4 tank (I always fill up with a quarter tank left). So 13.5 gallons / 190miles*1.1(this is the ratio needed to correct the mileage) = 15.48mpg. Its decent, but i would prefer to get a little better.

 

I run E rated tires too for the reliability off road, but I'm usually doing the harder 4lo and slow kind of stuff. If it's mostly just gravel roads you're doing, I think a C rated tire will be fine and will shed some pounds. I wouldn't do a P rated though.

 

I ran 285/75-17 C load. Averaged around 17mpg corrected. Never had problem offroading them.

I even ran p-metric in 285/70-17 for a while. Never had a problem off road but felt safer on C loads. Would have kept them though if I hadn't wanted the bigger size.

 

I've only ever gotta a flat once and it was an E rated tire on an easy fire road, so flats can happen anywhere really if you're unlucky enough. The sidewall rounded on a sharp rock and tore through.

 

So would I get much better mileage just by keeping the same tire size but switching to a C load?

 

not enough to make it worth it.

 

Well, I can say I have 265/70r17 Wildpeaks SL load and I didn't notice any mpg drop from stock. They also ride just as smooth as stock.