C Rated or E Rated Tires....What Do You Run?

I did quite a bit of wheeling last few years. Aired down to 15-18, truck over payload. I only feel confident with E in those situations. I also started towing regularly about 6 months ago and do like the feeling of stiffer tires.

Otherwise yeah, E is overkill.

The nice thing is my E rated 255/80/17 Wildpeaks are only 52 pounds, not bad at all.

 

285/70/R17 KM3's E

 

I'd only run an E if that's the only option for the tire and size you want (as I have). Otherwise, I'm a fan of traveling as light as possible.

 

^^^
This.

For me it was Toyo M/T 285/75R17. When I bought them slightly over 4 years ago, E was the only thing available. However since then, Toyo now shows a C-rated tire in that size, but too late now (I'll do the Cs next go-around though).

 

So reading through the ten pages of this post...I'm interested in C rated for my next 'all terrain' tire. I wrote down all the possible C's that posters mentioned and did some google searches on the names and brands that were mentioned. I run 285/75/16's. I like that 33"-ish size. I don't see any AT's in the 33" size from my search. I could drop down a size but since every milimeter of clearance counts on the trail, I would like to maintain that size-ish. Anyone know of C rated 33's that fit 16" wheels?

 

So I just read through this thread as I’m sitting on SL wildpeak’s AT and will need to get new shoes soon.

I’ll likely go with C rated just because when I am loaded down, with my new suspension setup and I can just feel they are squishier than I want them to be. Rig handles better if I increase shock firmness a bit though.

All that said I’ve had great success with SL for everyday trail running, I’ve been down all the trails with people with E rated tires and they have held up great and I routinely run them around 16-18 psi, while I’m not 20 anymore and blowing down trails wicked fast I still get after it when I want to, the wildpeaks have been run down stuff that make me nervous but they always have come out unscathed, only puncture was from a 3/8 lag bolt I managed to pick up on the freeway. I take some care to not run over obvious sharp rocks if I can avoid them but shouldn’t we all do that anyway now maybe I’ve just been lucky but ultimately I think E’s are probably overkill. However it’s been a very very long time since I’ve ran E so ‍♂️

 

Redneck guy dropped this bit of wisdom on me:

“We always thought 10 ply was for 8 lug and 6 play was for 6 luggers”

 

E rated KO2s

 

E, because there are a lot of cactus gangs where i roll. They like to hide under soft looking brush on the shoulders of trails and reach up to bite your sidewalls when you back up or move courteously for others.

 

I run load range C tires at 10 PSI through this terrain in my LJ and never damaged a tire. C load range should be plenty strong for any terrain a 3rd Gen can traverse

 

This is what I keep saying! C is fine unless you are overloading your truck

 

I just returned from 3 weeks in baja. Spent lots of miles aired down over sand, washboards, gravel, poor pavement, and rock. Some of this was slow going, some was faster running.

Lots of potholes, cactus and jagged rocks.

I am on my first set of Wildpeaks AT3w in 265 75 16 (SL).

I kept close tabs on tire temps at various inflation levels, speeds, and terrain types. I did not have any punctures, cuts, broken blocks, or any undue temperature increases.

I travel at various psi depending on use. At the high end, I ride at 40 psi on the (e.g on my way up to Tahoe on the freeway). On the low end, I am at around 20 psi while on soft sand / large gravel roads. I am at various points in between for washboards, packed sand, maintained dirt roads, wet dirt roads, snow, and potholed asphalt.

I am happy to report that I had no tire issues at all, and that my tires performed very well across the various conditions and they are all holding air consistently.

I imagine E rated tires would not be nearly as compliant as a lower load-rated tire carrying the weight of a Taco, and would require much lower psi to be able to perform. I also assume that this would likely result in increased heat generation...

I'd still be interested in seeing a controlled-environment test to evaluate these...

 

I recently got some goodyear 315/70r17s Load C put on and like them alot! They are stock on Broncos with sasquatch. Wheel and tire combo is only 14lbs heavier than stock. Used to be on KO2s load E