To Ply Or Not To Ply........

So,

I am going back an forth between the 16" and 17" wheels. My decision really boils down to 10 ply vs 6 ply. If the E rated tires are not like riding in a tractor, I will probably go with the 16". The 17" give me C rated (6 ply) options that I can't get in 16". Mostly paved roads with little offroading. But don't want to pop a sidewall on low air when I go. this is why the passenger tires (1 ply) are off the table. How much stiffer (hard) is the ride on the E rated tires going from the stockies. I ask because i had an off brand 10 ply on my Ford Ranger and hated every second of it. The ride was so hard and bouncy, I had to swap them out after a few thousand miles. With stock OR suspension will I be hating life with 10 ply (E rated). I know tires very from brand to brand, Ko's, Grapplers, Wildpeak, and the like will be my traget tires. Please give your two, hell even three cents on this subject.

 

If you are 4 cyl and/or not staying with oem tire size, I would just do C load. The gas savings and extra power trump occasional casual offroad use. Depends on the seriousness of offroad and frequency of that tho.............IMO

 

Sorry running the V6 2018 OR

 

To me my OR felt like a Cadillac and had a floaty ride. Adding E rated tires stiffened it up to feel like a SUV so it handled better.

If you want that softness then E rated tires aren't it.

 

Unless you do heavy offloading go with C rated tires. I have 265 E Ko2's and they are stiff as hell. You will be so much more comfortable with c rated tires.

 

I have been running Firestone MT2 E-rated tires for the last 1,000 miles or so.

Way overkill for what I need them for.....a C-rated AT is all in the world I actually need (would shave off 40lbs+ per set), however, I like the MT look and they are beasts offroad. Fun tires.

Milage impact has been 2-3 mpg over the factory highway tires.....and probably 1/2 that vs a C-Rated AT.

 

E rated ko2s drained 2 mpg form me at 265/75r16. Been through sharp rocks offloading in DVNP and through the sierras and not one puncture or cut on sidewall

 

Where do you off road? "E" rated tires need to be used when running sharp stuff, rock gardens and desert. "C" rated tires for the guy who does a bit easier trails but still is running over stuff that eats sidewalls. A "P" rated tire is fine for fire and dirt roads of any type. I run "P" with no issues, but I am careful.

"E" tries will drop your mpg by several percent, like 2 mpg. Doesn't sound like much, but, if gas is $2.75/gal and you drive 15K miles a year, that will cost you $230 a year just to run "E" tires. This is a gift that keeps giving, and if you do mostly city driving then expect the mpg difference to be greater. So when your tires are worn out, you have spent enough to have bought another set of tires! So effectively you pay double for the privilege.

In addition, tires and suspension are two different things of course. You cannot expect your suspension to make up the harshness of a hard tire any more than you can expect your suspension to compensate for a soft tire. If you run a "E" tire, expect the ride to be much more jarring on bumps.

Your truck, your choice. The above is just the way it is, and while some brands might be a bit more forgiving than others, they still won't compare to the softer tire.

Lastly, don't buy into the hype. Very few people who just dropped $1200 on a set of "E" rated tires will tell you the truth... that they ride like crap for the 99% of time you will be on the pavement. Yes, 99%. Do you off road more than 150 miles a year? That's 1%. I off road a lot and I am about 1% of my total miles of 30K/yr.

Buy a tire for 99% or buy a tire for 1%. Your choice.

 

Something to consider when it comes to E rated although the tire might be stronger that also means you need to lower PSI a lot more when off road. Which means you run a higher risk of popping the bead.

As great as a strong tire is I still think E rated is over kill for our trucks and even off road. I haven't had an issue with C rated and if you look at some of the big off road tires they are still also only 6 ply.
But personally I went in between as that is all my tire is offered in anyways
285 70 17 goodyear Duratrac is only offered as 8 ply D rated. So didn't really have a choice.
I haven't seen much of a difference in MPG change vs the 6 ply duratrac I had in a 265 70 17 the previous year.

We shall see how they hold up over the summer wheeling. I never really had an issue with the older ones either.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write that out. I am in Az, so lots of different types of trails, most would be desert. Lot of sharp rocks and thorns that could kill a mammoth. That is why the P rating will not fly. Only seeing those rocks a few times a year, I don't know the E's are a good idea. Hell the 6 ply, or C as it seems to be called now, is probably overkill. Again, the P one is just to enough.

 

Thanks, I should maybe toss those on my list as well.

 

I might not have the thorns but I do a lot of rock from Canadian Shield. Never had an issue with C.

I do recall a thread from @nevadabugle I believe that said he tore through c rated in the desert though.

Thing is just because it's a 10 ply doesn't mean it will be in the side wall. The cooper st maxx is what he went with if I remember right and I've had that tire it is hella strong. But ya the ride will be rough

 

I'm not sure of many that make an 8 ply though.

 

Unless you are hauling a heavy trailer or running a lot of weight in your bed,the E’s are gonna be a little hard.Plus you may need to run 40psi or more to get wear out of them.
The C’s do everything I want and can still air up to 50psi if I have heavy load such as a bed load of wood or pulling a trailer.
The E’s are just too much for a Taco with an empty bed in my opinion!

 

Reminds me of the 1930 Fleet model 7 my dad and I rebuilt about 15 years ago. The previous owner put on the only tires you could get to match the original correct size. Which were for a 10000+lb turboprop with like 10 plies, not a 1500 lb biplane.
Literally had a completely flat (1-2 psi at most) tire and could not visually tell in the grass. (Tube tires). On concrete you could tell it looked plump, but it didn't look too bad..

Changed sizes slightly to get a more reasonable tire.... Still looked like flying Mickey mouse, with huge feet hanging out...

You could run over a small child in that thing and not even know...

 

Yep. 6 flats in 40k on my six ply Duratracs. So far so good on my ST Maxxs. I run them at 29 pounds to soften the ride.

 

WOW, That is horrible. I heard they are a bit soft in the sidewalls but 6 flats......

 

One of the reasons I bought Ko2's. Super tough sidewalls.

 

To be fair I'm hard on trucks and tires. One was a nail. Three rock tread punctures and two rock torn sidewalls.