a freind of mine gave me a set of tires of his avalanche,they are studded and have great tread but are not load range e,can i use them if i dont tow?i never tow in the winter and in the summer my 5er only wieghs 3500lbs.thanx

 

Don't go under the max weight and load factor rating and you're fine down to some D's. C's won't do, and that's what came on Avalanche's unless it was a rare 2500.

 

3500lb. 5'er? Sounds extremely light?

As BMH said, if they are "D" you'll be fine, I wouldn't mess around with "C" range though, especially up front, probably not a good idea.

 

It is the weight rating of the tire that you need to be concerned about. There are many D rated tires that have the same weight rating as the E rated tires. The real difference in those D and E tires that have the same weight rating is the sidewall strength. Usually the D rated tires are softer sidewalled.

I would not use anything less than a D rated - 8ply tire with a load capacity of 3K. My BFG's are D rated with a load capacity of 3195 pounds. A TOYO E rated tire has the same load capacity.

So, you have a lightweight 5er. That 3500 lbs is it's empty dry weight or net weight? Are you are getting the weight off the manufacturers tag? Don't forget what you put in it adds to it's gross weight.

CD

 

i agree- watch your weight and you should be fine.

 

I'd like to resurrect this thread for a question.

If a load range D and E have equal weight ratings, then the sidewall strength has to be the difference (my assumption). Do you run any risk of tire damage from the torque between the rim twist and tire contact to the pavement when at max torque and high payloads?

I run a D and not really huge loads but just curious.

Cya

 

That's a good question, but I doubt it. Load D tires are rated for the same or higher weight when they are a bigger size than the E tire. I've never heard of anyone ripping a tire apart from normal vehicle torque. Makes me think of "wrinkle walls" at the drags. I wonder how the pressure figures into the torque rating of the tire? Maybe that's the limit on the sidewall strength and not the weight it can carry. Interesting, I hope someone chimes in that knows more than me.


John

 

I'm gonna put 285's on mine when the Michelins wear out. All I can find is D rated 285's. I want to give my truck some better freeway cruising since I have the 4.10's, and the trailers I tow are never over 7000 lbs (unless I get the 5ver I'm looking at which is 10k lbs).

 

Toyo has E rated 285s in both 70 and in 75 series. I just put on a set of 285/75 E and they are very nice.


John

 

The drag strip "wrinkle walls" was what made me think of the question. Could the wrinkle pressure cause damage or at least lower the E rating to a D from simple weight rating? We know the CTD's torque ratings. Is this the reason for an E rated tire on the CTD?

Cya

 

It's amazing what a tire has to put up with! First gear with a wide open Cummins, a couple of tons per tire. Then a hot day, hot pavement and a couple hundred miles at high speed. A few fast corners with all that weight. Throw in a panic stop for good measure. Then expect 60,000 miles with no problems and, just to be sure, go four wheeling over sharp rocks once in a while. Don't forget to go to the dyno or the sled pulls and do a couple of smoky burnouts on the way. Oh yeah, how's that winter traction? And don't bother to check the pressure till they are 20 PSI low.

How can tires be so good?


John

 

The 1/2 ton Avalanches don't have a C rated tire. Nothing GM makes in a 1/2 ton has anything more than passenger rated tire. Definately not what I'd put on a 2500 or bigger.

 

I know my BFGs with 55psi in them wrinkled on the last dyno I was on... Was pretty cool to watch! a little scary to think of the loads I tow though!

 

You're right about that. I put C's on my Tahoe when it was time for tires.

The load rating is a function of size and capacity. Larger sizes may not need the higher pressures because they have more capacity due to their increased volume and overall mass.

 

Interesting.

I'm leaning more and more to load range E only. These new Toyo 285/75 E have the stiffest sidewall I've seen. We put the 285/70 and the 285/75 next to each other at the tire shop before I picked which one I wanted (both E rated) and there was a BIG difference in the sidewall stiffness.

Now that you've seen them wrinkle on the dyno, that does it! No more D rated for me. Just imagine that wrinkle on a long hard tow, mile after mile, hot day. All that flexing and all that heat. Scary. They may be rated to carry the load but add the torque factor and it is pretty serious.

C or (eeek) B would really be ridiculous! Like riding on balloons or donuts or inner tubes. Sheesh.


John