Given the price of tires these days, are load "E" really necessary. This is assuming your not hauling / towing 10k plus. For the average daily driver, can I get by with a little less rubber. Maybe there's not that much difference in price.

 

No, they aren't required. "D" rated will be fine. But I expect to get 100,000 miles from my "E" rated OEM Michelins and wonder if I'd do as good with a lighter tire? I'm beginning to look around myself as I expect to need them next year.

Here's another recent thread on the subject:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...highlight=tire

 

I ran D rated tires on my last set.
No matter how much air I put in them (D's are rated for less maximum air pressure), they wore the edges like they were underinflated due to the weaker sidewalls and increased flex.
E's back on truck now.

 

Yes, there's a lot more weight up front!

 

I would pay close attention to the load rating in pounds as opposed to D or E rating. Many D tires are rated above what the OEM Michelins are. I suspect that you will ot find large price changes from D to E in the same tire considering you have to find them in 17s

 

I'm driving my ad's 98 2500 4x4 while i'm replacing the trans. in mine. He has Mich. LTX C rated on it and they have 55000 miles on them right now never had any problems.

 

You really think you'll get 100,000 miles out of the stock tires? I've got 34,000 miles on mine and while there's still a lot of tread left there's no way they'll make it to 100,000 miles.

E rated Michelin tires at NTB are going to cost me $163 per tire if I decide to get them there.

To answer the question, D rated tires will probably serve you fine, but I plan to keep E rated tires on mine simply because that is what came on it.

 

Coming up on 76,000 miles and there's plenty left. It's that concrete bed liner you got, Hoss!

 

With the weight of the diesel engine being so great you must run at least an 8 ply (D rated) tire. I work for a tire distributor and we had many 6 ply tires that were experiencing tread separation when used on diesel trucks. Many of the tires that had sufficient weight carrying capacity were still separating. The manufacturers determined this was caused by turning the steering wheel while stopped or at very slow speeds. The manufacturers increased many of the tires that were failing to 10 ply rating. Some posts have stated 6 ply tires have been used. This is a time bomb just ticking away. Due to my previous experience with this issue, I would in no shape, matter or form recommend installing a 6 ply tire on a diesel equipped truck.

 

I figure it might be, what, $10 a tire? Lets get crazy and say $20 per tire.
The extra few bucks spent on a 10 ply vs 8 ply tire for my $40k truck is piece of mind for me.

I have had 3 dodges now with a combined 240,000 miles. Never a blow out, never a flat. Hauled some serious weight and ran empty at 85-90 a few times. Never even a hint of a problem.
Ran only good quality, E rated tires.

Just my experience and opinion.

Steve

 

Same experience....running D-Range BFG's. It is the brand of the tire that makes the biggest difference IMHO.

 

I am running Remington 305s Load Range D. They have a 200 pound higher rating than the Micheilin Es that came on it. When I am loaded down I can feel some sidewall flex, but it is very slight. And the tires cost me just under $100 ea.

 

i'm running maxxes buck shot mudders , they are rated at 3000 ap . . the bfg we rated at 3196 each i got 13.800 miles out of them and 18,000miles out of michelns . so i'm now on maxxes in 305 70 17 . they run $154 a peice . robbie

 

I've had d rated tires on the truck since it had 6000 miles on it. 62k miles and 2 sets of tires later, I haven't had any problems. You've gotta keep the air pressure perfect, alignment dead on, and religiously rotate them to keep them running a long time. I didn't do that for the first set and I got 20K out of them. Next set I was a little better and I got 35k out of them. We'll see about my 35's now (others were 33's). So far I've got almost 10K on them and they still look good. I need to have the alignment checked on it again just to be sure and probably need to rotate them.

On another note, we've put D rated tires on our tow truck and hauled around 10k or so lbs and never had a problem. Been doing it that way since 1998.

 

I guess so. If mine get to 60,000 miles then I'll be doing good.