PSI for load range E tires

Does anyone have load range E tires on their 4R? These are 10 ply load E tires and the ride is definitely a rougher. I live in Colorado springs and hit the mountains pretty much every weekend. What psi are you running at in the street? Was thinking of lowering to 30 psi for a smoother ride on the street. On the trails I'll prob go down to 20psi. Thoughts?

 

I run the load range E BFG KO2 in 275/70-17. When I first got them, Discount set them to 36 psi, which I thought was crazy high, so I dropped them to 33 and got horrible results. Did some research (tire size.com maybe?) and turns out they actually need to be set closer to 41. I run them around 40/41 now and they’re great and straight on the road, if a bit stiff at times (but that’s an E-rated tire for you). Then I air down to about 18 off road.

 

I think the experience would change from different tire brands. Some Load E tires have real strong side wall that gives much firm ride vs some Load E tires have little less strong side wall so its not too bad. For example from most common tires BFG KO2 got 3 ply side wall even though running at 32-33psi still it wasn't comfy on road. Vs tires like Falken Wildpeaks does not seem to have 3 ply side wall so it won't be firm as KO2.

Me personally will not run Load E again as we use the 4R for our road trips as well. It is little too firm and not make my kiddo sleep comfortably.

 

I have Kenda Klever R/T load E tires 265/70/17. 10 ply with 3 polyester side ply. Uber tough tire but rough ride on the road. Was thinking of lowering to 25-30 psi for city driving and 18-20 for off road. Do you think 25-30psi for street use this would be unsafe on turns or destroy the already bad MPG on the 4R? Or would the hard sidewalls compensate for the lower PSI?

 

Even though I lowered psi the side wall on my KO2 was not round as a SL tire. So why not try lower and check the temperature by hand from time to time. If the tire is not too hot I guess you would be ok.
Your TPMS warning would be little annoying on the dash and you would never know if you get a puncture until its too late.

One time I called BFG customer support to ask what is the correct tire pressure to run on 285/70R17 Load C and I got a ridiculous answer. "You should run at 50psi on that tire"

I wonder if we have any member here working as a tire tech to advice?

 

I also run the KOs load range E - sidewall specs say 80 psi cold (max). Load Range E tires always call for running at a higher PSI than your standard passenger car tires. I run mine at 45 psi - the ride is satisfactory to me but to each his own..

 

285/70/17 Cooper Evos, load range E here. Street use I run mine at 35 psi. Anything under 30 psi and I feel like I'm on a gumball and my already terrible mpg get worse. For off-road use it depends. Forest service roads right around 25 psi, really rocky stuff or the snow 10 psi or lower. I'm still running the stock TRD OR wheels.

I would think anything under 30 psi on the street and your gonna start to get real uneven ware on your tires and your mpg is gonna suffer, not that its not already with E tires.

 

We run Cooper AT3's, 275-70-17, load range E at 36psi- 38psi on street, 22psi off road. A little firmer on the street, but we like the rock protection of the 10 ply rating.

 

ran load range E on my Tacoma and it kinda ruined the ride for me and cost me a few MPG's too. this time around with the 4runner I opted not to go with the E

 

I’m a tire salesman.

the air pressure you run is the main cause of the rougher/softer ride.

tread design can greatly reduce ride comfort through excess noise and if the more aggressive tread design starts to wear irregularly (which they are prone to do) that will start to manifest itself into vibrations throughout vehicle. This also makes ride feel rougher.

10 ply tires are designed to have an optimum footprint on road with higher air pressures. This also can affect some of the ride but not as much as air pressure.

 

they gave you the max air pressure to handle the max load of the tire at highway speeds. They would not tell you anything else for CYA reasons.

You can run a load range c tire on a vehicle that requires only a “4 ply” rated tire and just run the air pressure at the pressure listed on your door jam or owners manual and be fine.

however, if the tire has been designed to have an optimum footprint at closer to the max air pressure the wear pattern could suffer. I doubt going to 6 ply rated from 4 ply rated would change wear characteristics that much though.

 

@Will really appreciate sharing that.. Its great to have you in the forum to ask tire problems.

Would you mind if I ask you, if you forget the price tag / promotions / availability in your shop, what 17in tire brand,model, load rating would you install on your 4Runner (stock weight, no trailer, no RTT, just minot things like skids and sliders) that is used as a daily driver (dry, wet, snow conditions) and weekend/vacation offroader?

 

I run E rated 285-70-17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. They are great, soft ride. My off road trails are full of sharp lava rocks. I don’t bother airing down. Not even sure what pressure they are at, probably around 37 psi.

 

I’m also curious where folks stand. I’ve been leaning towards C load since most of my traveling is job commute and I don’t do extreme or gnarley off-roading.

 

My mud tires are 295/70/17's and load range E. They're actually surprisingly comfortable at 35 PSI, which is what's recommended on that size and load range on our 4runners.

 

Didn’t you have Toyo Open Country AT3s at some point?

 

Yes, they're on right now. Those are 285/70/17, load range C. They have held up to off-roading fine as well.

 

Nice. They seem to have a higher wet pavement rating than similar options. That’s worth it to me here on the coast.

 

I've been happy with them as an all-around tire.

 

I run mine at 35-36.

 

Im really confused. We run our E tires in our vans between 65-75 psi. I just bought KO2’s that are rated E and im wondering if its the same case. Can I run them at 80 psi for optimum fuel efficiency? Just wondering

 

No, that would suck!

It's based on GVWR and tire size + load range.

Stock size LT tires should be run at 44 PSI to maintain the proper load, but a lot of people will run them lower for better ride quality or treadwear

This is a good tool for converting tire pressure from stock size and load range tires to alternate sizes and load ranges:

 

Probably because your Toyota weighs somewhere around 4500 pounds and isn’t meant to weigh more than 5200 pounds fully loaded while the load capacity of those tires is up to 16,000 pounds.

 

I had Stock BFG E-Rated tires on my FJ Cruiser Team Trail, and it was recalled to put a sticker on the door saying 46 PSI minimum for E-Rated Tires. It road like a rock and only touched the road in the center. I had terrible problems getting the tires balanced and it had the famous 55mph steering wheel shimmy. Toyota fixed this by switch to a C-Rated tire and no more problems (38 psi).

 

Well I’m an idiot running mine at 60 for our FJ and 4Runner on Dick Cepek trail country exp. Hell, litterly got them rotated on Wednesday and American tire set them at 60

 

I have stock size General Grabber X3s, Load E. I run about a 38PSI. the tire calc said to run around 44psi but seemed too stiff and uneven tread.

 

I think 25 psi in an E rated tire would be unsafe and 30 wouldn't be much better. Yes, your mpg would suffer. E rated tires actually need more psi than stock sl (p) rated tires to function property, because they are stiffer . the stiff sidewalls definitely don't compensate. I read a great article somewhere explaining it all, but unfortunately can't find it any more.

 

The tire will have the max inflation psi on the sidewall. I’m betting that between 35-40 is the sweet spot for E load tires on our 4Runners.

80+ psi sounds way high.

 

I have Falken Wildpeak MTs 285/70/17 E load i run them at 45 psi. In the front, and 35 psi. In the rear. That calculator says E load should not be run under 35 psi. I have been running mine like this for over 2 yrs. With no problems.

 

I have had 285/70R17 E rated tires on my two FJ cruisers and my fifth generation and I run all of them at around 35 to 36.

I think you could probably go down to 32, but I think that’s a bit low.