E Rated Tires (6 Viewers)

[Goforth]

Looks great. Any rub at all? I have 275/70-18 Toyo RT Trails on Methods (likely will get put on the stock wheels, and the Methods will get 285s and go on my Sequoia) ready to go on our 1958 as soon as it lands. Momma no likey that kind of rubbing, so I need to be sure to not offend her sensibilities.

Zero rub in my driving. I haven’t taken it Offroad to stretch potential articulation, but in day to day city driving there is no rubbing.

Also looks way better without the predator steps

 

[joseywales]

Yup. Steps are gay.

I’m thinking a 2” lift might find it’s way on to mine as we do take our vehicles off road every day.

 

[Poop Bubbles]

This is the dumbest thing I see people do on Toyotas. "Its thicker so it must be better!"

Unless your GVWR is 10k+, E rated tires are a terrible choice. They will ride like ass and offer poor off road traction compared to C or SL tires. You will also wear out your suspension components much faster. They do not flex for s*** and its very noticeable in every driving scenario. This also greatly affects traction in every scenario. Deflating helps but you won't get anywhere near the pliability of a properly sized tire.

Get the proper load range for your vehicle + gear. The difference from C to E on a vehicle this size is DRAMATIC. And contrary to popular belief, E rated tires are not any tougher in a pinch flat situation.

 

[Rednexus]

This is the dumbest thing I see people do on Toyotas. "Its thicker so it must be better!"

Unless your GVWR is 10k+, E rated tires are a terrible choice. They will ride like ass and offer poor off road traction compared to C or SL tires. You will also wear out your suspension components much faster. They do not flex for s*** and its very noticeable in every driving scenario. This also greatly affects traction in every scenario. Deflating helps but you won't get anywhere near the pliability of a properly sized tire.

Get the proper load range for your vehicle + gear. The difference from C to E on a vehicle this size is DRAMATIC. And contrary to popular belief, E rated tires are not any tougher in a pinch flat situation.

One of the few things we appear to agree on .

 

[Corbet]

This is the dumbest thing I see people do on Toyotas. "Its thicker so it must be better!"

Unless your GVWR is 10k+, E rated tires are a terrible choice. They will ride like ass and offer poor off road traction compared to C or SL tires. You will also wear out your suspension components much faster. They do not flex for s*** and its very noticeable in every driving scenario. This also greatly affects traction in every scenario. Deflating helps but you won't get anywhere near the pliability of a properly sized tire.

Get the proper load range for your vehicle + gear. The difference from C to E on a vehicle this size is DRAMATIC. And contrary to popular belief, E rated tires are not any tougher in a pinch flat situation.

I completely agree. Unfortunately tire manufactures offer very little 275/70r18 in anything other than E rated tires. I don't want SL's but would be happier with C rated LT tires. A quick search on TireRack yields 5 choices in SL, 1 C, 1 D, and 69 E rated tires. If I back down to the stock 265/70r18 choices are much better. Will I actually see any real performance gain in the 275 offroad, only if the perfect .6" larger rock presents itself I suppose.

 

[Rednexus]

I completely agree. Unfortunately tire manufactures offer very little 275/70r18 in anything other than E rated tires. I don't want SL's but would be happier with C rated LT tires. A quick search on TireRack yields 5 choices in SL, 1 C, 1 D, and 69 E rated tires. If I back down to the stock 265/70r18 choices are much better. Will I actually see any real performance gain in the 275 offroad, only if the perfect .6" larger rock presents itself I suppose.

Yikes, the availability in that size sure does suck. Glad I'm able to run good ol' 285/70R17s.

Were it my rig, I would look into switching to 17" wheels and using a more typical C-rated 33-34" tire for better availability, if nothing else.

 

[Corbet]

Yikes, the availability in that size sure does suck. Glad I'm able to run good ol' 285/70R17s.

Were it my rig, I would look into switching to 17" wheels and using a more typical C-rated 33-34" tire for better availability, if nothing else.

I'm pretty commited to 18's at this point. Just ordered another set of 18" wheels. I'm hoping in the long run the tire industry starts offering more 275 options. Right now there are a ton more choices and size options in 18's. If I drop to a 17" wheel its pretty much 287/70r17 at 32.8" or 286/75r17 at 34" and nothing in between.

Right now Toyo has a 275/70r18 available in the OpenCountry AT III EV that's a SL and only weighs 43 lbs. I've considered this tire but will probably end up with an E rated tire this round as we are taking the truck to Alaska this summer and all the way up the Dalton towing a trailer. All the travel warning indicate the road eats tires. I don't completely buy into it but at the same time don't need to be on the side of the road 100's of miles from help.

 

[hoser]

This is the dumbest thing I see people do on Toyotas. "Its thicker so it must be better!"

Unless your GVWR is 10k+, E rated tires are a terrible choice. They will ride like ass and offer poor off road traction compared to C or SL tires. You will also wear out your suspension components much faster. They do not flex for s*** and its very noticeable in every driving scenario. This also greatly affects traction in every scenario. Deflating helps but you won't get anywhere near the pliability of a properly sized tire.

Get the proper load range for your vehicle + gear. The difference from C to E on a vehicle this size is DRAMATIC.

I agree with all this said. ^^^^^

But this below.... tell me more about that.

And contrary to popular belief, E rated tires are not any tougher in a pinch flat situation.

 

[Poop Bubbles]

Meant to say puncture.

 

[joseywales]

Right now Toyo has a 275/70r18 available in the OpenCountry AT III EV that's a SL and only weighs 43 lbs. I've considered this tire but will probably end up with an E rated tire this round as we are taking the truck to Alaska this summer and all the way up the Dalton towing a trailer. All the travel warning indicate the road eats tires. I don't completely buy into it but at the same time don't need to be on the side of the road 100s of miles from nowhere.

I’m going to agree to disagree on the C vs E thing. My vehicles see forestry roads EVERY day. Any C rated tire does not last long. I live in BC where roads are basically the same as the Dalton. If you take a good E rated tire with a heavy carcass, like a Toyo MT, you can get away with one spare. If you go on a C rated tire, you better take 2 spares and have patches and plugs and a compressor. Oh, and bug spray. You’ll love changing flats in summer up there with the black flies and mosquitoes! You <might> get lucky and not get a flat, or you might get unlucky and cut a tire to the point where it’s garbage. Then you’re down to no spare and you’ll need to buy a new one at triple the cost of the lower 48.


I’m running the Toyo RT Trail in 275/70-18 on my Sequoia and will put the same tire on my 1958 when it shows up. The ride in the Sequoia is fantastic and it weighs 400 lbs less than the 1958 will. If you are rock crawling, you need more sidewall flex. If you are driving on shot rock, or my typical environment, you want “beef”.

 

[NinjahGoose]

This is the dumbest thing I see people do on Toyotas. "Its thicker so it must be better!"

Unless your GVWR is 10k+, E rated tires are a terrible choice. They will ride like ass and offer poor off road traction compared to C or SL tires. You will also wear out your suspension components much faster. They do not flex for s*** and its very noticeable in every driving scenario. This also greatly affects traction in every scenario. Deflating helps but you won't get anywhere near the pliability of a properly sized tire.

Get the proper load range for your vehicle + gear. The difference from C to E on a vehicle this size is DRAMATIC. And contrary to popular belief, E rated tires are not any tougher in a pinch flat situation.

I would have loved to go with SL or XL ratings, but when I bought my 275/50r18's the only choices were E load. Manufacturers are going to have to get on board with producing the lighter load ratings.

 

[Oakleyguy]

I had KO2 275/70/18s on the GXOT+. No rub even at full lock while flexed.

They are quite a bit stiffer than the stock Toyos, but I've been running e-rated tires on all my LCs for a long time. For me it was worth it as I frequently get off-road. While I was LCDC, there were two other Overtrails with the stock Toyos. There were THREE flats between the two trucks. While I didn't have any issues at 18psig and loaded down.

 

[Rednexus]

I’m going to agree to disagree on the C vs E thing. My vehicles see forestry roads EVERY day. Any C rated tire does not last long. I live in BC where roads are basically the same as the Dalton. If you take a good E rated tire with a heavy carcass, like a Toyo MT, you can get away with one spare. If you go on a C rated tire, you better take 2 spares and have patches and plugs and a compressor. Oh, and bug spray. You’ll love changing flats in summer up there with the black flies and mosquitoes! You <might> get lucky and not get a flat, or you might get unlucky and cut a tire to the point where it’s garbage. Then you’re down to no spare and you’ll need to buy a new one at triple the cost of the lower 48.


I’m running the Toyo RT Trail in 275/70-18 on my Sequoia and will put the same tire on my 1958 when it shows up. The ride in the Sequoia is fantastic and it weighs 400 lbs less than the 1958 will. If you are rock crawling, you need more sidewall flex. If you are driving on shot rock, or my typical environment, you want “beef”.

I haven't driven the Dalton....or Dempster....but to be honest other dirt roads in BC and the YT I've driven on are no rougher or rockier than our gravel roads here in the Ozarks. Per my previous posts, they also aren't covered with arrowhead-like chert shards like the ones here are. Just sayin' .

In all reality, with a remote trip like that, there is a huge benefit in running a normal size that any tire shop in North America stocks. That's probably the 285/70R17 and dually-style pizza cutters like a 255/80R17. I'd hate to be in a super-remote area like that and need a tire that's a uncommon and hard-to-get size.

 

[Corbet]

In all reality, with a remote trip like that, there is a huge benefit in running a normal size that any tire shop in North America stocks. That's probably the 285/70R17 and dually-style pizza cutters like a 255/80R17. I'd hate to be in a super-remote area like that and need a tire that's a uncommon and hard-to-get size.

275/70r18 as previously mentioned has over 70 different options available on tirerack. Its a stock size for 3/4-ton trucks. Its not in any way exotic in nature. If I blow one out I'll have a full sized spare. (a big part of the reason I've chosen this size) I carry a repair kit. And my local shop has a location in Fairbanks if I need to cash in a road hazard.

 

[Poop Bubbles]

I had KO2 275/70/18s on the GXOT+. No rub even at full lock while flexed.

They are quite a bit stiffer than the stock Toyos, but I've been running e-rated tires on all my LCs for a long time. For me it was worth it as I frequently get off-road. While I was LCDC, there were two other Overtrails with the stock Toyos. There were THREE flats between the two trucks. While I didn't have any issues at 18psig and loaded down.

I doubt that had anything to do with your load rating. Any KO2 is going to be tougher than those Toyos. Both are technically 'AT' tires but the BFGs are far more rugged.

 

[Oakleyguy]

I doubt that had anything to do with your load rating. Any KO2 is going to be tougher than those Toyos. Both are technically 'AT' tires but the BFGs are far more rugged.

That’s what I’m getting. The KO2 E rating is in part due to its heavy construction. IIRC it has a 10MM thick sidewall.

 

[Rednexus]

I doubt that had anything to do with your load rating. Any KO2 is going to be tougher than those Toyos. Both are technically 'AT' tires but the BFGs are far more rugged.

Toyos are a pretty light tire for an AT. That weight reduction has to come from somewhere. My tire guys likes Toyos for ride and treadwear, but I passed over them for the heavier-carcass Falkens.

Would have considered KO3s but they are pretty darn heavy in a 285/70R17. About 4# more than a Falken ATWA4 which is already a heavy tire. You have to stop somewhere on the weight.

 

[Poop Bubbles]

Toyos are a pretty light tire for an AT. That weight reduction has to come from somewhere. My tire guys likes Toyos for ride and treadwear, but I passed over them for the heavier-carcass Falkens.

Would have considered KO3s but they are pretty darn heavy in a 285/70R17. About 4# more than a Falken ATWA4 which is already a heavy tire. You have to stop somewhere on the weight.

Agreed. I loved the AT3Whatevers, and prefer them to the KO2...but I got 5 Rubicon takoffs with less than 100 miles on them for $800 so here we are

 

[Poop Bubbles]

That’s what I’m getting. The KO2 E rating is in part due to its heavy construction. IIRC it has a 10MM thick sidewall.

The C rated KO2 is also way tougher than the Toyo. It's not a fair comparison. That was my point.

 

[Rednexus]

Agreed. I loved the AT3Whatevers, and prefer them to the KO2...but I got 5 Rubicon takoffs with less than 100 miles on them for $800 so here we are

Smokin' deal. $1300-ish plus tax for my AT4Ws. They were $165 a piece in 2020 when Falken was still in the phase of purchasing the US AT tire market.