D or E Rated Tires?

[Road Geezer]

I getting ready to replace my Marathons with Maxxis tires. The size I'm getting, 225x75 R15, comes in both D & E load ratings. My current Marathons are D rated. My 27' Flying Cloud weighs around 5800 dry and maxes out in the high 6's when loaded for a long trip.

The price difference is negligible, so I'm wondering if there are any considerations I should be aware of like really rougher ride due to stiffer sidewalls, etc, in choosing one rating over the other. I'm inclined to get the E's simply because they will end up being loaded lower in their range than the D's.

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[Wingeezer]

I went with 15" E's on our Classic 30 for the same reason as you - i.e that they would be loaded to a lower % of their capacity. Never seemed to have any problem with them and would do it again.

More recently we followed the crowd and moved to 16" Michelins,and I believe they are also E rated.

Brian

[A W Warn]

I went with E. Three years and 10,000+/- miles and still going. No problems, but I think I made a mistake.

Make sure of the rating of your wheels. The different load range tires depend on different inflation pressure, higher for the E. The wheels on my Safari are limited to 65 psi, but the tires need 85 psi to get the maximum load rating. So I'm running 60psi, not taking full advantage of the tires capacity.

If you can not increase the pressure sufficently, there is no real advantage to go to the E rated tires.

[Camper Dave]

Paul I replaced my old 6 year old Maxxis ST225/75R-15D tires with new Maxxis E rated ones last November on my 2004 25' Classic (6200 lbs dry weight). I completed a 2500 mile trip to Florida last winter keeping tire pressures at 75 lbs and really noticed no difference in the trailer ride on mostly interstate roads. I decided on E rated tires since couldn't get D rated ones from Discount Tires that were not dated over 6 months old mfg. produced.

[switz]

Part of the homework is to determine the pressure and weight rating of the existing trailer wheels and or the replacement wheels.

Airstream will install the Michelin LT225/75R16/E LTX M/S2 tires rated at 2,680 pounds at 80 psi on the SenDel T03-6655T wheels that are rated 3,850 pounds at 80 psi on any recent Airstream trailer with 15" wheels. They have made them an option on both the 25FB and 27FB Eddie Bauer models for several years and they are now standard on the 2015 31' Classic.

[handn]

After serial blowouts with GYMs and no name D ST tires, I replaced my tires with Maxxis E's. I got 3 years out of them before I noticed one had a tread separation and decided to go with LT tires. I believe they are the best ST tires and E's are more durable than D's.
I replaced them with Michelin LT tires 3 years ago and have had zero tire problems and a much smoother ride than with the D or E ST tires.
At 75 pounds inflation on the E Maxxis', the ride was like an oxcart. Lighter bars on my Equalizer hitch would have helped. I have 1000 lb bars and my tongue weight is 600.
I take one long summer freeway trip on I-10 and South and that is why I have had lots of ST tire problems. With ST tires, I would start having blowouts on the second day of the trip. One no name D tire lasted only 300 miles when the air temp was 98. It is no fun to change a tire at that temp on the shoulder of the Interstate when cars and trucks are wizzing by at 75 mph +. Ever wonder why there are tire stores on nearly every exit throughout the South? With the ST tires I blew up, I could have had 2 sets of LT tires.

[jcanavera]

I replaced the Marathons with E rated Maxxis tires. Two of Maxxis tires failed with belt slippage in their 4th year of use. I'm running with 16" wheels and Michelin's now.

Jack

[r carl]

Hopefully the st tire engineers are not around anymore to cause us anymore grief.

[xrvr]

Three years max on st tires, maybe four. Jim

[Road Geezer]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

I went with E. Three years and 10,000+/- miles and still going. No problems, but I think I made a mistake.

Make sure of the rating of your wheels. The different load range tires depend on different inflation pressure, higher for the E. The wheels on my Safari are limited to 65 psi, but the tires need 85 psi to get the maximum load rating. So I'm running 60psi, not taking full advantage of the tires capacity.

If you can not increase the pressure sufficently, there is no real advantage to go to the E rated tires.

Your comment raised a question in my mind. I don't need the extra load carrying capacity; the D's are adequate. So if I install E's and inflate them to, say 65 psi, am I going to do the tire any harm? Is inflating to 65 psi, the pressure I use in my GYMs, going to cause problems because the E tire is "under inflated" even though it won't be carrying a load that would actually require an E tire?

This is getting complex ....

[gmw photos]

In a case like this, if I were concerned with:

1. whether the wheels could take 80 psi
2. whether the harder ride of an E might be a problem,

....then I would go with load range D LT tires, and run them at 65 psi

[Road Geezer]

Thanks, all, for your advice. Still haven't made up my mind. I'll check my wheels tomorrow.

FYI, I'm getting the tires at O'Reilly's Wheelworks. They can get my size Maxxis in either D or E rating. Price for E is $126, D is $116 plus installation that includes balancing. The best price I could find on the Internet for E's was $147 plus installation, etc.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Road Geezer

Your comment raised a question in my mind. I don't need the extra load carrying capacity; the D's are adequate. So if I install E's and inflate them to, say 65 psi, am I going to do the tire any harm? Is inflating to 65 psi, the pressure I use in my GYMs, going to cause problems because the E tire is "under inflated" even though it won't be carrying a load that would actually require an E tire?

This is getting complex ....

I'm not educated or clairvoyant enough to specifically say there would or would not be harm or problem. I can only give my opinion, that I do not think there will be a problem. The tire dealer I purchased from (I trust and have known for a long time) advised me to go with the E rated tire.
The type of wheels on my trailer are shown in the classifieds at this link.
Wheels from 2001 Safari
On the back side of my original equipment wheels there is a stamp molded into the metal, which says "max 65psi". Also, it says made in China.

[Action]

My 2 cents.

You will need about 2000 #'s of load capacity per tire. (Assuming 7000 #s loaded X 115% = 8050#s divided by 4 = 2012) Anything more than that in load capacity is money spent with very little benefit.

>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Bill M.]

Other choices would be 15 inch LT tires or the XL tires at 1985 lbs capacity.

[Road Geezer]

So, yesterday I went to WheelWorks to have the Maxxis E's installed that I had ordered. When she saw my trailer, the manager got cold feet and wouldn't install the tires. So I cancelled the order and left. Yesterday afternoon I called American Tire and the guy on the phone reassured me that they knew how to install tires on my trailer. So this AM a had a new set on Maxxis D's installed in a little less than an hour. They were balanced, inflated properly, and nuts torqued to Airstream's specs. The out-the-door price was $544.

I'm now a happy camper ...

[SteveSueMac]

What was the manager afraid of??

[switz]

Here is Arizona, before the new owner took possession of our prior trailer, the law required the local Airstream dealer to take off my relatively new Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires (under 4,000 miles and 8 months) and replace them with OEM GYM ST explodathon tires because the Michelins were not rated trailer tires.

Now that really was stupid!

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Road Geezer

So, yesterday I went to WheelWorks to have the Maxxis E's installed that I had ordered. When she saw my trailer, the manager got cold feet and wouldn't install the tires. So I cancelled the order and left. Yesterday afternoon I called American Tire and the guy on the phone reassured me that they knew how to install tires on my trailer. So this AM a had a new set on Maxxis D's installed in a little less than an hour. They were balanced, inflated properly, and nuts torqued to Airstream's specs. The out-the-door price was $544.

I'm now a happy camper ...

Not sure I understand why the manager got cold feet? Was it that he wasn't happy about jacking up the Airstream? Or didn't want to put E tires on for some reason?


Brian.

[rodsterinfl]

Like others have said, the wheels have to also be able to handle the higher pressure that E uses. The standard tires as least on my AS OEM wheels also had a stamp 65psi max. D rated.