Towing with P-Metric tires on F150?

[mello mike]

My 2010 F150 came with Michelin P255/65R17 (35PSI/2000lb rated) tires. They are great, silky smooth tires but they are standard passenger tires, not light truck tires. They did fine towing my Sovereign during the 4th of July weekend but I still feel uneasy towing with these tires. Does anybody else tow with a similar tire and what kind of performance do you get? I'm also curious what other F150 owners have on their truck.

I'm thinking about upgrading to Michelin LT M/S tires (44PSI or 51PSI) but before I pay the big bucks I want to know if it's needed.

Thanks in advance.

[Jammer]

If you can derate them by 15% and still have them be above your scale weight you should do ok.

[mello mike]

Thanks, Jammer.

I forgot to mention that these tires came from the dealership inflated to 40PSI. I'm told that's standard practice with these tires for towing.

[Happycampers]

I think you will feel a lot of side shift when trucks are passing and in high cross winds. I would change to a LT tire. Auto makers put cheap crappy tires on their new cars and trucks anyway and they don't last long if you work them very hard.

Marvin

[Aage]

Does the owner's manual talk about what kind of tires the truck should have?

[jm2]

Originally Posted by mello mike

I'm thinking about upgrading to Michelin LT M/S tires (44PSI or 51PSI) but before I pay the big bucks I want to know if it's needed.

Thanks in advance.

Mike,

am perfectly content with the factory equipped BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A, P275/95R18

on a 2008 F150 4x4 Supercab.


have towed the 2002 Safari 25C, the 1981 31' Excella, and the 1976 31' Sovereign, all with no problem or issue.


imho, you don't need to spend the money....



best,

[2airishuman]

jm'

check those tire size parameters again...



and the rugged trail t/a is an LT tire...

that comes in a variety of load/inflation ratings from 35 psi to 80 psi.

so is your point that something OTHER than mich' in LT is a good choice?

or that E rated tires aren't required?

the oem tires on my last 250 were the same (bfg rugged trail t/a) and lasted ~50, 000 miles all towing.

i agree they are a reliable solid performer even as a oem tire.

the E rating helps if towing larger heavy trailers and carrying a full payload,

but clearly aren't required for lighter weight setups.

cheers
2air'

[Farmer Dan]

Mike,
My 2010 F150 supercrew, 6.5' box, max trlr pkg. also had P tires - 275/65R18 Goodyears, Wrangler I think. Had a flat w/ less than 5,000 miles - no big deal.
We pulled the 30' Classic w/slide to Newfoundland in May & June. Ruined a tire on a gravel entrance road to a campground. This was a well traveled road. That was all I needed to make me replace them w/ Michelin LT. More plies are tougher tires. For my peace of mind the LTs were worth it. I drive on gravel roads around the farm all the time (Not w/ this truck !!!) I know how I want tires to perform - the P tires weren't for me, rock road or highway!! Its hard to tell but the LTs @ 80 psi didn't seem to ride much, if any, worse than OEM crap.

[mello mike]

Thanks Dan. Do you have 4x4 with 3.73 gears? Do you keep your tires inflated at 80PSI? My truck has only a 4x2 with 3.55 gears. I'd love to go with Load Range E but I'm not sure if the OEM alloy wheels can handle 80PSI. Where can I find that out? Tried looking on the rim but didn't see any PSI ratings anywhere.

It's apparent that these P-Metric 35PSI tires aren't going to cut it. Here's my door sticker and I only have 1680lbs of payload. Tongue weight of my Sovereign is about 600lb and I carry 50 gallons of water. That's 1000 lbs already and I haven't even gotten to passengers, generators, and other camping stuff like my inflatable boat.

I'm looking at P-Metric 265s which provide an extra 500lbs capacity per tire at 44PSI. BFG has 265s at 50PSI. The LR-E tires do intrigue me.

Just not sure which way to go?

[samb]

I had three flats in 5 weeks with P rated tires, all on pavement. Changed to LT tires, the same brand, and have had 2 flats in 16 years, with a lot of gravel and rock roads.
In my opinion P rated tires are for city drivers who will never see a pebble on the road.
Sam

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by jm2

Mike,

am perfectly content with the factory equipped BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A, P275/95R18 on a 2008 F150 4x4 Supercab. Have towed the 2002 Safari 25C, the 1981 31' Excella, and the 1976 31' Sovereign, all with no problem or issue. imho, you don't need to spend the money....

best,

Thanks, Joseph. But your tires have more beef than mine. I couldn't find a perfect match for your size but what I did find was 44PSI at a max payload of 2700lbs. At the very least I'm looking at a similar tire my truck. Do you have 3.73 gears on your truck?

Marvin, yeah. I already do a little.

Aage, no nothing. Just general tire info. Tire specifics are on the door only.

Samb, thanks for your post. What tires are on your truck? BTW, love the dinette/dash. Is your battery box holding up ok with the extra weight?

[Aviator]

I am running 275/55/R20 Scorpions on my 2009. These are the factory tires with a max load of 2040# each at 44psi. When towing our 34' which has an 820# tongue weight, I am within about 100# of my limit. They have been fine so far, but when I replace them at wear-out, it will be with a higher capacity tire. I have factory aluminium rims, and like Mellow Mike am not sure where to find the pressure capacity for the rim. It would be a waste of $ to buy a higher weight capacity tire if I exceed the rim capacity.

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by Aviator

I am running 275/55/R20 Scorpions on my 2009. These are the factory tires with a max load of 2040# each at 44psi. When towing our 34' which has an 820# tongue weight, I am within about 100# of my limit. They have been fine so far, but when I replace them at wear-out, it will be with a higher capacity tire. I have factory aluminium rims, and like Mellow Mike am not sure where to find the pressure capacity for the rim. It would be a waste of $ to buy a higher weight capacity tire if I exceed the rim capacity.

Craig,
What is the max payload for those tires as stated on your door sticker?

[ck21084]

I use P225/70/15 XL on my e150 van pulling the TT and i have them set to 41psi. the do just fine. Max load is 2280.

[Farmer Dan]

Mike
My payload is less than yours @ 1611 #. I do have 4X4, 3.73 gears. I will drop to 45-50 psi for non-tow use. IMO, I don't think 80 psi for OEM wheels would be a problem, although the tire store did say the wheel sensors may indicate a problem w/ higher psi. It didn't happen. The Michelin LT M/S have 3415 # @ 80psi load cap. FYI, w/full fuel tank, ARE f/g cap, 2 Swingcase toolboxes w/ 25# tools each, and me (220#) truck weighed 6,840 # at the CO-OP. I love this truck !! (I'll check the manual for wheel capacities)
Dan

[Farmer Dan]

I just got a msg from service rep @ Woodhouse Ford, Blair, NE. He said 80psi on my factory rims would not be problem. He recommends dropping to 65psi for non-tow ride improvement for the load range E tires. Hope this helps someone.
Dan

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

I just got a msg from service rep @ Woodhouse Ford, Blair, NE. He said 80psi on my factory rims would not be problem. He recommends dropping to 65psi for non-tow ride improvement for the load range E tires. Hope this helps someone.
Dan

Perfect! Thanks, Dan. That will save me some money.

[mello mike]

After researching this topic, I think I'm going to go with the Michelin 265/70R17 LTX M/S 2 (Load Range E) tires. At 80PSI these give you 3195 lbs of payload, more than enough for an F150. I don't think I'll ever run them at 80PSI for towing, more like 50-60PSI.

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by Aviator

...the factory tires with a max load of 2040# each at 44psi...
I have factory aluminium rims, and like Mellow Mike am not sure where to find the pressure capacity for the rim...

hi craig

while pressure capacity is important and i suspect it's ~80-100 psi...

((don't forget NEW HIgh pressure valve stems))

the LOAD capacity is key.

and the details can be had...

with your VIN number this data is available online,

or a competent dealer can look it up on the password protected fleet.ford website.

open this image in a 2nd window, zoom it or copy/save and print....



this data is for 2010 trucks, but VERIFY as needed.

not surprisingly the 7 bolt STEEL wheels have the greatest capacity,

followed by the raptor rims.

all of the rest are rated to 2025 lbs each.

so IF u are 3800-4000 lbs PER axle, that's right at the limit.

tires with FIRMER side walls might be useful and tires with DEEPER tread might wear longer...

but full on Es may not provide much benefit over a 44-50 psi tire...

ESPECIALLY if the Ez r run at LOWER inflations where HEAT and FLEX are negatives.

cheers
2air'

[Gene]

It looks like truck manufacturers have been providing P tires for a while to save money. Our '07 Tundra also came with P tires—Goodrichs. They wore fairly fast and I replaced them after about a year with Michelin LTX A/S2 Load Range E. The OEM tires were Load Range C. Most pickups are a style choice and hardly ever are used as trucks, so selling them with P tires makes sense for a lot of people, but not me. The Michelins ride much better than the Goodrichs.

Just because an E tire can be inflated to 80 psi cold pressure doesn't mean that's the right pressure for the task. I tow with 45 front and 48 rear and when not towing reduce it by 3 lbs each. Finding the right match for truck and tire can be difficult. Calling Michelin helped, but some people who answer the phone know more than others. If you go with an E tire on a half ton truck, there are no tables for that and educated guessing comes in. But there are tables showing how much inflation is necessary to carry a certain number of pounds—Tire Rack's website has a lot of information on it about tire pressure and weight carrying capacity as well as customer reviews of tires.

When I had the C range P tires, I towed with 45 rear, 42 front. One way to check if your pressure is correct is to use a tire tread depth gauge regularly to see if the tires are wearing evenly—more wear in center, too much air, more wear at sides, too little.

Same about tire pressure is true if you upgrade the trailer tires to a higher load range and/or size. I changed from 15" to 16" wheels and tires and went from LR D to LR E. I tow with 68 psi in the trailer tires and they are wearing perfectly evenly. If you get them changed at Airstream, they'll put 80 psi in them because that's what's on the tire. The same holds true with the D range tires that usually come on the trailers—it says 65, so they put 65 in them. 65 psi for a D tire is probably right, but 80 seems too much for our trailer with an E tire.

All this tire stuff requires a lot of reading and eventually knowing more than you want to. I learned there were load ratings for horizontal and for vertical weight. Did I want to know that? No. But horizontal forces are important for a trailer tire, so I tried to understand it. Since then, I have forgotten what I learned.

Mike, since the original question concerned Michelin P tires, I think because they are Michelins, you will get better wear and performance than I did with the cheaper Michelin brand, Goodrich. I used the Goodrichs for 18,000 miles without a problem. I think they would have gone about 25,000, but I didn't want to go on a 5,000 mile trip with cheap tires that would be pretty worn by the time I was coming home. I think you'll be ok with the P tires and better when the P tires get worn and you can then replace them with LT tires.

Gene