jmiller72

I currently own a 14 Supercrew 4X4 HD XLT which came with 7 lug 17" wheels with E RATED tires (3195 LBS per tire) The E Rated tires are EXCELLENT for hauling heavy loads and pulling my travel trailer. The sidewalls of the tires are 8 ply which stops the side to side motion felt on a lesser of a tire.. The 2016 HD's are now coming with a C RATED tire with 2 ply sidewalls.... The tire is rated for 2535 LBS per tire..
I have a 16 Supercrew HD XLT ordered (build date of 6/1/16) that is going to have an insufficient tire installed!!!! I know this because my work just bought a 16 Supercab HD and it tows and hauls TERRIBLY with the C rated tires. The *** end is ALL over the road!!!!
I have talked with 4 FORD engineers on the F-150 team in Dearborn,MI and Joe Hinrichs (President of the Americas).

My next step is to call NHTSA.. What do you guys think?
Ask me any questions as I have done my homework on this and have spent hours of research on it...
I have even talked to GOODYEAR and they even say they are the wrong tires for the HD..

jmiller72
Allen Park, MI
(FORD COUNTRY)

P.S. They don't offer a E rated tire for the XLT or LARIAT...........

acadianbob

I guess the good news is that they are now building HD's.

Not disagreeing with your point or your experiences, but are you sure your E's are 8 ply? The reason I ask is that I have seen tires that are 8/10 ply RATED but are not actually 8/10 ply. This is just a curiosity question.

I think another issue for the F150 that is heavily loaded is the lack of a rear anti-roll bar.

acadianbob

P.S. I'm guessing that a possibility is the new F150 weighs about 700 pounds less so maybe they feel E's are unnecessary from a load capacity perspective. (Not withstanding your point on sway)

jmiller72

Yes but the 16 are rated at a higher gvwr than the 09 -14 generation. My BF Goodrich tires are 8 ply. 4800 rear axle.. Heres the 16 at work. I will post my 14 in a few minutes.

jmiller72

Heres my 14..

5.0GN tow

Your tires actually match the capacity of the axle so Ford is not likely to change anything. The E Range tires are not 8ply or 10ply as E Range implies, but 10 ply rated, the Cs are 6 ply rated. My new P Series tires are rated at 2756 per tire, which is higher than the Cs.

The trucks have a lower GVWR than the 09 to 14s but can be higher payload as they are much lighter trucks.

jmiller72

Both 14 and 16 have 4800 axles.
My 14 has 8 ply tires its sitting outside and the 16 has 2 ply sidewalls.
I have done HOURS of work on this.
They are just putting the wrong tires on the 16.

jmiller72

Also if E rated is not necessary why is it the standard and only tire in the XL model but not offered in the XLT and LARIET. They all have the same rear axle of 4800 LBS..
09-14 the E rated tire was the only tire available because of the weight capacity of the truck.
The 16 has a higher towing and hauling capacity..

smokeywren

The 2015/'16 F-150 SuperCrew with HD Payload package has GVWR of 7,850 pounds. The 2011/'14 F-150 SuperCrew with HD Payload package has GVWR of 8,200 pounds. So no, 16s are NOT rated at a higher gvwr than the 11 -14 generation. (I didn't go back to '09 or '10).


Per your photo of the '16 yellow sticker, the 2016 has tire load index of 113. That's 2,540 pounds maximum weight capacity per tire, or 5,080 pounds maximum weight capacity per axle. And if your rGAWR is 4,800 pounds, then last time I checked 5,080 is more than 4,800.


So Ford specified tires with plenty of weight capacity for your 2016 F-150.


If you prefer a stiffer riding tire, you can go to aftermarket tires with load index 121, but check to see if your stock wheels are rated for the extra weight capacity of those tires. You'll probably need to replace wheels as well as tires.

5.0GN tow

Smoky said exactly what I meant but more clearly.

Also just to clear things up, tires today still use load ranges indicative of ply rating, but don't have the number of plies that the rating indicates. The ply rating comes from equivalency to older bias ply tires. Modern radial tires even 10, 12, or 14 ply equivalent ones will only have 2 or 3 ply bodies, usually combinations of fabric and steel ply.

The critical number to truly look at is the load index. For instance a LRC tire is rated as a load index 110 to 113, a load range E can be from 121 to 123, and my new P Series are rated as 116. I wanted higher rated tires without the weight and ride of E rated as my truck came with 114 rated tires so I stepped up to 116. I gained about 150lb per tire rating, and they have better handling while towing, but don't ride like Es when not towing.

I went through all this when I went to get new tires. The local independent tire store owner took a lot of time with me to sort out what I needed vs what kind work I made the truck do. I tow a heavy 8 to 10k trailer almost every week on long trips with live moving animals on board. Stability is very important to me as my load can shift around on its own. When the horses shift their weight several thousand pounds is moving around in the trailer. I truly think your feelings of instability in the truck are more related to hitch set up than tires. Many 15 and 16 owners have had to change hitch and load setup to get stability comparable to the 09 to 14 trucks, the new trucks are different height and lighter weight so things have to be adjusted.

The difference between XL and higher trim levels is wheels, the steel xl wheels are rated higher for psi so get E range tires. The xlt and lariat have aluminum wheels with lower load and psi ratings so they get C range. Both give capacity well in excess of the axle rating of 4800lbs so Ford is well within the norms.