scooter08

I own a 08 2500 6.7 4x4, My concern with my truck is the rigid ride i get . I mainly use the truck for daily drive, but i do pull a 12,000 toy hauler too. I purchased a Lorenz susspension kit for it that included bilstiens new coils and a leaf pack. Also i have nitto terras 295 70 17 at 50 psi load range D, on the rear i have air bags as well, i keep them with 0 psi in them. expansion joints on the highway are going to destroy my dash and doors . Also what psi should i run on 295 70 17 when not loaded? Am i crying or Does anyone have any suggestions, thanks for any input.

ssandlin

I'm not bashing here, but since you asked, yep, I think you're crying a little. After all, it's a 3/4 ton heavy duty truck. It's not reasonable to expect the quality of ride you'd get in a 1/2 ton.

With that said, there are some on here that load 500 pounds or so in their bed to soften the ride a little.

As for suspension mods, I can't comment since the ride of my 2500 does not bother me and have not looked for ways to soften it up.

Good luck and welcome to DTR!

scooter08

well I knew I had it coming about crying, however i also drive a 3500 dually 2wd c/c and it has a great ride

Lost Lake

You have a 12K trailer and air bags and you're running D rated tires?

You have more problems than ride quality.

Call your tire manufacturer and ask them for the load index chart for your girl scout tires.

Weigh your truck axles front and rear. Divide by two and fill the tires to the psi the tires were designed for at that weight.

Now go burn those tires off in a power smoking cloud and get some real tires that can actually carry the weight you are hauling.

I hope you don't have a catastrophic failure fully loaded and kill some poor family running that combination. That's insane.

Oh, until you get your new tires, when you are loaded put about 70 psi in those D rated tires. At least that will help. Tire flex is what heats tires and causes blowouts.

Drive safe.

scooter08

well i looked on the manufactures web site and the stock bfgoodrich tires rate the same as the nittos as far as load rating,3195. The store i bought my nittos from said that there would not be an issue not having the E rating . I wondered myself but i am not a tire sales person just a trusting consumer.

crackcorn

Hey Scooter,

I have to agree with Lost Lake, I had been on a simular quest for a better ride
and I wish I had known now what I didn't know then.... I speak from experience here. Get rid of those D rated tires. You will have a failure haulling that much weight with them. If you go to E rated where your pressures are higher (80 psi) you will have more room to adjust that air pressure for your better ride. You want those E rated tires at near max pressure when hauling but cut the air down to less than half 35 to 40 psi when empty. It will improver your empty ride.

Now on to the D's... I have them. Wish now I didn't. I dont' haul heavy so I wanted a better empty ride. Big mistake, for one the front end of our trucks alone weigh as much as a gas chevy pick up 5000# on two tires. I have to keep my D tires at max pressure on the front and my ride is not near what it was with the stock E's. I do run the rears at 45 in the winter for traction but I can't in the summer as the sidewalls will get to warm. I would rather have the E's now so you can have that option to run lower air when empty but the safety and peace of mind when hauling heavy. Seriously get rid of of those D's before you tow your trailer agian. I speak from the experience of 10 years as an owner operator of big a rig.

Your tire dealer should give you some type of great trade in value if you haven't put too many miles on them. Or sell them to a chevy gasser guy.

Good luck and tow safe.

Lost Lake

You could probably shame the dealer into replacing them. The truck's standard tire is an e-rated tire. I don't think they should be selling you a tire rated lower than that.... Good luck, and air them babies up!!!!

quadman20

I will agree with tires as well. Past experience as well. And I would say another factor is the BILSTIENS as well. Seriously thinking of getting rid of mine. They are great when I'm off road(working the shock). What I mean is I have to go off road and work them good in order to gain a couple weeks of daily driving to regain some smoothness. It's like the valving tightens up after to much smooth on hwy driving. Then it just starts beating you to death. It's like the pricess and the pea.
Also air bags will make it a tad ruffer but not much. To you should run a min. of 5 psi so not to damage the bags. Every manufacture states it in the manual. Only 0 psi when lifting truck at the frame or remove stems.
I also think your not crying just miss informed. Most tire dealers for liability reason won't sell a D tire for a truck that is stock E even if rated the same on the tire. They made me sign a waiver for my D's and look now I've got E's back on. I also pull a 5th 32' 1700lbs pin weight. Thanks for listening.

Lost Lake

Whoa whoa whoa...

I was just going to order the Bilsteins because I heard they were the greatest thing since canned beer... Now they may not be????

quadman20

I'll say I'm not happy. There getting worse with time. A year and a half they were a lot smoother. Sad thing is with air bags at 12psi the truck is smoother then at 5 psi. Maybe they just don't like this warm climate here.

AKMooseMan

I need to comment on the D's as well. You are not alone - I put a set of Hakkapeliitta tires on my '08 as well. I couldn't afford the new E's and bought a used set of D's (SUV vs light Truck) that were in great shape...and for a great price!

It was -9 F, I was about 60 miles from anywhere - and I put a rock right through the center of the tread! Tire spun half-off the rim! I was going slow...thankfully! To make matters worse - the little &^#% jack that came with the truck wouldn't lift it high enough to get the FACTORY spare on. I ended up using a MAX tool to dig/pick a hole in the frozen gravel road to get my spare on!

I was lucky...and felt (and feel) stupid for being cheap...it never pays in the end.

Be careful - and as everyone else has said...get those things off before you haul!

gpshemi

The main difference in the D and the E is the number of plys. The sidewalls on the E's will be stiffer. The D's you on it have the load capacity, but you'll get more wander out of it. I'm in the exact same boat though. My BFG's are D's, and I just picked up a 3612 Cyclone. I'm going to run them a bit (assume you have too), but eventully here I'm going to pick up a set of E's. Still looking into what brand though.

AKMooseMan

Nice to know I'm not alone on that one...I also suffer from more wander as well. Soon as the snow's gone (got a "little" dump yesterday - 18"!!) I'm going for the new Nitto Tera Grapplers

gpshemi

Yeah they've been on my short list too. Diesel Truck Magazine just did a couple tire reviews. It's worth a look at their reviews. I may just stick to the BFG's though and get them in the new E rating. I finally got them sorted out to where I like them. Mileage seems decent enough.

wanna2500

Scooter, I live very close to you. If you want to unload those tires cheap you let me know. I will take them off of your hands. You won't even have to ship them. I will come pick them up at your house.