Hi fella's, time for new tires on my 04 FX4. Will be sticking with the stock size. My problem is that I can't decide whether to get 4 or 10 ply. I have always run 6 ply Toyo Open Country ATs on my other trucks. However, in the stock size this tire is only available in 4 or 10 ply. 95% of my driving is on the hiway and I occassionally pull an ATV trailer that weighs about 3k lbs. Aside from that, I get offroad every hunting season but stick mostly to gravel roads and skidder trails. The 4 ply tire would probably handle all this satisfactorily. I want the 10 ply tire, but I am concerned that it will be stiff and ride rougher than the 6 ply I am accustomed to. I know all the bases would be well covered with the 10 ply but my main concern is ride quality, what do you guys think? Thanks for your input.

 

Yep 10 ply will ride stiffer and will be a heavier tire.. The 4ply will work for what you want, so it comes down to how badly do you want the 10ply?

 

There is a lengthy discussion here.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=259226

My thougts are that I havent noticed any issues with 10-ply, rides just as smooth with proper air pressure, and I feel better hauling loads on gravel.

 

Good information. I have 10 ply Goodyears on mine, I like them alot. The tire pressure you should run is clearly listed on a sticker in the door jamb on the drivers side of everything Ford makes. It is a guide line in my humble opinion, if you keep 1600 lbs. in the bed all the time, then more in the back tires might be a good idea, if you buy a tire that is wide for the rim width, then slightly less might be appropriate for correct wear. But if you keep them filled up to what the side of the tire says all the time, then you have a giant "L" invisibly tatooed on your forehead, it will ride like crap.

And if you want to know anything about tires I certainly would take anything that a salesman at the tire store tells you with a grain of salt, putting tires on for a living part time for $8.00 an hour does not make him an authority on the subject. Check out the manufacturers website or call them for technical questions.

My 10 ply's are, I'm sure stiffer than the factory tires, but they are also 2 inches taller, so I assume the sidewall flexes more than before and it all feels the same to me. they did take more weight to balance though, I wouldn't be surprised that 10 ply's would more often than not need more weight to balance than 4 ply's even in the same size, becuase thay are heavier and have more stuff sanwiched in them.

I am not a tire expert, I am an expert at finding the truth

 

I see someone has posted the thread that I started about the 10 ply....well if you are running a stock 18 inch rim then I would suggest the toyo open country 18 in 285/60/18 it is a awsome tire. thats what I ended up going with you lose 4/10ths of an inch on height but you gain a full inch on width it looks awsome...........the only thing that turned me away from the 10 ply is they are not covered under any type of waranty at least not here they are not. that and the stage coach ride (rough) other people like them and to be honest i would have probably went with them if there were covered under waranty but I am glad i didnt really if you dont haul heavy loads you dont need a 10 ply...............Thats my 2 cents

 

unless u plan on doing some major towing like livestock trailers you dont need a 10 ply

 

I usually just buy charmin ultra 2ply. works well enough for me.
-Patrick

 

+1 to that. dont need the paper gettin wet and ur finger slippin through

 

i agree that 1ply stuff just dont get the job done

 

Thanks for the input fella's. I finally sucked it up and went with LT275-65-R18 10 ply tire. There was only 14 bucks diff. in cost between the 4 and the 10 ply tire. The real downside to the 4 ply tire is that it is a "P" rated tire and has over 1/8" less tread than the 10 ply version. Total bill came to just over 1200 bucks, dammed if I was going to pay anywhere near that for basically a car tire. I have run the Open Country A/Ts for years and love them. The good news is that most of my fears about rough ride were unwarrented. Offroad they are a little stiffer, around town I cant tell any difference between the 10 ply with 40 psi. over the 6 ply I had at 40psi. Worked out fine. Thanks for your help.

 

thats alot of money for just tires. And i keep thinking i got ripped off when i bought 4 tires from discount for around 750 installed with road warranty
-Patrick

 

It is a lot of money, and I shopped around. It was either that or pay near as much for a tire I did'nt want. What's a guy to do. Fords "better Idea" of stock 18" rims did'nt help matters.

 

man i cant afford that much on tires my rims and tires cost less than that

 

I just went through the "E" rated tire vs. the lighter duty. I figured since I pull a 16' x 6' stock trailer occasionally and haul feed (usually a ton at a time) in the bed some ten ply tires might be the ticket for me. Plus they would be more puncture resisant with pasture thorns and better for gravel roads.

While all of this is true, they (10 ply) are better in a lot of ways they didn't stay on my truck more than two days. The already stiff suspension rode so rough I thought my teeth were going to rattle out. I was also afraid if I left them on the truck would began to get rattles in it due to the hellish ride.

I went back with some tires that are rated for 2535 lbs/tire @ 35 psi instead of the "E" tires that were rated for 3195 lbs/tire @ 80 psi.

My truck is now pleasurable to drive again.

Before you get a set of tires that belong on a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck think hard if you really need them. Your comfort zone will suffer with the heavy duty tires!!!

 

OOPS...just re-read all the post. I see you already went with the ten ply rated tires.

Do you have the number of a good chiropractor???

Just kidding. Let the pressure down to a tolerable level and they will be fine!!!