Tundra and FWC Hawk

O

ottorogers

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Joined
Sep 23, 2017
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335
Location
Saskatoon, SK Canada
I have a 2014 Tundra double cab, I want to know if anybody here can help me with a tire question. I have Michelin LTX AT2 tires on the truck, I downgraded from teh factory 20" wheels and tires to brand new 18" from a TRD PRO. THe tires are P rating, not "D" or "E", load range on my tires is 114, or 2600 LBS, the Tundra weighs 6700 LBS (form what I can tell), the Hawk FWC will weigh maybe 1900 fully loaded, all my gear, and my wife and I. Do I need "E" or "D" rated tires??? I am thinking with 2600 LBS X 4, that would mean I have a MAX weight of 10,400 LBS total including the truck and camper and anything else, I would be maybe 9,000 including gear in the back seat of the truck. I also am told "E" or "D" rated tires ride rough, I do not want that if I can get away with the "P" rated tired I have

ALso, do I need firestone or Ride right airbags? I used Firestone airbags on a 20104 Runner and it made a huge difference pulling a trailer with a very heavy tongue weight, but the Tundra is much more heavy duty???

Appreciate the feedback
 
Hello ottorogers

I am by no means I tire expert. So this is just my thoughts on your question.
P = passenger tire
So probably different construction, are you going off road, are you airing down, I think you need to take into consideration more than just weight.

Will your camper stay on truck?, our F250 rides rougher w/o camper, but I also lower tire pressure to get to the load they are carrying, and truck rides pretty nice. That said it's a truck not a car.

If you already have the tires usem up, if not I'd say your asking good question for what tire you might need.
Forget this question I reread your post.
Russ
 
Absolutely have to? No. The way I see it is if you are going off road with your Hawk the heavier duty tires will withstand more punishment as well as less punctures due to the increased weight in the bed. I haven't made the jump yet on my truck but I did in my 2012 Ram and the ride dfference wasn't much so I will expect the same change when I do in this truck.
 
I have a 2015 double cab long bed SR5 Tundra 4x4 (GVRW 7200 lbs) with a shell Grandby and a couple of mods. With minimal camping equipment, a couple of passengers, and a little extra gas and water I go over 8100 lbs often. I knew where this was going so I sold my P tires with 50 miles on them and bought E tires (5 of them, no wimpy spare in the middle of offroad Death Valley for me). At the same time I added air bags in the rear. Expensive but worth it.
I think that the ride with E tires is fine with or without the camper on. Air bags go from 5 lbs no load to 40 lbs loaded, with little effect on ride quality.
I would do it that way again if the situation came up.
The E tires will do better on puncture resistance, traction in the soft stuff, and load carrying off road.
Bill
 
I have a 2014 Tundra Double Cab 4x4 and 2005 Hawk. On my last 10 day road trip it weighed in at 7920 lbs. This included myself at 190 lbs, ,15 gals water, 2 spares, groceries, backpacking gear, etc. Curb weight on my Tundra is 5625 lbs. I have gone to E rated Michelin Defender LTX tires and had them at 45lbs rear, 42lbs front - no scientific reason for those pressures other than the tire shop suggested it. I also have Firestone Ride Rite Bags at around 45 lbs. The ride is a little rougher than the original D rated Michelins, but not a drastic difference.
With the OEM D rated Michelins the maximum inflations are 33 rear and 30 front. With the Hawk and gear loaded the tires always looked under-inflated to me and based on reading these forums I had no doubt that I would change to E Rated as soon as my OEM tires were ready for replacement. Well, that came sooner than expected when I drove my rig ( with 22,000 miles on it) to Saline Valley this spring. I had two flats, one was a complete blowout and the other was a couple inch gash in the tread. Thankfully, I carry 2 spares.

So yeah, you can get away with the D rated tires but I feel like they're marginal with a full load. You'll get used to the slightly harder ride - it is a truck after all. I feel much safer with the e tires and I can air down when I'm off-road- something you can't do with those passenger tires that come with Tundra's. As far as air bags are concerned, they do lift the rear the 1-2 inches needed to level out the ride. I don't like them without the camper though. You have to keep at least 33 lbs pressure in them and that lifts the rear a little higher than the front. Not enough to really bother me and want to spend a lot of time and $$ looking for the perfect solution.

If you decide to switch to E rated tires, have fun deciding which ones are the best - hmmmmm!!
 
I have a Tacoma with fully loaded Fleet. I do not do heavy duty off road but do some and a lot of gravel logging roads that sometimes are in poor shape with large and sharp rocks. I immediately switched to E rated KO2s to be able to air down and for the added security of not having a flat in a bad spot. Had that experience in the past and did not want to again. There is substantial increased sidewall protection from sticks and rocks that also comes with most all- terrain E rated tires. If you drive a lot on pavement as I do the noise level of the tire you choose can also be an important consideration -some tires can absolutely drive you nuts on a freeway. I also went with a higher tire 65 to 70 to try and get a little softer ride and slightly higher clearance only small change to MPH on freeway.

I also added Ride-Rites both to take the stress off of the weak Tacoma springs and to level the truck with camper on. With a compressor on board you can also use the air bags to easily level the truck at a camping spot which is really handy with a three way fridge. I take the camper off for the winter so opted for air bags over springs. I have a neighbor who takes his camper off for half the year and kept his P rated tires and bought some rims for $75- just changes tires and rims back to the stock ones every winter to save wear and tear on the more expensive E rated tires. I guess that is an alternative also.
 
My "P" rated tires are rated at 2600 LBS, that is a total of 10,400 LBS, surely that is good enough for the truck I own, 2014 Tundra double cab regular box (6.6), has a payload of 1440 according to one site I visited, this can not be right??? Does this include the "P" rated tires?? How much extra "legal" weight can I put in the back of the truck with "E" rated tires??? The Hawk is about 1,075 LBS or so, then all the added gear, plus my wife and I (370 LBS total between the 2 of us), full tanks of fuel, propane and water, food, we are going to be overweight for sure!!!
 
We have an 05 Tundra with an ATC Ocelot. Have been running the Michelin LTX AT2 tires (E rated) for over 50K miles and still have decent tread left on them. Only one flat from a nail. Did install airbags, but that was it - OEM bilsteins still working. We have the camper, plus dog and occassionaly two boats on top. No issues with the truck or tires. Have over 50K on the brakes and they are still good. I would definitely go with the E rated tires. That being said I am likely going with the BFG TA KO2's next. I have been running them on my work truck on some very rocky roads this summer (plus snow and ice last winter) and they have been great.
 
I do not understand why I see so many people putting much heavier slide-in campers on Tundras, I see models I know are close to or over 2,000 LBS (not including people and gear), is that not illegal and dangerous??? I realize "E" rated tires and firestone airbags will help a lot, but you would still not be legal, right?
 
Taku said:
We have an 05 Tundra with an ATC Ocelot. Have been running the Michelin LTX AT2 tires (E rated) for over 50K miles and still have decent tread left on them. Only one flat from a nail. Did install airbags, but that was it - OEM bilsteins still working. We have the camper, plus dog and occassionaly two boats on top. No issues with the truck or tires. Have over 50K on the brakes and they are still good. I would definitely go with the E rated tires. That being said I am likely going with the BFG TA KO2's next. I have been running them on my work truck on some very rocky roads this summer (plus snow and ice last winter) and they have been great.
Click to expand...
But you are probably legally overweight, right?
 
What a great user group, you guys are great, thanks for all the responses!! I am going to try my "P" rated tires once I get my Hawk camper and see how it goes. I already have the TRD sway bar installed, and when they install the Hawk camper they are going to install Ride rite airbags, I am hoping this will be enough. I am told the sway bar is very important
 
On my 2010 Tundra DC, I had the same LTX M/S2 tires before I got my 2014 Hawk. They worked well in our Oregon winters. I installed Ride Rite air bags & a Helwig rear sway bar. The sway bar made a huge difference in handling even before the camper. I waited about two years before buying new tires because I went through the same calculations you did.

After using the Michellins for a couple of years and worrying about sidewall damage, we replaced them with Cooper Discoverer AT3 E series tires. The ride is a little stiffer but the sidewall worries are gone. The tires are great on & off road and are quiet.

With the P series tires and the camper on, you will experience a little wallowing and can see quite a bulge in the sidewalls that makes the tires more vulnerable to being cut off road. The piece of mind is worth going to the E series even though your existing tires will carry the load mathematically.

No need to rush on the tires. Just pay attention to any sharp rocks & dodge them until you decide what to buy. You will notice the difference in handling if you buy the E series when you replace your existing tires.

Paul
 
PaulT said:
On my 2010 Tundra DC, I had the same LTX M/S2 tires before I got my 2014 Hawk. They worked well in our Oregon winters. I installed Ride Rite air bags & a Helwig rear sway bar. The sway bar made a huge difference in handling even before the camper. I waited about two years before buying new tires because I went through the same calculations you did.

After using the Michellins for a couple of years and worrying about sidewall damage, we replaced them with Cooper Discoverer AT3 E series tires. The ride is a little stiffer but the sidewall worries are gone. The tires are great on & off road and are quiet.

With the P series tires and the camper on, you will experience a little wallowing and can see quite a bulge in the sidewalls that makes the tires more vulnerable to being cut off road. The piece of mind is worth going to the E series even though your existing tires will carry the load mathematically.

No need to rush on the tires. Just pay attention to any sharp rocks & dodge them until you decide what to buy. You will notice the difference in handling if you buy the E series when you replace your existing tires.

Paul
Click to expand...
thanks Paul, you make a lot of sense
 
Hi ottorogers
Get a quality tire plug repair kit and compressor. You'll probably help someone else less prepared with it. Like other posted, pay attention when off road, you'll be ok. Good to read what others are doing and why.

Russ
 
CougarCouple said:
Hi ottorogers
Get a quality tire plug repair kit and compressor. You'll probably help someone else less prepared with it. Like other posted, pay attention when off road, you'll be ok. Good to read what others are doing and why.

Russ
Click to expand...
already have both, good advise!!
 
This is a good site for deciding on tires. My big concern is that I want tires I can use year 'round, but there really is quite a difference between a good all weather tire and a good snow tire. AND, most of the good snow tires are not made for load E ratings.

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/top-10-tires-per-category/

I've also looked at

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13722-cooper-st-maxx/?hl=cooper

and other threads on the expedition forum and elsewhere.

I've narrowed my choices to:

Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015
Michelin LTX A/T2
Cooper Discoverer A/Tw (or X/T4 in Canada)

BFG TA K/O2 tires are rated really highly by some sites, less so by others. I suspect industry/manufacturer biases.

Some tires are ideal for gravel, but not for highway, and vice versa. Asking ONE tire to do sooo many different things is really unrealistic, I'm afraid.
 
I have a 2014 Tundra and we have a Hawk on order. I've replaced the stock Michelin with E rated Nitto's, and installed Firestone airbags (yesterday actually) . I know it's not necessary but I've also replaced all the suspension components including the rear leaf packs to gain some ground clearance along the way.
 
Vic Harder said:
This is a good site for deciding on tires. My big concern is that I want tires I can use year 'round, but there really is quite a difference between a good all weather tire and a good snow tire. AND, most of the good snow tires are not made for load E ratings.

https://tirereviewsandmore.com/top-10-tires-per-category/

I've also looked at
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13722-cooper-st-maxx/?hl=cooper

and other threads on the expedition forum and elsewhere.

I've narrowed my choices to:

Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015
Michelin LTX A/T2
Cooper Discoverer A/Tw (or X/T4 in Canada)

BFG TA K/O2 tires are rated really highly by some sites, less so by others. I suspect industry/manufacturer biases.

Some tires are ideal for gravel, but not for highway, and vice versa. Asking ONE tire to do sooo many different things is really unrealistic, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
If I find I do need "E" rated tires in the future, it will be the Michelin LTX A/T2, which I already have now, but they are not "E" they are "P" rated. Michelin has always been excellent tires for me, I have owned all Michelins over the past 40 years and never had an issue, just like Toyota's, not a lick of problems
 
ottorogers said:
If I find I do need "E" rated tires in the future, it will be the Michelin LTX A/T2, which I already have now, but they are not "E" they are "P" rated. Michelin has always been excellent tires for me, I have owned all Michelins over the past 40 years and never had an issue, just like Toyota's, not a lick of problems
Click to expand...
I think, from my experience with Michelin LTX A/T2 now, and LTX MS2 in the past (many sets), I will stay with them, LTX MS2 can be a bit hard riding for sure, but they are good in snow/mud/rain, maybe excellent in several categories, I'll stick to what I know
 
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