Are these C and E rated tires the exact same tire?

[BillyHW]

Is Nitto just selling a rebadged Load Range E tire as a C? They seem to have the exact same weight to the second decimal place even.

Could it be they just wanted their tire to show up in searches for the new JL Rubicon tire size, and to rush it to market they just took the existing E and called it a C?

Something smells fishy to me.

https://www.nittotire.com/light-truck-tires/ridge-grappler-light-truck-tire/

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[WXman]

Over the years, I have frequently seen typos in manufacturers' weight listings for tires. Occasionally you'll see, for example, a larger LT-E tire listed at a lower weight than a smaller LT-E tire in the same list. You have to take the data with a grain of salt.

The Exo Grappler, which is basically the same tire with a different tread is listed at 62 lbs. in the E rating.

 

[1quick1]

Everything I seem to find does the same thing with the 315 BFG's.

This is tirerack.com

 

[Taxman]

The BFG 315/70R17 load C tire was designed for the Ford Raptor. Some other tire manufacturers followed suit to provide some competition to BFG. They are indeed different tires due to the load rating. The load C tires have softer sidewalls and provide a more comfortable ride both on road and off road. The E rated tires have stiffer sidewalls and are more suited for towing or loading the pickup bed with heavy loads.

 

[WXman]

The BFG 315/70R17 load C tire was designed for the Ford Raptor. Some other tire manufacturers followed suit to provide some competition to BFG. They are indeed different tires due to the load rating. The load C tires have softer sidewalls and provide a more comfortable ride both on road and off road. The E rated tires have stiffer sidewalls and are more suited for towing or loading the pickup bed with heavy loads.

Correct, but what he's asking is why are the weights listed as the same on them? If a LT-C tire is truly a tire with softer sidewalls and better ride quality, then it stands to reason that it will also be a more lightweight tire. Yet, the data they are publishing doesn't back this up.

Something screwy is going on here if it's not a simple typo or carry-over of the numbers.

 

[Taxman]

Correct, but what he's asking is why are the weights listed as the same on them? If a LT-C tire is truly a tire with softer sidewalls and better ride quality, then it stands to reason that it will also be a more lightweight tire. Yet, the data they are publishing doesn't back this up.

Something screwy is going on here if it's not a simple typo or carry-over of the numbers.

A softer rubber compound doesn't necessarily mean it must be lighter. And, even if it is a lighter rubber, there may be more rubber on the sidewalls to provide strength. However, I agree that it's probably a misprint and the weight is probably not exactly the same. In fact, if you look closely at the 285/75R17 tires just beneath the 315s, there are loads E & C. The C is actually slightly heavier than the E.

 

[BillyHW]

The BFG 315/70R17 load C tire was designed for the Ford Raptor. Some other tire manufacturers followed suit to provide some competition to BFG. They are indeed different tires due to the load rating. The load C tires have softer sidewalls and provide a more comfortable ride both on road and off road. The E rated tires have stiffer sidewalls and are more suited for towing or loading the pickup bed with heavy loads.

I'd like to believe that but something seems awfully fishy. I'm wondering if they just re-badged their E tire as a C on the mold just to bring it to market quickly. After all, an E tire will meet all the necessary specifications of a C tire.

But what if I don't want a super stiff E truck tire on my jeep?

 

[BillyHW]

Check this out. So on the BF Goodrich USA website we have:

LT285/70R17 E weighs 58.16 lbs.

LT285/70R17 C (Raised Black Letter) weighs 50.33 lbs.

Okay, so that makes sense and about what I was expecting. The C tire weighs 7.83 lbs less than the E tire. But now get this:

LT285/70R17 C (Raised White Letter) weighs 51.37 lbs.

So a little bit of white paint weighs a whole 1.04 lbs?! That's crazy.

https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tir...-r17-116-q--rbl?fromResultList=&zipCode=90210

 

[BillyHW]

The BFG 315/70R17 load C tire was designed for the Ford Raptor. Some other tire manufacturers followed suit to provide some competition to BFG. They are indeed different tires due to the load rating. The load C tires have softer sidewalls and provide a more comfortable ride both on road and off road. The E rated tires have stiffer sidewalls and are more suited for towing or loading the pickup bed with heavy loads.

On the BFG USA website that size weighs 64.53 lbs in E and 64.4 lbs in C. So barely any difference at all. It doesn't seem to be enough to really account for a truly different tire construction.

 

[WXman]

Check this out. So on the BF Goodrich USA website we have:

LT285/70R17 E weighs 58.16 lbs.

LT285/70R17 C (Raised Black Letter) weighs 50.33 lbs.

Okay, so that makes sense and about what I was expecting. The C tire weighs 7.83 lbs less than the E tire. But now get this:

LT285/70R17 C (Raised White Letter) weighs 51.37 lbs.

So a little bit of white paint weighs a whole 1.04 lbs?! That's crazy.

https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tir...-r17-116-q--rbl?fromResultList=&zipCode=90210

This is believable. Tires all have variance. Once, I ordered a set of 285/75-16 Falken Wildpeak tires for my JKU. When they arrived, I put them all on the same scale. Two were 62 lbs, one was 63.5, and one was 64.

I wouldn't lose sleep over a small difference like that.

I would, like you, worry about a LT-C rated tire with less load capacity, totally different construction (in theory), and softer sidewalls and tread belts being listed as the same weight as a much heavier duty LT-E tire of the same brand, model, and size.

 

[Taxman]

Maybe they used two different scales?

 

[JASPER]

look at the psi rating.. they arent the same tire.. I hate e rated tires on jeeps.

 

[BillyHW]

look at the psi rating.. they arent the same tire.. I hate e rated tires on jeeps.

You're not getting it.

 

[californiajeeping]

I hate e rated tires on jeeps.

Why? I am researching the possibility of replacing the K02s (c rated) with Nitto (e rated). Insight appreciated.

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