I understand from what I have read here that the Econoline should have LT or XL rated tires on it. Mine was purchsed used and does not. Is the reason because the P Series will negatively impact the handling or that the front suspension will prematurely wear the P Series?

 

I could be wrong but from what ive seen and read the XL and LT tires the sidewall can support the weight of the van comapred to passenger or P series tires that have a softer sidewall. i think this would cause the van to not be as stable.

 

I just replaced the tires on my 1994 e150 i had 275 60 15's and the were to wide for the rim they would drive allful when loaded . went to the factory recomended 235 75 15 xl bought Kumo's at discount tire for 59 a piece on special it dont look as mocho but it drives a lot better and more power do to less rolling resistance.

 

Yes.

The reason is the van is too heavy for P series tires. As a result, the sidewalls flop around and the van wallows badly.

You really need XL rated tires. The van will drive much better and the tires will last much longer.

I use the BFG Commercial T/A and love them. Sam's Club is a good source.

 

"I use the BFG Commercial T/A and love them."
Clubwagon recommended these tires for me some time ago, and they are great for my 2000 E250. Be sure the place you buy them has sufficient size balancing eqipment of course... found that a challenge at first. I bought via internet, thru Walmart, had to locate a store with correct equipment, whole deal was about $150 per tire on the van complete. Solved "grip" or lack of it issue, good in rain, smooth on the road, good stability, handled well through last winter in Washington, DC, lots of urban driving, ramps, bridges. Thanks Clubwagon.

 

Hey Mac,
Glad you liked the tires and I was able to help.

I had been looking for a satisfactory replacement for the OE Wrangler HT. The Wranglers were awful. They wore the shoulders badly unless I over inflated the tires and then they wore the centers badly. They never handled that well either.

I found the BFG's while looking for a good highway rib tire. So many truck tires are "all season" or "all terrain". Because I only use my van for highway towing I only wanted a highway rib style tire. I bought the BFGs at least partly because they were they were inexpensive and met the above criteria. I was very pleased to find they performed as well as the high dollar Michelins, if not better.

 

I just changed my tires to Kumhos from Discount tires just like Ajax. I also went with the recommended P235/75/15 XL as it says on the door sticker of my 1996 E-150. Why is the recommended tire a "P"235 tire and not an LT?

From the tire wall info it seems like it can handle the van's weight - it also has a max. pressure of 50psi (my door jamb sticker says my front and rear tires should be 35 / 41 psi respectively. The person said it is an XL tire and should be able to handle the weight.

I have yet to test them out on the freeway but it seems to drive a lot smoother than the Dominator tires that it replaced.

 

Note that the recommended P series tire is also an XL. XL = Extra Load

I haven't seen any of the '92+ model E150s that recommended 35 psi in the front tires. That is odd. Most all are 41 psi all around. That's where I would put them.

 

I just went to look at the door jamb sticker again. Front is 35 psi and rear is 41 psi. Tire is P235/75/15 XL. My 1996 E-150 was a cargo van before it had the conversion. Could that be the reason for the different tire pressures?

Also I feel that the van sways more on the freeway now after the tire change. I sometimes have a hard time keeping it straight. Strange . . .

 

Not sure of the reason why but I will bet that the 35 psi front pressure is part of your stability problem.

Oh, and you said the guy at the tire store said it was an XL tire. If its actually an XL tire it will say XL on the sidewall. If it doesn't say XL somwhere its not an XL.

Note that the OE Wranglers were XLs but Ford also used the same size Wranglers on the Explorer but NOT the XL version.

If the tire doesn't say XL on the sidewall, that is likely your stability problem.

 

There is a number that corresponds to weight rating. A 235/75x15 non XL P tire is something like 103-104. The XL like my Michelin LTX M/S's has a "108" rating and I've seen some XL's with a "109" rating. The weight rating will also be followed by the speed rating--most tires in this size will have an "S" rating (112 mph) but some may have "T" which is 118 mph. If the guy at the tire store said they were XL tires and they're not, demand a refund and get a proper tire. The non-XL's will likely be *OK* if you never load the van up, but if you do load it up, you'll potentially be overloading the tires. (Although people have overloaded vans and tires throughout history and very few died from it...)

I believe my Michelins (235's on an '02 E150 conversion) have a max inflation of 41 lbs, and the recommendation on the door jamb is 41 lbs all around. I think I'm running a bit over that, something like 44-45 lbs. If your tires will go to 45-50 lbs, try some more air in them...maybe 45 lbs or something. It may cut the sway.

The weight ratings on LT tires are lower (104 or something like that in a 235/75x15), but that is because LT tires have more "safety margin" built in. P series tires ride better. My van came with the Michelin LTX M/S's new, and I liked them so much that I replaced them with the same (during a Costco sale). I've had big vans for the last 22 years and the Michelins are my favorite van tires ever.

George

 

I have to use the LT rated tires because of the weight of my van. I second making sure the shop can balance the tires. Not many shops in my area can balance bud rims.

 

Increased my front tire pressure to 41 and the rear to 45psi. It handles so much better! I guess with the weight of my conversion van (need to have it weighed sometime), original recommended tire pressures just won't do. It's the good thing these Kumhos that I got P235/75/15 XL have a maximum pressure of 50psi.

 

I've often wondered about different tire brands with different max pressures corresponding to the same load.

If my Michelins will handle 2000 lbs per tire at 41 lbs, but your Kumhos handle that same 2000 lbs at 50 lbs of pressure, it seems that you would want to run 50 lbs when I would want to run 41 lbs. Everyone usually says to run pressures per the door jamb sticker, but when changing tires with a higher pressure needed for a given capacity, seems like you should use a higher pressure. In your case, I wouldn't hesitate to use 45-48 lbs all around.

For what it's worth, we've had a few sets of Kumhos on our vehicles in the past, and have always had decent luck with them, although I've found Michelins to ride somewhat better and last somewhat longer (which, with the price premium, they had darn well better do).

George

 

OK, it took a while but the van handles great now. I originally bought XL rated Toyo Open Country. The van wallowed all over the road. Even when aired up to a max air pressure which was like 40 PSI.

Wasn't happy so I did some research and found this on Tire Rack:
However there is an idiosyncrasy governing the use of Euro-metric and P-metric sized tires on vans, pickup trucks and SUVs because these vehicles have a higher center of gravity and greater probability of being overloaded than passenger cars. In order to accommodate this, vehicle engineers are required to specify Euro- or P-metric sized tires rated to carry 10% more weight than would be required if they were used on a passenger car. This is the equivalent of taking the tire's load capacity branded on its sidewall and multiplying it by 91%. For example, a Euro- or P-metric tire designated to carry 2,000 pounds on a car is restricted to carrying 1,820 pounds when used on a van, pickup truck or SUV. This size selection practice provides the vehicle manufacturer with the appropriate tire load capacity.
On the other hand, LT-metric sized tires were specifically developed for use on light trucks and provide the full tire load capacity branded on their sidewall.

Took the Toyos off and moved them to the Ranger...bought 4 Pirelli Scorpion ATR Load Range D from Tire Rack and had them mounted locally. Fantastic tire...well worth the price. Have now put 8000 miles on them. Run them at 50 psi. Ride isn't too bad at all and a side benefit was my mileage went from 14.4 to 15.8 every day around town with no other changes.

On a trip to Chattanooga with 2 adults, 3 kids and 2 labrador retrievers I averaged 16.5mpg. Long Live the Conversion Van!