Tires, your money or your life. FYI Guidelines

[MotorVation]

Current tires are load rated for about 3200 each tire on the van/ van totals 8550.

If I switch to something softer for the mountain roads and nasty winter driving we get around here, will the tires work with the load??

I am looking at Bridgestone tires Blizzaks or W965's, but they do not seem widely available around here AND I can't find out the load ratings for some reason.

Any advice?  ~crofter

Sounds like you have load range E tires currently. They do make snow/winter tires in  load range E. Check any chain or Tire Rack for info. If you can't get them locally you can have them shipped to you or better yet, shipped to the store where you plan on buying them. You don't want a P rated tire with that kind of weight..

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Fwiw, check Walmart.com for great pricing and shipped to your local store for installation. They carry all brands and models.
From past experience, found they had the best prices for the, installation, balancing and warranty.

 

[John61CT]

The quality of remaining soft and rubbery in freezing weather for better grip, e.g.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2
Michelin X-Ice
Blizzak DM-V1

is separate from PSI and load rating

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 is a compromise, available in E rating, also good off-road

 

[bigskybob]

When I lived in Mt in past lifetime,many people out there ran Coopers.

 

[crofter]

The quality of remaining soft and rubbery in freezing weather for better grip, e.g.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2
Michelin X-Ice
Blizzak DM-V1

is separate from PSI and load rating

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 is a compromise, available in E rating, also good off-road

Thank you for the info.      
 
I found a link for tires https://www.tires-easy.com

It looks like the Nokian Hakkapeliitta C3 has the load rating that will match what I am running now on the van.   ~crofter

 

[Fivealive]

I find this thread title very cringe worthy.  I have had many flats and blowouts in my life and they have never caused an accident let alone a fatal one so the title seems misleading and over-dramatic.  I decided to look into some stats, hard to find but in 2003 there were 78,392 accidents caused by flats/blowouts.  Of those almost 80,000 incidents that caused accidents there were 414 fatalities.  This means we are looking at about .005 percent chance of a flat tire accident being fatal, but even this is misleading because most flat tires do not cause accidents and go un-reported.  The real odds of being killed by a flat tire are going to be very very small. This thread title reads like a bad marketing line from a tire company.

 

[crofter]

 over-dramatic. 

I hate that over dramatic feeling when my white knuckles are gripping the steering wheel. This is usually due to black ice on the road that I am travelling or some such thing.  
Course I'm not a fatality, just suffering from over-drama and tire buying angst.  I am mostly buying the marked winter tires to comply with the snow zone law in Oregon, where I drive getting from west to east and east to west, and cause I don't want to carry chains in my van's garage. How much do chains weigh, anyhow?      ~crofter

 

[John61CT]

I think proper quality tires in good condition, along with brakes maintenance are critical.

Not just for me and my loved ones, but being a responsible member of the community.

If it means eating cheaper food once in a while so be it, not an area to skimp on.

 

[travelaround]

I find tire buying to be very easy. I just pull in at Les Schwab and ask them to check my tires. If they think I need new tires, I tell them to put on the best quality tires available. No problem.

 

[John61CT]

I research first to get the top 2-3 choices, then call around for pricing, often save $2-300

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Have come across and currently utilizing this tire which is LT rated with a 3000 lb load rating.
120Q load and speed rating. Tires are manufactured in Thailand like many.

Walmart.com currently has them for $95 with 2 day delivery. :thumbsup: Most LT tires will cost you $150+. You can buy them online and pay in store.
 Mine were shipped out of Phoenix and received in 3 days as I was 2 states over and installed at a local Walmart auto center.
They email delivery status and arrival.

P245/75r16
This size is standard for the typical Chevy Express van, even 1 ton. The reviews are good. My experience so far is that they are fine and not noisy with the deep groove pattern. A set of 4 will save you hundreds over a comparable at a tire shop thus making them an economical choice for those in need.
Get the tire warranty for cheap replacement and hazard insurance at $10/tire covered at all Walmarts. This is much better then most due to their numerous country wide locations.
There is even a cheaper highway rated model available if you don't need an aggressive, off road tire.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crosswind-A-T-245-75R16-120-Q-Tire/721338689

And yes, the thread topic title is overly dramatic intentionally to show how important your tires are. Don't take them for granted. Change them before you're stuck on the side of the road when the tread is low and a flat Avoid the problem by being prepared in advance.

 

[highdesertranger]

Minivan make sure you give a follow up good or bad on those tires. do you run those tires on a Minivan or have you upgraded? highdesertranger

 

[crofter]

Need load rating "E" for the big vans. 
-crofter

 

[Jimmyflorida]

My 2 cents when I bought my van last year it had almost new tires but they were standard load tires (max pressure 44psi)  I replaced those with Firestone at load range E tires because of my experience

About 10 years ago I drove a pick up truck commercial and I ran Firestone HT tires and I could get about 100000 miles out of them one time when I was due for new tires they didnt  have them and I put on a cheap non US made tire cost about 35 % less than the Firestone's I got 40000 out of those tires so they actually cost than Firestone's in the long run 

So my opinion for my Express van 3500 extended I did take off new cheap tires and yes the set of 4 was $700 but to me well worth it

 

[nature lover]

Cheap tires are like cheap shoes in the long run you never save money by buying them. But not having the cash you compromise and end up spending more because you can't afford the better ones. "It is expensive to be poor."

 

[Minivanmotoman]

@ HDR - I am a light duty user. Low miles, mostly short trips, pave and decent dirt or gravel roads, slow speed, mostly boondocked. Will probably be dry rotted, aged out before treadwear is an issue. This tire should be ideal for those on a budget and low miles travel per year.

For all who are interested, search on line for tests and reviews for other opinions.

@crofter - this IS a load range E rated tire which I should have mentioned.

@ Jimmy Florida- budget tire for budget conscious. Of course there are better tire at higher price. Always get the best tire you can afford. See next post on some specifics. More expensive isn't always better and cheaper isn't always junk. 100k miles on the Transforce? Unbelievably amazing. Wonder if fleets use them widely which would support your experience.

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Attached is a pic of last year's Consumer reports tire comparison for SUV and LT tires.
Should probably have another one out this time of year within the auto issue.

What I found interesting in last year's report was the narrow range of performance testing results for the wide variety of tires tested. Tells me that most tires are generally good and that from my perspective, the most important points are price and actual mileage tested. Michelin consistently are highly rated for durability and performance but usually at a significant price premium. Everything else varies. One mid pack, cheap priced Asian tire only had two competitors with better mileage and yet was significantly cheaper. Laufenn XFit 70k miles for $98.
Micheline Defender rated at 85k miles for $180.

That told me that tires are getting universally good across the board internationally, hinting that past issues have been improved in recent years with universal availability of technology and production methods.
If you're going to be doing lots of mileage, cross country trips, invest more into your tires. If not, budget should be acceptable. And always check the date code on any tires that you buy to determine how old they are. Often tire bargains are old stock. The ones I ordered online, 3 were manufactured in the last 6 months and one was 10 months. Anything under a year old is decent

There is more to study from the chart if this interests you. Test data, not opinion. Consumer reports actually did wear tests to extrapolate wear durability.

 

[1shemp]

Your money or your life?Melodramatic much?I have had several flat tires and blowouts on a variety of vehicles and rvs and never have been in danger of of having a wreck.Some tires are better than others but to say you will die if you choose the wrong brand is ridiculous.

 

[B and C]

Tell that to the people's families that died in the ford exploder Firestone tire debacle.

https://www.autosafety.org/ford-explorer-firestone-tire/

YMMV

 

[user 423]

Cheap tires on trailers I'll bet have cost a few lives.

Freeway speeds, heavy traffic, single-axle trailers,over-loaded trailers,no median barriers.