I'm going off of past experience when I thought my shocks were worn out and my tires were also needing replaced so I replaced my tires and the ride quality was back to good.

My point is that it's hard to tell which parts are giving poor ride quality if the tires are worn down. So I don't want to say my KYB's are worn out with 30k miles when I have worn out tires that are likely the reason for the spongy ride, but they could be.

 

Makes sense to me, considering the high pressure of these tires.

 

Stan my door sticker says fill to 35psi which is the same as a sedan. Anyway, I don't know why we're talking about sponginess when the OP was complaining that his ride is too stiff. However, note that an 'LT' designated tired will feel harsher than an equivalent 'P' tire.


5 passengers + 1 driver + conversions can easily approach 3/4 tons. The OP didn't say what he is driving, but that's already over the 1/2 ton capacity of my 1500.

 

I guess that's the difference between a 1500 and a 3500. My '16 LT 3500 is 50 front, and 80 rear Something I have to keep an eye on when rotating the tires.

It wasn't the OP that mentioned spongy, and we have no idea what he's got. But this is a group discussion.

 

 

I don't know. Do the math. I just rounded up to 200lbs per person.

It was a "help-me" question and I'm just trying to keep it on topic.

 

I think there's some wiggle room in the specs for these, or probably any van. When Empty, mine is supposed to be 6,400 lbs, and loaded at 9,600 lbs. Doing the "math", that's 200 lbs over the "full ton" rating. And I can't even explain the extra 400 lbs Virginia State added. Maybe they like that "10,000" number.

 

 

The lowest duty 1500 vans & pickups are generally referred to as a 1/2 ton (1000lb). But yes, it's an approximate measure. Your actual payload will depend on your configuration.

Take mine for example (YMMV). The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) from the sticker on the door says 7,300lb.
I know my gross weight from when I go to the garbage dump, and it's about 5800lbs (mostly empty with just driver, and keep in mind I took out all the bench seats). That means I have still have about 1500lbs (3/4 ton) to go before I'm at the rated capacity.

Now add to that 5 people (~1000lbs), at least two bench seats (~500lbs) and you're already there without high-top or whatever else. There is some margin, but then you start getting into roll-over territory. Especially with the extended models!