We just bought a 2006 3500 Van for the wife to haul her daycare kids around in. The van is in great shape and she is happy ( always a good thing).
This morning I have been going around the van checking all of the little things and I went to air up the tires and I have a problem with the tires on the van.
The van has Firestone Destination Le P245/75 R16 tires on it.
The label inside of the door calls for LT245/75R16E tires. The inflation levels are 50 PSI front and 80 PSI on the front.

I looked the tires up online and there is no information on correct pressure.
I called the Firestone guy to get the correct inflation and he said the tires should not even be on the van since the van is basically a light truck and should have LT tires. He was very reluctant to give much information because the tires shouldnt be on the van.
The tires have no inflation information on them except to state the max load @ 44PSI.
I really dont want to buy new tires but I also want to do the right thing. The van will be used for short trips to and from the park and pool.

also the van does not have a manual for me to look up information. I generally try to solve problems on my own before resorting to the forum.

 

You do not have the original load rated tires on your vehicle.
The "E" in on the pillar tag, refers to a 10 ply Tire.
Subsequently, the cold inflation for that tire is quite high, as you read.

The tires you have on there now, are NOT rated as high of load capacity as what is recommended for that vehicle.

I'm not saying that they won't work, but, if you're carrying Kids around in that thing, I think I'd get the right tires on it. In the mean time, I'd put about 42 lbs in both front and rear.

You can find an explanation about Load Ratings at...
Tire Tech Information - Load Range/Ply Rating Identification

Also on the TireRack site, you can look up the load ratings of what you have on there now, and the E rated tires, and see how much difference there is between them.

 

Thanks for the reply. Your opinion is what I have been thinking and I am going to start looking for tires. BUT, I can see why the people put these tires on it, I went to the Sams tire site and punched in the vehicle type and several of the suggestions were for P rated tires.
We will feel more comfortable with the correct tires and will strt looking. Thanks for the advice.
Overall we are very happy with the van. It's big and roomy with plenty of power.

 

Good for you JC !,

I'm glad you're headed in the right direction with that.
When you start hauling Kids around, it's SO important to make sure that your vehicle is as close to perfect as it can be.

IF something was to happen (a flat causing a rollover) you'd be in BIG trouble if you didn't have (at least) tires of the Load Capacity on the vehicle, which the Manufacturer recommended. I KNOW those heavier duty tires cost more, but, you just can't take the chance on a lesser rated product (in this case) !

If you don't mind, I'll make a couple suggestions as well...

Make a CHECKLIST with a Sign Off...
Instructions to check Lights, Seat Belts, kick/check the Tires, wipers, Brakes, just a general quick inspection. And, sign off on it each day/morning.
KEEP THE SHEETS AS A PERMANENT RECORD.

Get some real "Heavy Duty" Insurance...
Heavy on the Medicals. It would be bad IF you had an accident, but, it would be worse if you/company couldn't cover the expenses.

Try to find...
Any facility which trains or qualifies your drivers for the duty. Maybe a Professional/Chauffeur's Drivers Training School, some other assistance to assure that you're providing the best possible service in that respect. Make sure that your drivers have proper State Licensing for the duty.

I hope you never need to rely on the above "ammo", but, if you go into Court, you need to be loaded for Bear with having done everything in your power to make sure your passengers were safely transported.

Good luck and drive sefely !

 

Screw all that. This is a 1 ton truck that does ABSOLUTELY NO TOWING, so why should you need a heavy duty truck tire? It is never doing any heavy duty motoring nor trailering so why is a P tire unsuitable in comparison to a LT tire? Max tire rating of 44 psi sounds perfect to me.

If a flat caused a vehicle rollover then the tire has nothing to do with it, it was most likely because of excessive speed.