We have beat this topic to death so many times over the years. You are misstating the load rating system as it applies to our vans. Passenger car tire load ratings are not treated the same as Light Truck tires like the Michelin LTX Load C tires. Passenger car tires need to be derated when used on our vans. Load C Light Truck tires don't.

As long as you don't overload the vehicle Load C 14" tires are rated enough for most of our vans, when kept properly inflated. If you constantly load at or near the maximum vehicle weight you should probably buy heavier rated tires. I use 15" Load C tires on my heavy duty use Syncros and Campers.

While load rating is an important factor in tire safety it is not the only factor. There are plenty of our vans running around with very heavy duty tires that handle and brake poorly in some situations because of their tread design and compound. Are they safer tires just because they are index 99 or 102? Not really.

Mark

Rich Bennington wrote:

>>Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 09:28:24 -0600 >>From: Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@MTS.NET> >>Subject: Re: Michelin Tire Experiences >> >>If Mark and Kim like em, then that makes me feel a lot more comfortable >>with them. >> >>Also, Costco is great because they offer a road hazard warranty which I >>don't believe most other retailers do for LT tires. I have picked up nails >>and taken advantage of that road hazard. >> >>Mark, in terms of pressure, is that for a Vanagon or Westfalia, or does it >>matter? I have a Westfalia with the 14 inch rims. >> >>Thanks >>Jeff > > > Those tires have a load rating of 90/93! That means 93 is the most load, > 1435 lbs, at 50PSI. If you look at vanagon.com under info/tires, it says > the 87 vanagon syncro was supposed to have a minimum load index of 97, and > that later vanagons were specifying minimum load index of 99! You won't > even get this at vanagon recommended pressure. > > The Michelin that meets this for the 14" rim is the Agilis, and is the one > recommended by Michelin and Tire Rack for this application. > > Because of the narrow tire, small size (14") rim, and heavy van, the > sidewalls must be re-enforced. There aren't a lot of tires that still do > this, which is why some go to 15" wheels. > > This has been discussed over and over again -- there are those that think > it's ok to run lower rated tires, and those that think you should follow the > manufacturer's recommendation. But no-one should buy new tires without at > least reading the material at: > http://www.vanagon.com > > Rich >