Tires: Tire size for my van, tire failure, winter tires

Question
I know my van is suppose to have 225/60R17 tires on it and that is what is on it. But I want to get winter tires and these are very hard to find or very expensive in my province. Would I be able to go with 225/55R17 for winter?

Answer
Natasha,

That would be going down in load carrying capacity and that increases the risk of a load related tire failure, which sometimes has tragic results.

I suggest you go to Tire Rack's or Discount Tire's web site and see what they recommend for your vehicle.