Tires: tires on dodge ram van 2500, dodge ram van, flooring equipment

Question
it is the maxi van(extended)model. we bought our van new in 2003 it came with LT225 75r 16 tires. we are replacing our tires and from what ive read LT means light duty. we carry alot of heavy flooring equipment and materials around with us everyday. seems we should go with a tire thats "heavy duty" for safety reasons and  wouldn't they last longer? we've gone through 3 sets of tires. (70,000mi). and living in the foothills doesn't help im sure.thanks, mike

Answer
Mike,

First, LT means Light Truck - and you have one of those.  

But the issue you are asking about is the payload - how much the vehicle can hold not counting what it already weighs.  For that you need to contact the vehicle manufacturer and find out what the payload is and compare that to the weight of the stuff you are carrying - and I'm going to guess the vehicle is overloaded and the net result is that not only is this going to cause some components to break sooner (like the transmission), but wear related stuff (brakes and tires) will wear faster simply because they are not up to the task.

But since you didn't report the tires failing - just fast wear - I don't think you are going to solve that by changing to a heavier duty tire.  But going to a heavier duty tire will prevent a tragedy as the result of a tire failure (or brake failure).

So I think you need to contact the vehicle manufacturer and consider an upgrade to a 3500.