72 Wagon…Should I buy Car or Van/Truck tires?

tfrogh

tfrogh

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Hey, Wagon Owners, any of you bought tires for your wagon which were designed for a Full-sized van or a truck instead of the normal passenger car tires? While my '72 Custom Suburban does show duty, it also is called to service for hauling. And, it runs a lot empty. Just like a Cargo Van. Given its size, capability to transport large loads, it got me wondering. The 235/75R15 is a very common Van size.

I used to drive an 15pass Dodge Van. Other than sitting up high, it and my wagon felt very similar going down the road. Loaded or unloaded.

Curious if anyone else had explored this?

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No need to buy truck tires. Tires have way more load carrying capability than they did years ago. In addition to that, mostly all the 235/75R-15 tires being made these days are "extra load" rated, for limos and hearses. Just stay away from anything made by Cooper if you plan to carry loads, especially in high temps. They have a reputation for blowing out.
 
I'm pretty sure @cbarge can confirm, there's no need for truck tires.
bigmoparjeff said:
No need to buy truck tires. Tires have way more load carrying capability than they did years ago. In addition to that, mostly all the 235/75R-15 tires being made these days are "extra load" rated, for limos and hearses. Just stay away from anything made by Cooper if you plan to carry loads, especially in high temps. They have a reputation for blowing out.
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I concur with what you've been told above. If you're going to drop much more then 150-200 lbs. on top of or behind the rear axle, I'd suggest ah set of rear Air Shocks. My research found that Gabriel's are the best Bang for the buck AND STAY AWAY FROM MONROE'S. Their design sucks because they leave the rubber air bladder exposed to the elements. Gabreal's design has the air bladders enclosed in the outer sleeve. And you won't like the cost of the KYBs or the Blisteins. I used to buy 440 complete enginez in the early '80s and haul 'um home in the trunk of my '63 Valiant V200, lol. 66-67 imperials were my favez but I'd buy Dodge and Plymouth of the same yearz too 'cuz some of them came with closed chamber headz then too and a set of those were worth more then the whole engine too. I'd take the 4 hinge bolts out of the deck lid and slide it in on the floor between the front and back seats and the trunk had a good size piece of 3/4" plywood to cushion the floor and I'd just tell 'um at the yard to ease in on that plywood. What they didn't know waz that I had a set of Gabriel air shocks hung in the back and I'd loaded them with 80-90 lbs. of air before I showed up to buy another fully dressed 440. after I payed 'um I'd push the #2 button on the dash and leave 'um scratching their headz because the 750lb engine wouldn't even make that little puppy squat, and the /6 would just go hummin' of down the road. Jer
 
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I drove wagons for years and always used car tires. I'm a tire freak so I always bought the biggest tire that would fit the rim and not interfere with the body. My current love, goodyear tripletred which are rated 10 out of 10 for dry/wet/ice/snow traction and even have the winter snowflake making them a true all season tire.
 
bigmoparjeff said:
No need to buy truck tires. Tires have way more load carrying capability than they did years ago. In addition to that, mostly all the 235/75R-15 tires being made these days are "extra load" rated, for limos and hearses. Just stay away from anything made by Cooper if you plan to carry loads, especially in high temps. They have a reputation for blowing out.
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I would say those Goodrich tires pictured have a worse reputation than Coopers or any other for that manner.

I have Cooper Cobras in 235/70/15 on our wagon and they made the 800+ mile round trip to Carlisle at 75 mph without issue.

No need for LT tires for your application.

Kevin
 
You would be better off buying the highest consumer rated tire you want to afford
 
Fury440 said:
I drove wagons for years and always used car tires. I'm a tire freak so I always bought the biggest tire that would fit the rim and not interfere with the body. My current love, goodyear tripletred which are rated 10 out of 10 for dry/wet/ice/snow traction and even have the winter snowflake making them a true all season tire.
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Sadly the goodyear tripletred is not offered in 235/75R15 or 235/70R15. I have driven wagons for years myself. Though, my my experience with my '88 Cavalier Wagon would not be germane. My, '84 Caprice...would be. :)
 
tfrogh said:
Sadly the goodyear tripletred is not offered in 235/75R15 or 235/70R15. I have driven wagons for years myself. Though, my my experience with my '88 Cavalier Wagon would not be germane. My, '84 Caprice...would be. :)
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That's unfortunate, they are (I guess were) an awesome tire. I guess the problem is few modern cars run 15" anymore. The tires I have on my convertible should work great on your wagon, Hankook H724 P235/75R15. They were only $100 each and handle the weight of the convertible and have very good road feel. They are a narrow white wall.

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Fury440 said:
I drove wagons for years and always used car tires. I'm a tire freak so I always bought the biggest tire that would fit the rim and not interfere with the body. My current love, goodyear tripletred which are rated 10 out of 10 for dry/wet/ice/snow traction and even have the winter snowflake making them a true all season tire.
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That winter snowflake emblem actually means they are a snow tire. I get 5% off my insurance premiums in the winter if I e-mail my agent a picture of that emblem in the fall.

You can run them year round but they don't wear well on hot dry roads because of the soft rubber compound.

Kevin
 
Fury440 said:
That's unfortunate, they are (I guess were) an awesome tire. I guess the problem is few modern cars run 15" anymore. The tires I have on my convertible should work great on your wagon, Hankook H724 P235/75R15. They were only $100 each and handle the weight of the convertible and have very good road feel. They are a narrow white wall.

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My Tire guy flat out refuses to order Hankook tires anymore unless it is a brand new model just released to market. He got tired of receiving nothing but old stock tires from the distributors. Putting 3-5 year old tires on a car is not safe in his book when the manufacturers cite 6 or 10 years as a max age of tire for safe use. Maybe for a high usage car like my Honda which runs through tires every 3 years. But my '72, nope.

Whitewalls are spiffy on some cars, but my Wagon would look weird to me with them.
 
I didn't notice before - I just bought those advantage sport t/a's for our minivan based on tire rack reviews.
 
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