I replaced the Continental tires today with four Michelin LTX M/S LT235/85R16.

I needed a tire that I could hopefully get much better mileage and I wanted to increase my ground clearance for boon-docking.

The tires look great and with 15/32 of rubber they are a lot of tire. The TPMS didn’t seem to have any problem (I reset it before I left the parking lot). The very initial numbers for speed show analog 45 mph, digital 46 mph and gps 47 mph. I have no pre numbers for the digital but with the Continental’s the analog was about 2-3 mph below gps.

I also ordered a new spare the same size as I was worried if I put the stock spare on the ECU would put me in a “limp” mode when it detected the difference in diameter.

Tire pressure is usually a subject that everyone agrees to disagree on but I confused on this one. I have posted this in the SMB forum and in the Sprinter-source forum. Since the #1 cause of tire failure is low air pressure we can’t take this lightly.

This is the manufacturer’s label . . .

and I don’t know whose label (Sportsmobile?) this is but the difference is major.

The tires maximum capacity is 3049 pounds at pressure 80psi.

The GVWR in 8550 pounds with the GAWR Front 3970 and the GAWR Rear 5360. I am not over these but I am within about 200 pounds.

Higher pressure will help my mileage but a stiffer ride on these trashed freeways in California will be bone crunching. (I have hit some holes that the rear axle comes entirely off the road.)

BTW, if the rear seating capacity is 0 as it reads on the second photo, why do I have 4 seatbelts in the rear?