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The stock spec tires were either 225/75/15 or 235/75/15, neither of which would ever give me a chance of decent handling, even at 80psi. The tires that came with it were somewhat dry-rotted and not even XL or XLT tires, they were barely rated for the front axle weight (~2600lb) and rear weight (~2000lb). I did some opportunistic shopping on Amazon and Walmart, and ended up with:
285/70/27 General Grabber HTS LRR on American Racing 172 rims in 17x9 - 3200lb @ 65psi
245/45/20 BFG Comp2 A/S on 20x9 Deegan 38 rims - 2000lb @ 50psi
I've thought about a box cavity for the back, and am not sure that I could get enough depth to make it truly functional. It's tough to back up out of parking spots, even with a truly 180 degree rear camera. I'd have to keep any addition at less than about 1 foot, which is probably not enough to make a significant improvement. I've been playing around with a rear shell, so I will post pictures shortly.
The overall state of suspension is actually pretty good for a 22 year old van, probably because it rarely carried cargo and only has about 45k miles. The bushings look pretty good, the brakes are in pretty good shape (original pads and rotors!) and the shocks are certainly "acceptable" even if they don't have a good mix of fast/slow rebound. But it's not a Miata racecar... I have 1-3/8" front and 1-1/4" rear Hellwig sway bars on the way from SDTrucksprings, and will see if anything else needs to change after that install. I thought about a 1-1/2" rear, but I'd rather tune towards heavy understeer than accidentally end up with more lift-throttle-oversteer than I already have. With a 60/40 F/R weight distribution and the engine way out front, I definitely don't want oversteer!
The wheel bearings "seem okay" but I haven't repacked them yet. I'll definitely add that to my list!
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