Date:         Thu, 3 Aug 2000 15:23:44 -0700
Reply-To:     Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@ubc.ca>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tobin Copley <tobin.copley@ubc.ca>
Subject:      Re: I HATE TO SAY - tires
Comments: To: pokeswagon@blazenet.net
In-Reply-To:  <398994BB.C2CD9A34@blazenet.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

At 11:50 AM -0400 8/3/00, Donna Cassano wrote:
>So PLEASE, is there anyone out there that can recommend a good
>alternative to the Bridgestones in a 14" size that will do well on the
>highway AND be aggressive enough for my off-road camping adventures?
>...I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Donna (and others),

I'd be really interested to know about any successes with tires as
relates to off-pavement traction improvements.  Being an old
breadloaf air-cooled ex-owner, I have to say I'm quite amazed with
just how poor the 2WD vanagon performance is compared to the old
mid-70s buses we had when it comes to traction off pavement.  We have
an 82 diesel westy now, BTW.

I find that the weight distribution front-back makes the vanagon
pretty hopeless on anything slippery or loose--and having that fuel
tank all exposed down there really reduces my readiness to go
anywhere where ground clearance might be an issue.  The drivetrain
seems very happy to light up one wheel on anything slippery, loose,
or with moderate to large off-camber suspension travel.  It's kind of
embarrassing nearly getting stuck on slightly inclined wet grass or
spinning the inside rear wheel on uphill gravel-paved corners.  I
have Michelin MX tires now with less than 10K miles on them, and no,
they aren't aggresive by any means, but we successfully navigated
many very technical surfaces in our old 76 westy with YokoY370s, and
the Yokos aren't what I'd call and aggressive tire either.

So what's my point?  Well, I guess I have 2:

1) If you have a 2WD vanagon and you want to go off-road (or even
off-pavement) and want tires that will keep you from getting stuck,
tires will likely not give you that solution (in my--albeit rather
limited--experience, anyway).  If you want to go off-road (again, as
opposed to off-pavement, although even that can be surprisingly
challenging), get an off-road vehicle.  Four-wheel drive.  A syncro
would do very well, although it would still have the usual bus
challenges of ground clearance, and approach and departure angles.

2) I wanna explore off-pavement (and maybe even off road) in Baja
this winter with my family in our westy diesel.  I was extremely
happy with Y370s on our old buses--those tires were tough!--but I
understand they are NLA.  Hoping to find a set of 4 forgotten in a
warehouse someplace, but if anyone has recommendation for a seriously
tough and stable replacement tire, I'm all ears.

Heading into the boonies with chains, sand sheets, yank straps, tow
rope and a come-along,

T.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin Copley   Bowen Island, BC, Canada              tobin.copley@ubc.ca

'82 westy 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell                                   =============
'99 daughter Margaret                            /_| |__| |__|:| clatter
1995: 'Round US, Mexico, Canada 15,000 mi       O|.           .| clatter!
1996: Vancouver to Inuvik, NWT   7,400 km        ~-()-==----()-~
Previous buses: '76 westy deluxe (Daisy), '76 westy standard (Mango)