Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 08:07:14 -0500
Reply-To: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Subject: My Advice on 15" tires (16" fender flares)
In-Reply-To: <p05010400b6b274ef2bf8@[216.36.79.124]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
For tires? Absolutely the best tire is the BF Goodrich All Terrain Radial
KO for all around use.
Even the Germans say this about their Syncros. You can see this on their
Websites.
The tire is quiet and excellent in every terrain but serious mud and
handles very well. Basically, there is little to no downside of having it.
The right size for 15" and stock gearing?
Pick a tire from www.bfgoodrichtires.com that has revolutions per mile of
between 819 (stock Michelin size) to 782 (the larger BFGs that many of us
run) or thereabouts.
In 15" size the best tire for you in this size ... uh.... uh...
...sorry, they don't make a good size for you for 15" wheel.
I would say to stick with your 14" wheel and use the 27 x 8.50 / 14 size.
But I hear you do not want to do that.
If it were me and I was going with a 15" wheel, I would mount probably
215x75 /15, which tire has 748 revolutions per mile and is as close as you
are going to get but will raise you up further still, and result in worse
acceleration, but better top speed on the higher way (higher) and better
ground clearance. To compensate for the power loss, you can install ratio
rockers and the ECU chip and get the best of both worlds.
Without the ECU chip and ratio rockers, this big tire is somewhat of a
strain. It is OK--others on the list use it, but it is a stretch because
your top speed in 4th is then 77mph and you will notice increase trouble
trouble getting up hills. If you drive you vehicle around a lot empty then
it is better but since you have a westy it is worse. Since you mention you
want a little height, then I guess I would say the tire 215 x 75 / 15 might
be the best choice.
Another alternative is to find a tire from another manufacturer that has
close to the "ideal" (my estimate) compromise of 782 revolutions per mile
and find somebody you trust that can say they are great.
I am against the general movement of the list to 15" wheels and tires
because I believe the available tires in 14" wheel are well matched to the
stock gearing and there isn't a strong reason for most list members to switch.
Everything is different, however, if you want to change your gears, but
that is another story. And if you have a different motor from 2.1 litre MV
then every thing is different, but then that is a different story too.
At 10:12 PM 2/15/01 -0800, you wrote:
>>I just got mine too.
>>
>>I think the idea is to cut the metal away as far as possible to make the
>>opening big as you can. Particularly at the bottoms of the flares, lower
>>down toward the ground, large tires tend to hit at that location so
>>that's why you want to sort of bend the plastic if you can a little bit
>>to confirm with a cutout that is larger than you would otherwise do. Of
>>course, none of this matters if you don't ever plan on mounting very
>>large tires.
>
>I probably won't use *huge* tires. I'm currently sitting on a set of SA
>15" rims not having decided what tires to put onto them. I want something
>that will fit with the standard trailing arms, and will work fairly well
>on-road while giving me a little height. Any suggestions?
>
>Ron
>--
>ron lussier / lenscraft fine art giclee prints
>rlussier@lenscraft.com 229 8th street / studio 4
> san francisco / ca 94103
>http://www.lenscraft.com/ +1 415.241.0815
_______________________________________________
Derek Drew New York, NY
CEO & Co-Founder
http://www.ConsumerSearch.com/
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