Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 15:20:19 -0400
Reply-To: Walt Spak <wnsopc3@3RDM.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Walt Spak <wnsopc3@3RDM.NET>
Subject: Tires & other misc. noise
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Dear Vanagon List,
I just wanted to pass some information along. I recently had to replace the
205/70-14 MXT's on my 91 GL. I did ask the list & got a few
recommendations, but most were for the MXT's which have been discontinued by
Michelin. I knew about the Aglis 61's, as I have them on my 84 Westy, but
felt that the would look dorky on the 91 GL since it has the alloy wheels &
the plastic crap around the bottom of the body.
I then went to the Michelin Web Site and found that they recommended the MX4
RainForce tire in a 205/70 even though the load rating was 95 as apposed to
97 on the MXT. I checked with several retailers who recommended that I
purchase 215/70-14 instead as they have a load rating of 96. I went ahead
with this recommendation & quickly learned that the bus did not handle well.
It over steered & blew around a bit. None of the ill effects were extreme,
but the tires were not nearly as good as the MXT's
Last night I e-mailed Michelin through their site and out lined my problems.
I asked them if I had the correct tires and suggested that I did not want to
have an accident because of the tires. Michelin called me at 8:30 this
morning to inform me that I had the wrong tires on the bus and assured me
that no one at Michelin would recommend the RainForce for a Vanagon. They
were in disbelief when I told them that the recommendation came from their
web site.
They called me back a little while ago and informed me that a new set of
Aglis 61's are on the way to my dealer and will be installed completely free
as soon as possible. when I expressed my concerns about dorkyness, they
told me that it was the only tire available and that I didn't have any other
choice. It turns out that the Aglis 61's are 2 tenths of an inch narrower &
3 tenths taller. I guess I would rather live with dorkyness that put up
with ill handling.
Along other lines, I took a young fellow (Clark) from my area down to see
Karl Mullendore (sp?) yesterday and we came back with a nice 86 Westy for
him & his spouse & baby. They will be headed out to CO later this summer
for their first family Westy camping experience (actually, the wife, Ann,
grew up in a bay window Westy). It is nice to see these young folks (mid
20's) taking after their parents and us other old farts.
I guess that since I am writing, I ought to report on my Boston Bob rebuilt
engine. I now have over 30,000 miles on it and every thing is great about
it. I believe it took a full 10,000 miles to really break it in. Lots of
power now.
Walt Spak
Pittsburgh, PA.
wnsopc3@3rdm.net