Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 01:25:49 -0400
Reply-To: jhlauterbach <jhlauterbach@MSN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: jhlauterbach <jhlauterbach@MSN.COM>
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Subject: Re: Tires & other misc. noise
Walt, I put RainForce MX4s on my Vanagon ('84 7 passenger) earlier this
year. I wanted the Agilis, but all the Michelin dealers here in Macon, GA,
claimed they were discontinued even when I asked for them by part #.
After seeing your e-mail, I contacted Michelin corporate. I got a call from
one of their customer service reps 6/25 a.m. He claimed that Michelin would
not replace my MX4s even though he admitted that they were the wrong tire
for my van.
Can you share the name of your contact at Michelin?
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walt Spak" <wnsopc3@3RDM.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 3:20 PM
Subject: Tires & other misc. noise
> 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
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