Date:         Fri, 3 Aug 2001 13:01:53 -0700
Reply-To:     Daniel Schmitz <djs@GENE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Daniel Schmitz <djs@GENE.COM>
Organization: Genentech, Inc.
Subject:      And speaking of tires...
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

...I emailed the area Sales Rep for California about the local availability of Kumho 852 Commercial A/S tires in the San Francisco area. This tire is a Load Range "D" 8-ply
reinforced sidewall model that is available in 185/195/205R14 sizes. It ***seems*** to be a good candidate for the Vanagon.

The rep emailed back that the outside diameter of this tire is about 2.4" greater than the 205/70R14 OEM tire diameter. In addition, the cross-section is about 1/2" wider. From
looking at a picture of the 852, I can see that it is in fact a higher aspect ratio tire.

But the strange thing is that the Kumho rep says Kumho Tire cannot recommend this tire for the Vanagon application, even though it will fit the rim and meets the load
requirements.

This seems odd. I know of at least a few Type 2 buses and vanagons that have used this tire with no problem and have actually had really good results. Unless the rep is taking
into consideration the speedometer error that would result from having a larger diameter tire in use.

Anyone have any thoughts on the Kumho 852? It is currently on my "short list" of tire possibilities, and it's not terribly expensive, either, as compared to the Michelin Agilis
61.

Please p-mail if you have comments.

Thanks,

Dan


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