Date:         Fri, 24 Aug 2001 08:20:06 -0700
Reply-To:     "Michael A. Radtke" <michael.radtke@BULL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Michael A. Radtke" <michael.radtke@BULL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Avon Tyres - Vanagon applications

Hello,

This Avon tyre thread caught my attention since I use Avon tyres on my
electric microvan.  I had a lot of difficulty getting 10 inch radial truck
tyres (high load capacity for all those batteries).  The Avon tyres that I
ended up with are really nice and weren't too expensive if you don't count
having them shipped from the UK.  Which brings me to my point.

It turns out that Cooper Tire (US based) bought Avon.  So, when I
discovered that the Avon tyre was ideal for my application, I went to
Cooper.  Unfortunately, they were not friendly at all and weren't in the
least bit interested in selling me tyres.  They said to call Avon in the
UK.  When I tried that, the Avon folks said that the closest place for me
to buy the tyres that I needed would be a UK based tyre retailer.  This is
what I ended up doing.

All this happened almost a year ago.  So, because of this thread, I visited
Cooper Tire on the web and see that things have improved.  They now have a
good selection of Avon tyres on their site.  You can't find a Vanagon tyre
using their search, but the Avon AV4 185R14C looks exactly right for my
'84.  Whether you can really buy one from a US tire dealer is another
matter though.

For me, the really sad news is there don't seem to be any more 145R10 truck
tyres.

Mike Radtke  --  Phoenix, AZ

'84 GL
'79 Jet ElectraVan
'58 Isetta