Gotta love these opinions. The wheel material alone does not in any way effect the load carrying capacity of the tires. The Alloys are slightly wider than the stock steel wheels, (6" vs. 5.5) which will allow mounting a slightly wider tire. As for the term reinforced, it has little meaning these days. The important consideration is the load carrying and recommended inflation pressure of the tire. Typically, the 5.5" wheel will carry a 215mm wide tire, the 6" will carry a 225mm. A P215/70-14 is usually rated to carry 1515 pounds at either 35 or 44 phi. A typical P205/70-14 is only rated at 1430 pounds. This is right at the edge for safety. I have used the 215's for many years with excellent results. If you want to go even larger a 225/70-14 is rated at 1625 pounds. Dennis
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of developtrust Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 1:04 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Reinforced tires AGAIN Here is an interesting tidbit coming from my VW Dealer mechanic who owns his own Vanagon and does excellent mechanical work. While working on replacing my oil pump and crank seal recently I mentioned tires and how I could not find 205/70's with double sidewall reinforcement. His comment was that with alloy wheels (as mine has) reinforced sidewalls are not as important as on regular wheels. That made me lose some confidence in him as the ultimate Vanagon guru. I trust him on his mechanical ability, but on tires??? At "Discount Tire" they recommended 185 R14 C6 PR which have reinforced sidewalls but I suspect these would not be ideal for the wider alloy wheels. Any comments on my VW Dealer mechani's perspective on tires for alloy wheels? William |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.