Date:         Tue, 17 Sep 2002 17:03:42 EDT
Reply-To:     KimBrennan@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <KimBrennan@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 87 Vanagon GL tires selection
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

In a message dated 9/17/02 4:41:16 PM, sinican@MSN.COM writes:


> I am little confused as to what I should use and just want to know what 
> people have (if you have original wheels and rims) for their vans, and if 
> any 205/75-14 tires can be used without sacrificing safety.
> 

Ah, the perpetually most asked question. :) You could look in the archives, 
but...

185/R14's were stock on most Vanagons with steel rims.
205/70R14s were stock on most Vanagons with alloy Rims.
(there are also vanagons with 16 inch wheels, but I don't know what stock on 
them.)

If you have syncro (4 wheel drive) Vanagon, you can often use larger tires 
and rim combos than on non-syncros. For example, on my GoldBrick (7 passenger 
syncro) I'm using 215/75R15s. 

On my Westfalia camper syncro, I'm using 27/8.5R14 tires (same brand, just a 
different size). 

The absolute most important factor is getting reinforced tires. 
Non-reinforced passenger car tires are NOT safe to use on a Vanagon of any 
breed. You can get away with it, but you are likely to end up with a 
catostrophic failure due to the load and pressure exerted by your Vanagon.

Check the archives.