TJ Hannink <tjhannink@YAHOO.COM> said - --- Larry Chase <lchase@ATTGLOBAL.NET> wrote: >Bob, > >CAUTION ..... PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING BEFORE >PURCHASING THE MICHELIN >X-One OR MX4 TIRES THAT GOWESTY SELLS > >1. Look at the tire specs at Tirerack or Michelin on >these tires. They >are LOAD Rated around 1510 lbs. > >If you look at Vanagon.Com load rating >RECOMMENDATIONS you will see that >a minimum of 1609 lbs is recommended. The spec on Vanagon.com is correct for a passenger car tire, but not a light truck or commercial type tire. A a minimum load of 1,433 lbs. (or a '93' or 'C' rating) is required for a Vanagon when using a commercial or light truck tire. A 10% safety factor is required in the P-Metric standards when using a passenger car tire on a light truck or van. (www.tiresafety.com) That works out to a '97' (or 1,609 lb) load rating. The MX-4's will meet the load requirement but without enough of a safety factor, so Michelin, TireRack.com or any other decent tire manufacturer or distributor won't recommend them. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I believe TJ is correct. I run LR 93 LT195R14 on my '87 Westy with no problem. That's what the Kirkland's that so many people liked were rated - LR 93 at 50 psi. The biggest problem I see with the MX4 is the max pressure, only 35 psi. My door sticker recommends 48 psi rear for a 185, and 40 psi rear for a 205. The MX4 will be too soft, and your rear end will get squirrely. In my opinion, the LR 97 info from the Vanagon site came from the 205R14 alternate size tires. Most tires back then with that load rating were rated at 55-60 psi max. At 40 psi they were not able to carry their full rated load, so they needed to be over-spec. My beast handles best at 48 rear, 40 front. Many tire shops set all tires to 35 psi when they mount them, so you might check yours, and see what your tires are rated at, then adjust if necessary - Mike Mike Finkbiner '87 Westy Moscow, ID mike_l_f@hotmail.com Perception is more real than truth, and belief turns truth into lies. - Kedar Nan
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