Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 00:10:42 -0500
Reply-To: Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Re: GoWesty wheel / tire package
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> The guys at GoWesty claim that once you go to 15" tires, that
you don't need
> to use reinforced tires anymore...see:
> http://www.gowesty.com/wheelstiresinfo.html
> The hydroedge tires are supposedly pretty incredible, but are
they right to
> run on our vanagons?
> just looking for some opinion on this.
when i read stuff like that, i just remember all those snake-oil
salesman in the past ... too many words, when a few figures would
suffice. like the info that is stamped into the sidewall of the
tire, and is required to be there by federal law. why not just
present the data on the tire and let the customer decide for
himself? cause they want to sell the tire, not give you a chance
to change your mind. mercedes specifies which tires are required
for their cars ... why not tell us what the specs of that tire is
and let us decide?
statements like this "Common sense would indicate what we have
proven by TESTING: The wider and lower profile tire is INHERENTLY
stronger and more stable than a narrower and taller tire. No
reinforcement required. End of story!"
make me think of a snow job. MY common sense tells me that ANY
tire with reinforcement is inherently stronger than any other
tire without it. and as for a wider/lower tire being "inherently
stornger" is bullshit ... if that were true, why aren't the
18-wheelers and passenger aircraft running such tires? because,
in my experience and opinion, it ain't so ... tires are designed
for particular purposes and uses. and driving/work environments.
and STYLES. gee ... like big white letters. oh, but the white
letter tires are inherently stronger than black walls ... they
must be; they have to be to keep them letters stuck on there. ;)
and it's thicker at the letters!! yeah, that's it! :)
i tell ya what i've learned over the years about tires.
1. if it don't say it on the tire itself, whatever the
salespeople tell you is bullshit and is designed to separate you
from your money.
2. just cause it looks good don't mean diddly.
3. wider tires are much more likely to hydroplane in wet weather,
unless the tread pattern is specifically designed to get rid of
the water. period. no matter what brand of tire it is.
4. lower profile tires are much more likely to be damaged and
allow the rim/wheel to be damaged than a taller tire, reinforced
or not. there simply isn't enough sidewall to act as a cushion.
5. if you stray too far from the original tires that came on the
vehicle from the factory, YOU are taking the risk, not the tire
salespeople or the factory or anybody else.
6. tire salespeople are high-school dropouts and just plain
morons 99 times out of 100. the reason they are selling tires is
cause they can't hack it behind the counter at McDonald's. and
usually they are fast-talking morons. the faster someone talks
when trying to sell me something, the faster i want to get out of
there. it's a tactic ... designed to confuse the buyer.
1500 lbs, eh? let's see how strong that is. that is MAX LOAD,
yup. but ONLY at MAX PRESSURE. and those are stamped on the side
of the tire. which means you can depend on the 1500 lbs ONLY if
you put the maximum allowed pressure into the tire. which is
likely gonna make it ride really rough. max pressure usually does
that.
and 4 wheels times 1500 = 6000 lbs. but the vw-supplied sticker
(in the driver's side door jam) lists the gross vehicle weight as
5200 lbs (about). that INcludes the basic vehicle, full fuel tank
(96lbs of gasoline), oil (1.175 gallons at 6lbs/gal = 7lbs) and
coolant (4.5gallons at 8lbs/gal = 36lbs), plus max load which
combines passenger (150lbs per designated seating position or 7
times 150lbs = 1050 lbs of people) and luggage weight.
so assuming you're not overloading your bus, and your weight is
at 5200 lbs, why, you've got a whopping 800lbs of safety margin!!
for things like cornering and braking .. you know, stuff that
heats up the tires more than just running down the highway.
that's a big old 15percent margin.
if you used a tire that had a 1600lbs max load, at max pressure
the load could be 6400 lbs. now you've got a 1200 lbs margin, or
23 percent. more is better in this case.
sure, you can use a 1500 lb-rated tire ... IF you don't load your
bus heavily or full of people and luggage.
after all, it is YOUR bus. you can pretty much do what you want
with it. but in my opinion, you'd better be aware of the
abilities of the tires you've got on it.
and if you have a camper, you've already lost several hundred
pounds of cargo carrying ability .. my 87 camper weighed in at
4220 lbs, with me in it and a full tank of gas. and a 50-lb
toolbox. and the oil and coolant, of course. :)
plus the camper is a bit heavier up top, and will put more strain
on the tires when cornering and stopping.
and just so you don't think it's really bad with vw buses, try
looking into a winnebago or some such RV ... the weight of all
that carpet and kitchen and bathroom and such puts most of them
within only about 600 lbs of being overloaded. add two people and
clothes and food for a week and water and gas and presto, you're
overloaded.
and what tires do they usually run? BIG Muthas! NOT low profile
wide tires. hmmmmm. :) wonder why?
you can have good looks and snazzy style. or you can have safety.
maybe you can find a tire that lets you have both.
but LOOK at the info on the side of the tire before you buy it.
then decide for yourself ... don't let someone else decide for
you. it's your bus. and your life.
good luck!
unca joel