Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:24:28 -0500
Reply-To: Larry Alofs <lalofs@RCN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Larry Alofs <lalofs@RCN.COM>
Subject: Re: Where The Rubber Meets the Road
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
I believe the miles were about 15K (Lost the paperwork in a break-in).
At least 2/3 of the tread was left.
With the original 205/70 size my speedometer is very accurate, so I 'd
like to stick with that size.
Larry A.
Dennis Haynes wrote:
>When using a standard passenger tire, you really need to step up to a 215/70 to get back some of the load rating. You didn't say how many miles were on the tires. Belt separation is a fairly common problem on economy tires. Long periods of non use and moisture add to the problem as water starts to cause belt rust. Wheel miss alignment can also contribute to the problem.
>
>Dennis
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Larry Alofs <lalofs@RCN.COM>
>Date: Friday, September 16, 2005 1:20 pm
>Subject: Where The Rubber Meets the Road
>
>
>
>>A couple of years ago, dissatisfied with the lack of stability of the
>>car tires that the PO had put on my '91 GL, I bought some
>>Firestone F-570s.
>> 205/70R14 95T M+S Max pressure 44 psi
>>I felt that Firestone had probably gotten more bad press than they
>>deserved and I'm a cheapskate; these were about $50 apiece.
>> I was quite satisfied with the performance. The van was much more
>>stable in cross winds, tho the tires were a little noisy.
>>I run 35 psi front and 44 rear. (non-Westy)
>>
>>Everything seemed fine until this past July when we traveled from
>>Chicago to Ashville, NC, to Austin, TX and back. From Austin to
>>Chicagothere was a noticeable vibration at speed and a slight
>>wiggle of the
>>steering wheel at 20-30 mph. I assumed that a tire had somehow gotten
>>out of balance. Checking with my hand, however, revealed that
>>about 10
>>or 12 inches of tread along the outer half of a front tire was bulging
>>out slightly.
>> I assumed that this was a fluke and started trying to find a
>>replacement to match the other tires. I soon found that Firestone no
>>longer sells the F-570, at least not in this country.
>> Talking with a guy at Discount Tire, I said that I wanted at
>>least a
>>95T rating with a max pressure of at least 44 psi. He suggested an
>>inexpensive replacement called the:
>> Warrior TR 205/70R-14 95T for about $45.
>>So I bought one, and it seemed OK, the diameters matched well and the
>>handling seemed about the same, tho it's hard to judge based on
>>one tire.
>>
>>Well about 2 weeks ago on a short trip to South Bend, vibration
>>again. Same exact problem with one of the Firestones on the rear.
>>This time
>>it developed so quickly that I felt I had to put on the spare. I no
>>longer consider the failures a fluke. The tires were bought from two
>>different Firestone dealers about a month apart. One was on the front
>>at 35 psi; the other was on the back at about 44 psi. I believe
>>that a
>>third one was starting to vibrate a little by the time I got to
>>DiscountTire to buy 3 more Warriors.
>> So far the Warriors seem pretty good for a cheap tire. They are
>>madeby the Michelin-BFG-Uniroyal conglomerate. A little less stable
>>laterally perhaps. Very quiet.
>>We'll see.
>>
>>Larry A.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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